Charles Wahl

Today, visiting the Lower East Side, I saw and took some photos of this green Gazelle. The owner, a charming young lady with a bit of accent (guessing she's Dutch) appeared from a shop naturally wanting to know what my interest was in her bike; so I told her how nice it was.

jebensch

Is it symbiotic coolness when one person lights up someone else's ride! I was staring unabashedly at a cream colored 72 BMW 2002 in the Lowes parking lot yesterday, and the owners walked up, keys in hand and were not at all weirded out by my looking at their car like I might eat it. I offered up my Toyota truck in exchange but it was a no go.

Marrock

I've found that when you show a genuine interest like that in someone else's vehicle, be it pedal powered or internal combustion, and appear to know what you're talking about, most folks would spend the day talking shop with you.

Charles Wahl

I'm no expert, by a long shot. I guess bikes like this have come onto my radar screen because my brother and his sweetheart (Seattleites) have recently bought a pair of "Dutch bikes" and they love them. The shop where they bought them pretty much specializes in this type of thing
https://www.dutchbikeseattle.com/html...a_classic.html
Theirs are the Azor Opafeits ("Opa" is grandpa) and the Velorbis Victoria Classic





The owner of the green bike I originally posted about said that Gazelle was the company who originated this type of bike. They seem to be designed/built for people who use bikes "seriously" as their main mode of transportation, and the Seattle bikes I saw/rode were fully-equipped: roller brakes, front hub generator for internally wired head and tail lamps (capacitors [?] keep them on at stops), full chaincases, skirt guards (on both men's and women's), rear rack, front rack or basket, Shimano 8-speed internal gear rear hubs, integral bike lock on rear wheel. Make no mistake; these are heavy bikes meant for use bordering on punishment, with minimal maintenance.

I rode both the bikes in Seattle, and while they took some getting used to, they were very comfortable. Definitely "ride as you are" requiring no equipment.

The green one above is a bit more delicate than the modern ones, having only a Sturmey-Archer hub (didn't check how many speeds), and bare of lighting (though there's a bracket on the left front fork blade, and wiring for the light in the rear. But it has the same integral lock. Looks to me like the seatstays and rear rack are integrated and bolt-on, though I could be wrong.

Here's a site in the UK (York) for a shop that seems to carry the full Gazelle line, in many variations.
https://www.cycle-heaven.co.uk/gazelle.html

southpawboston

gazelle was bought by raleigh several decades ago (50s? 60s?) and gazelle became the dutch subsidiary of raleigh. many models were based on existing english raleigh models but built in holland with dutch-built accessories and parts like seats, racks, vinyl chain guard, lighting, etc.

the green gazelle in the original post is very obviously a dutch-built "razelle" (note the red-tipped wheel and seat lugs-- instead of an "R" they display the gazelle icon). the frame is also almost identical to a raleigh sports frame, although it could be altogether different.

the dead giveaway that this bike was brought over by a european (most likely a dutch) as his/her own personal bike is the big amsterdam-proof ABUS (german-made) chain lock. that's a popular lock in holland, and it's a recent model. the dutch see their bikes as extensions of their own legs. it's normal for them to bring their own personal bike to another country when they relocate, even if it's an old beater that most americans would just assume sell at a yard sale. it's practically a part of who they are.

kmart

Japan took this concept and ran with it, producing the infamous "mamachari" (mama's chariot) bike. The fancier models sell between 15,000-30,000 yen here and come with all the bells and whistles (literally) that you mentioned. Everyone from age 8 to 80 rides these bikes, in normal clothing, rain or shine. It's the epitome of "serious" commuter cycling.

Personally, I will endure the hassles of changing clothes so that I can ride a racing bike to work, but actually I'm considering to "settle down" and get one of these rugged commuter bikes myself

botto 

do they now?

Charles Wahl

I'm a bit confused. I don't see red-tipped wheels (?) or seat lugs, unless rust is red enough to qualify. And where is a gazelle sitting in for an R? "Almost identical . . . although . . . altogether different"? I don't see how the green bike above is almost identical to any Raleigh I know of. Sure, they share the "utility" heritage, but not the same details, executed in the same way.

According to Gazelle's web site, they were bought by Tube Investments in 1971, and sold to Derby in 1987. However, in 2001 they spun off from Derby, and Gazelle is now owned by Gilde Buy Out Fund, a Dutch venture capital business. Chaincases and such are things that, it seems to me, had largely disappeared from Raleigh's output by the timeframe when the British conglomerates owned Gazelle.

southpawboston

well, that women in NYC with the green gazelle... she obviously chose to take this with her to the US. most americans would never bother taking an old beater city bike to another country with them. i've also met cyclists from holland living here in cambridge on their old dutch bikes-- rusty, single-speed bikes worth very little.

sorry, i misspoke about the lugs. being a car guy as well, i was referring to the front wheel axle nuts and seatpost nut, not the frame lugs... you can see the red-tipped nuts in the picture, but you can't make out the gazelle icon in them (trust me, they're there-- i'll try to post a pic of gazelle lugs from another bike if i can find one).

as for the frame, what i meant to say was that the frame is possibly the same frame as the raleigh sports, but assembled in holland as opposed to nottingham. however, i'm not completely certain about that, and what i was trying to say is that it's also possible that the frames share no identical parts and merely look extremely similar. either way, this bike was produced by a company owned by raleigh, and the raleigh influence is nonetheless quite strong.

botto 

an individual does not a nation make.

sweeping statement #2!

point?

southpawboston

wow, such a welcoming reply to a newbie. yes, these are generalizations. of course there are exceptions. but as someone who has logged close to 20,000 posts on a cycling forum (and presumably has made observations of bike culture), let me ask you how many foreigners do you know who have imported their personal bikes (regular everyday bikes, nothing expensive) to a country on the other side of the ocean?

my point about the dutch people i've met here with their old rusty bikes from holland is that i have never met people from other countries who have brought the bikes of their homeland with them-- only dutch, and in numbers that would bear statistical significance. and yes i've met many people from many different countries, and i live in a very bike-centric town. ergo, dutch must have some different attachment/relationship with their bikes than people of most other nations. generalization? yes. valid observation nonetheless? maybe you don't think so, but i do.

bibliobob

You're correct, southpawboston. While some cities in the US have made incredible gains in cycle commuting in the last few years, we don't hold a candle to many parts of Europe. The Dutch, but also the Germans and I'm sure several other countries, have accepted the bicycle as a necessary utilitarian part of their lifestyle.

