Gazelle? Does anyone know anything about them?

What d'ya mean?

anyone know what type of frame this is ?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gazelle-trialbike-frame-Campagnolo-mt-59-1996-rare-/270634504064?pt=Road_Bikes&hash=item3f0312cf80
it says trial bike ? off road trial ? time trial ?

time trial, shirley....
I love that frame, its fucking awesome- the angles are real aesthetically pleasing.

Time Trial frame.
Used by a rather small dutch (semi-) pro team.
Foreldorado - Golff (1996).
Can't read rider's name so well, but could be Godert de Leeuw. He won a stage in his 1st year, 1st week as a pro. Mallorca.
Quite tall guy, he regular frame size must be 63-64 or so, but this could be fine for his TT-bike.

http://www.dewielersite.net/db2/wielersite/ploegfiche.php?id=9642

Does anyone know a good place to buy Gazlle decals? I need a full set for a Champ mondial AB to go on a frame that I am powdercoating. Trying to get the same colour as this:

Cyclomondo on ebay, £30 quid and he has three different colour types iirc.

I'd be all over that rasta time trial Gazelle if it was my size

So Slesker first built this frame for Presto, then transferred to Locomotief where he continued to build these frames, and when Gazelle took over Locomotief, the frames built by Slesker served as a base for the Champion Mondial?

Also Zieleman or Dutch Cheese, you both seem to be knowledgeable about Gazelle and Dutch frame builders, do you have any infration on Gazelles built by Piet de Wit?

Piet de Wit never built frames. For sure he (or his staff) assembled quite a few.
Piet was a good racer (World Champion motor paced / stayer) and later he owned a bike shop. After he sold the shop, he worked for the dutch nation cycliong federation.

As bike shop owner and someone with very good relationships at Gazelle, Piet got an exclusive deal. I think he was the only one who got an own, customized top tube decal ordered and fitted by Gazelle, underneath clearcoat: "model Piet de Wit".
But besided the decal, there was nothing special about those frames.

that time trial frame went for a miserly 103GBP
wish i'd have bid now

Ah thanks Dutch Cheese. I saw a track bike wth the "Model Piet de Wit" decal the other day, wondered what was up with that.

The Champion Mondial AB I posted above, is that off white or white? I can't tell.

According the owner (Reisberg) it's pearle white:
It is powder-coated .....
Actually it is pearl-white, not ivory. The frame is from 1986/87, so .....

Most classic colour Gazelle used is Ivory 81 (off white)
Used it for:
Frisol Gazelle pro team (with green)
Daf Trucks (with black decals)
Gazelle Campagnolo (with 2 blue panels Baikal Blue 68)

However, Skala and Skil-Skala pro teams had plain white (Nr 67) frames, but that was dictated by Skala, not Gazelle's choice.

That Dutch Cheese. I think this has got to be my favourite thread on here, so much information, all very interesting.

now that is one expensive gruppo ! surely it can't be the frame ?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gazelle-Champion-Mondial-Galli-Groupset-NOS-/110587429412?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19bf864224

I wondered if anyone (especially, Dutch Cheese) had experience of mid-90s Gazelles - in particular what the build quality of an AA Special frame from this period would be.

Thank you

In '94 and '95 AA-Special was still available and it was more or less the same as before.
I don't know exactly when they changed their line-up from "traditional" names like A, AB, AA-Special to new names like Special, Team, Criterium, etc. Must have been shortly after.

Quality of AA-Special is not that different from most other Champion Mondial frames.
Difference is only details like braze-ons, fork crowns, BB-shells. Doesn't make it really better or worse.
Geometry and way of manufacturing also more or less the same.

If you talk about quality of build, then you can think of different tube material (e.g. 753, 653, 731, Noblex stainless steel) or different construction (AA-Super). Same goes for "odd" things as custom made stuff, time trial, tandem, cx, track, etc.
Regular CM frames were made in series of approx. 10 to 30 pcs, al same model and same frame size. Using lots of jigs, bigger brazing stations, 1 guy doing just one job on the whole batch (e.g. chain stays, seat stays, main triangle, drooputs, front forks, etc.
Odd / made-to-measure frames were done differently: one person made the whole frame and fork on his own, almost without additional tools, jigs, anf just one torch. Worked from a drawing. There were approx. 3 to 4 people doing that.
Both could be done in a proper way, but since "special builds" was less "batch manufacturing" or something that had been practised for decades, it really depended on the skills and attention of the builder.
So, there was a higher percentage of failures for these "odd" frames.

Titanium and Alu frames were labelled as CM sometimes, but these were not made at Gazelle (Ti at Raleigh Canada, Alu at Focus, Germany). Different quality but cannot tell if these were better or not.

I cannot speak for most of the frames from the 90's, because I only know some 531c frames that I rode myself and these were all custom made.
Not that much different from the AA-Special and other CM frames of the years before. Maybe a bit stiffer and heavier because of the oversized steel tubing.

Positive is that around 1990, Gazelle started using powder coating for clearcoat. Certainly improved the paint quality.

Thank you Dutch Cheese, I really value your informed opinion and extensive response to this enquiry.

Buk

Ah thanks Dutch Cheese. I saw a track bike wth the "Model Piet de Wit" decal the other day, wondered what was up with that.

was it orange?

Another one for Dutch Cheese...or anyone else who might know.
I was wondering when Gazelle stopped using Cinelli BB castings on AA Specials if at all.

Buk

@ Fruit: no, it was whiteish iirc

Another one for Dutch Cheese...or anyone else who might know.
I was wondering when Gazelle stopped using Cinelli BB castings on AA Specials if at all.

Buk

If I remember well, AA-Special always had Cinelli BB-shells till the last moment ('94 or '95).
But there wasn't always a casted Cinelli logo.
E.g., the "spoiler" brackets started with the standard Cinelli logo, later supplies came with a Gazelle logo, that replaced the CInelli logo. Maybe that confuses you.

"Piet de Wit" frames came in all possible colour combination, just like all other CM frames.

^ Thanks again Dutch Cheese. I've sent you a PM.

Best wishes,
Buk

Does anyone know where to buy a Gazelle water bottle, or even if they exist?

http://www.fietsparts.nl/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=vmj_estore.tpl&product_id=409&category_id=256&vmcchk=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

I found this on the web.. Is in Dutch though (bidon) and not what you're looking for I think.. But they defo made them (put their logosticker on them).. I'm sure Dutch Cheese will be able to help you..