64cm Gazelle track

64cm Gazelle track

Here's my latest project. It's a 64cm Gazelle track...pista...baanfiets, circa 1977/78. Please excuse crap phone photos.

Saw it advertised for sale by Boredom and couldn't contain my excitement (or money), as it's practically the sister frame to the 1981 Gazelle racer I built two years ago. More details about that bike here.

The frame has history with LFGSS. It was sold here first by Roberto in April 2008, then by Harry__ in March 2011, then by heavisides in October 2011, then by boredom (to me) in January.

The serial no is 3195232 and I've messaged Roberto to ask for more information about the frame's origins. It was resprayed (by Roberto) and then had decals (possibly incorrect) applied by heavisides. That's about as much as I know. Dutch Cheese, come and help.

In the meantime, I'm building up parts. Happily, when I bought it, the frame came with:

• Andel's 47t Campagnolo replica crankset (it'll be a while until I can afford the Campagnolo Record Pista crankset and this was the set I had in mind anyway).
  
• Campagnolo aero seatpost (v elegant and now polished to within an inch of its life)
  
• Campagnolo Veloce BB (nice surprise)
  
• Tange headset (Campagnolo Pista = also too rare to bear)
  
• Concor Supercorsa X saddle (beautiful modern version of the classic)
  
  

I have also bought:

• Campagnolo Record hubs laced to Mavic rims, with Tufo tyres. I bought these a while ago from Pistoffski when I decided that my next project would be old track bike. It took about a week to clean off the old tub glue and the wheels have now been polished to the nth degree. BUT I DESPERATELY NEED TRACK NUTS.
  
• Gazelle Panto stem, from redknightmare (got a bit carried away)
  
• 15t cog, from fixbmx
  
• Campag threaded lockring, from Hubjub
  
• Newbaums cotton bar tape, from Hubjub
  
• KMC Z510 chain and Tufo tub tape, from Wiggle
  
• Pedals will be spds until I can bring myself to buy new shoes
  
  

I still need:

• Deep-drop bars (hopefully buying Nitto 123as this week from onyerbike)
  
• CAMPAGNOLO-THREADED TRACK NUTS! (Read more about the nightmare here)
  
  

I think there are two ways of building a bike: bit by bit or all at once. I always go for the latter, so I won't build it until I know I can complete it and ride it that afternoon. CAN. NOT. WAIT. Now where do I get those track nuts....?

Holy crap that's big. And very nice.

Cinelli stem I guess, probably wont work with the bars you're looking for. Nice bike nevertheless!

Stem is Atax I think. Though actually the only thing that says Atax is the stem bolt. Don't see why it won't work with the Nitto bars?

If it's Atax it's cool I think. Cinelli is often 26.4 diameter, whereas Nitto is 25.4.
I doubt that it is an atax stem though as you don't see a lot of panto'ed Atax (lower end) stems (I've never seen one).

Same dilemma for me, get cheaper parts and get full campy later, or wait? I decided campy...but it means a delay.

That's a lovely bike and I agree that it's a shame Gazelle doesn't do racers anymore. It seems the competition is too fierce and they now focus on roadsters.

(zo vergaat neerlands glorie!)

True that, but their latest roadbikes were quite shitty..

Nice baanfiets :). What are you planning paint wise?

True that, but their latest roadbikes were quite shitty..

I wouldn't say shitty, just nondescript Taiwan/China frames (just like Cube etc.). Can't say they're ugly, nice understated paint jobs but they don't have anything on offer that does their heritage justice :(

http://www.gazelle.nl/Collectie/Sport

Yeah, the stem is definitely 25.4mm - just retested it with a set of road bars.

It's really only the Pista crankset that I'd like. I kind of got the whole spend-your-money-on-period-correct-Campagnolo-kit thing out of my system with the road bike.

The dilemma with this one is between building a bike that I'm not afraid to ride (which I am with the road bike) and building a bike that I'm proud to own.

Oh, and paint-wise, it's staying as it is for now. The colour and gloss of the paint is seriously nice. I'm toying with the idea of chroming the forks but I think this would be a bit un-Gazelle.

Ah they still do road bikes...had a look on Dutch gazelle site but couldn't find any. Agree, nothing special compared to other brands...that's too bad...

I vote chrome that fork.

Ditto the fork.

Sorry, I'll be back from CPH tomorrow night to get you photos of the bars..

Fuckin' sweet!

A courier was in work today on a dodgy Gazelle conversion but with the pantographed stem. I'd have bartered it off him if I'd known!

Barter it off him on my behalf! I'll put it on the racing bike!

Picked up track nuts for the rear wheel last week. Now just three bits of metal needed: front nuts and the handlebars. Onyerbike has gone quiet on the Nittos...

nice!

Obligatory "dibs if you sell" comment

After some 40 emails and PMs, I can haz front and rear track nuts! And without spending anything like the £80 that Condor were ready to charge me.

My thanks to Gav for the rear pair and to the thoroughly decent folk at Hubjub (www.hubjub.co.uk) who put in a special order with EAI on my behalf for the for the front ones. Go buy stuff from Hubjub.

I've also got bars. Not sure what happened to onyerbike's Nittos; sadly that trail ran cold. So for the time being I have some unremarkable and unbadged track drops. They'll do, but I have a strong feeling that deeper drops would suit this bigger frame.

I'm now itching to put it all together. Saturday is looking clear of distractions, beers are chilling expectantly in the workshop kitchen.

From where the parts are stored, I reckon they can probably smell Herne Hill out the window.

So, it's Saturday, any progress?

Progress was indeed made. I bounced into the kitchen yesterday morning like a kid at Christmas and two hours later, the bike was complete. Sadly, I then went out to watch the England rugby horror show and so I haven't yet taken any pictures. Now I'm at work.

If the weather is good enough, I'll try and get some decent shots tomorrow. Hopefully you'll agree that it's worth the 24-hour wait. Really hoping the roads stay dry tomorrow so I can give it a little spin too.

Cool, look forward to pics.

Boom. Bit of early evening and here's pics - didn't realise quite how bright the light was until I downloaded them.

Pretty pleased with the build actually. The bars looked miles better wrapped than they did bare. Forks would look miles better chromed. I have quotes for £48 or £75.

The tyres aren't yet glued on. I think that's why the front wheel makes a kind of persistent crunching sound, like I'm riding over gravel. At least, I hope it's that simple...

There's plenty of little things that I'd like to improve about the bike, but I think I should get down to a track induction session at Herne Hill first before I start getting carried away!

i like the gazelle / cinelli stem stem

lovely.

not a huge fan of the red tyres, but that build is v. special.

good luck at the track!

Where'd you find a quote for 50£ chroming?