We're getting better, but have a long way to go. If I'm making a generalization, so be it.

I work in the heart of Chicago. There are over a thousand employees in my building.

Last summer, there were an average to two bicycles parked in the rack. This year, there are about four.

A fantastic increase, but still a very poor percentage.

If there's an upside to the fixie craze, it's that cycling will be more warmly embraced by more people than ever before. Hopefully, when the fad passes, the cycling lifestyle will stick around.

Cheers

cudak888 

It does have the red-tipped Gazelle nuts you speak of, but they are not rebadged Raleigh nuts. The dome end on Raleigh's "R" nuts were not as exaggerated as these on the Gazelle. I would assume the inclusion of these nuts was more of a recreated nod towards Raleigh by Gazelle in later years of production, for they are of their own unique casting.

That frame isn't even close to a Raleigh Sports (or DL-1, for that matter). Lugs differ from both the pre and post TI-era design, and are unusually thicker. Geometry is closer to 65 degrees of the DL-1 designs - rather then the 70 degree of the Sports - and the rear seat stays are bolt-on, as on the DL-1.

There is nothing on this machine to indicate its being built during the Raleigh era from Raleigh tooling.

A company once owned by Raleigh. The build of this machine shares no commonalities with those built by Raleigh - the Sturmey hub and shifter being the only (obvious) exception.

Raleigh influence means little, if anything, in regards to design. Schwinn had been producing 3-speed upright-bar roadsters here in the States since the 1920s. Other smaller competitors in England and Europe were producing similar bikes during the same era.

The only reason the 3-speed city bike is sometimes - quite incorrectly - referred to as "the Raleigh look" is because of Raleigh's claim to fame as the world's largest bicycle manufacturer during their heyday. Folks blind their eyes to the fact that there was an era when Raleigh and everybody else in Europe were producing virtually the same design.

-Kurt

peripatetic

The ladies all ride bikes like these in urban Denmark. There, one doesn't actually need to lock their bike, or if they do, it's only to symbolically mark it as "owned by someone" so as to deter drunks riding off on it while in a stupor. I'm a huge fan of any utilitarian bike, because it encourages everyone to want to own and ride one. But I don't think we'll ever find such heavy bikes in common use here in NYC b/c they're just too difficult to carry and keep from harm. I have several female friends who've gone and got themselves vintage 3-speeds b/c they thought it'd be so great to have quick transportation, but when they realize they always have to bring the burly lock and carry the thing up and down stairs or through several doors, the bikes end up sitting and rusting in the back of the buildings. <sigh> No number of new, fancy bike lanes is going to fix that, unfortunately...

Charles Wahl

I don't think you need to justify anything you've posted to botto, who is obviously just trolling to rankle someone. He won't last long here, not enough flaming to be attractive in that "p***ing on the fire hydrant" way. I hope my reply didn't seem critical -- I just didn't understand.

And I agree that the owner of the green bike most probably brought it with her. I would not call it a beater, by the way. Though she isn't a slave to it, she obviously cared enough about it to pop out of the store when I was taking photos for perhaps 30 seconds! And she was proud of it, too.

botto 

truth is truth, and sometimes the truth hurts.

duh.

duh.

more than you'll ever know.

that's because they're cheap. duh.

yes.

and you're incorrect.

point. missed.

southpawboston

is that another sweeping generation? duh. looks like the pot calling the kettle black.

it seems you miss a lot of points. duh.

perhaps that's why you're racking up over 6000 posts per year, seeking clarification of the obvious, else pointing out the obvious.

thanks. you're right. i have to stop feeding the trolls.

you're right, the bike you spotted is not really a beater, especially given its age.

East Hill

So, if we could get back to admiring the bicycle, eh folks?

East Hill

cudak888 

Duh

-Kurt

Charles Wahl

I neglected to mention that I really like the graphics on the subject bike -- unusual, elaborate but made out of simple elements, striking a balance between traditional and modern, and also having an air of not being done self-consciously. There's too little of that in the world of design.

ilikebikes

Those rear wheel locks are SICK!

botto 

humor is not one of your fortes, is it?



with posters such as yourself, i feel it's my duty.

newsflash: there's nothing special about that bike. in it's present state, a junkie would be lucky to get €20 for it on the grimburgwal.

southpawboston

it's called sarcasm. learn to distinguish the two.

but NYC isn't amsterdam and dutch bikes have novelty/curio value here. at least, the other posters in this thread seem to agree (else no reason for the OP to create this thread in the first place... duh).

if you have nothing of value to add to a thread, why post there? i suppose you have nothing better to do than to up 20,000 posts being contrary with no redeeming value. i'm fairly certain you'll chime in yet again with yet another snide comeback, so with that i will bow out and allow you to fulfill that prophecy and make, yet again, a fool of yourself.

good day.

stringbreaker

And to the OP why didn't you get a picture of this young lady with the bike?

ZeRinger

Thank you. I was just going to say the same thing! Photos are nice, but video is even better.