alexnagui

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to give the bike a quick overhaul and update some things. I regreased hubs with new grease, overhauled the pedals because they had developed some play, changed the bottom bracket to a sealed Shimano unit, changed the small chainwheel to 42. I'd been wanting to try some bar-end shifters and I already had a pair of Suntour barcons so they went on the bike as well. Also, I thought that it was about time to get some decent tires. This week, I got a pair of 35x622 Pasela's and installed them yesterday. The bike and especially the fenders look so much better with these tires!
Next to that, I got a nice saddle bag from Carradice. Now I can take much more on my rides, for example a camera.

Here are some pictures.


Ready to roll

On the road

non-fixie 

It looks better every time I see it! The bag is a very nice touch. How do you like the ride on those Paselas?

Insidious C. 

You can stop updating now. You have already achieved a state of perfection!

alexnagui

Thanks, Maarten! I like it a lot, the bike is much more fun to ride now, it feels more alive. I've got the non-folding Pasela PT, by the way.
I try to run them at relatevely low pressure, I pumped the front to 3.5 bar and the rear to 4.2 bar yesterday.

Thanks! I think I am done with it at least for now. But who knows...

JaccoW

That's a great looking bike. Looks pretty much pristine and you can tell you gave everything a good polish.
I love Carradice saddlebags and this looks like it was a great addition to the bike.

I do wonder about where that last picture was taken though. We don't have many small roads like that around Rotterdam?

alexnagui

Thanks, Jacco! Carradice bags are great indeed. In general, I like the look of classic cotton bags with leather straps a lot.
You're right about the lack of such gravel roads! I believe it was taken here. It is actually a side road to someone's farmhouse, I saw it while cycling around there and stopped to take some pictures.

obrentharris 

Beautiful bike! Your choice of components is perfect. When did Titan stop making that stem? We don't see many of them in the U.S.
Brent

alexnagui

Thanks, Brent!
According to Classiclightweights, they stopped producing those stems in the 80s. The ones I've seen are mostly from the 60s and 70s. The stems and bars are normally stamped with the year of production. This Gazelle came originally with a Titan stem but with upright bars, I decided to change both.
They are quite common here. I have at least two other bikes with Titan bar/stem combo on the list of my future projects. That's also probably because I keep buying the same bikes.

noglider 

Man, that's awfully nice. You do meticulous work.

alexnagui

Thank you, sir!

juvela

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Appears you have retained the factory lighting system.

What is it and have you been able to make use of it?

Satisfactory for you?

Thank you.


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alexnagui

Hi, juvela. The headlight is a Soubitez SP L23 unit, they can be found on many Dutch bikes from that era. The tail light is a Simplex unit. Simplex was a Dutch manufacturer, I believe it was the same company which produced motorcycles and bikes and which was in the end taken over by Gazelle. non-fixie should know more about that, I suppose.





The lights are powered by a Nordlicht-Sport bottle dynamo, which I forgot to take a picture of but it's basically the same as this one here.

The lights are in working condition and quite acceptable for occational use. If I did a lot of night riding I would probably think about upgrading the lights, of course.

juvela

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Thanks very much!

Dynamo a new-to-me marque.

Is system from Gazelle or is it something fitted by cycle's previous owner?

May sound like a dimwit question but most of the gazelles we see here in the U.S. are of the Thompson's variety in nature documentaries.

Thank you.


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alexnagui

You're welcome!
I believe that the system is original to the bike. Take a look at post number 2 of this thread.

alexnagui

Went on a very first litte bike tour in Limburg last weekend. The province attracts many cyclists because of its hills. Therefore, I had to reconsider the gearing in order to be able to survive the hills. I've replaced the original chainrings with TA triple chaingrings (46-38-28) which in combintion with a 14-24 freewheel still allow me to use the same front and rear derailleur. Put the original rear rack back on the bike so that I could attach some panniers.

I had to push my bike only twice

alexnagui

Another update. I replaced the stem handlebars combo with another one with a longer stem, also Titan Maes but a later version. Now it looks that maybe I should switch to taller frames.
Changed the pedals to Lyotard w/o toeclips for the time beaing, so I can cycle in any shoes in the winter.

Lately, the bike has developed some low speed shimmy while riding no hands which is annoying but doesn't bother me too much apparently because it's still there and I haven't fixed it. I adjusted the headset a week ago but it didn't help, it was not loose to begin with. The shimmy problem started right after I put the rear rack on the bike, I'll try to remove it and see if it the shimmy goes away. If it doesn't help, I'll try a different wheelset. If that won't make a difference, then I don't know...

No great pictures but still..

non-fixie 

I am familiar with that tall stem. And with that feeling ...

bikemig 

Great build; lovely bike. This is a fun thread.

alexnagui

Well, it works, just maybe looks a bit funny...Do you ride that RIH sometimes?

Thanks! Are you still looking for a Gazelle for yourself?

non-fixie 

To be honest I haven't ridden it in a long time. It needs some changes, and I have been too busy with other bikes. That fact that it is too small doesn't help either. It's currently sitting right here, in my study, so I do get to see it every day.

bikemig 

I wouldn't mind finding a bike from the Netherlands but I haven't been looking hard. I have a Reynolds 531 Libertas from the 70s that I need to fix up one of these days so I do have one bike from the low countries (the wrong country no doubt, ). I spent a year living in Gelderland not too far from Amersfoort. Ik kann ein beetje Nederlands praten. I used to speak a fair bit of Dutch but it has been a long time. I used to ride a lot in the Veluwe. I love those old 3 speeds with the fully enclosed chain covers and I had one that i used to go to work with. They're built like tanks but I'm not looking for one of those.


This is the bike as "found" in the wild.

alexnagui

Yeah, with so many bikes that's pretty understandable. How do you even choose a bike when you go for a ride?

Cool, that Libertas would look (and ride I suppose) very nice once fixed!
Incidentally, I am not from the Netherlands originally, I moved here around 5 years ago when a got an opportunity to do so. In Belarus, where I am from, the cycling culture is not that big as in Europe and US but it's slowly getting bigger. I don't think many people commute to work there, most of cycling is done recreationally. C&V is not that big there either. I don't even know if I would have been into old bikes now if I hadn't moved to Europe.

Anyway, speaking the language really helps especially if you're on the hunt for some oude fietsen 3 speeds and bikes with IG in general are indeed very popular here, that does make sense for what people use them here. Those are tough, cycling in any possible weather conditions and keeping your bike outside all the time won't hurt it that much.

non-fixie 

Easy:

1. the one I just finished building
2. the one destined for the next event / vacation trip
3. the one closest to the door that doesn't need any work