chaadster

Not even the season’s first snowfall can dampen the joy of new bike day, particularly when the new bike is an all-weather performer like this new Breezer Doppler Cafe+

Having ridden a buddy’s dope-ass, custom Helm 650b touring rig, my old ass was smitten by the plush comfort of it all, so I figured it was time for me to try out this kind of bike. You know, a chill-out-and-enjoy-the-ride kind of thing; I’ve had so many setbacks and challenges in recent years, I was OTB with the road club all last season anyway— what I rode of it— so it seemed like the perfect time to switch up the bike paradigm and try on a new cycling style.

In selecting a Breezer, well, it’s a Breezer so that’s always top of list for Breeze’s unique view on bike design, but this Doppler variant was particularly interesting to me for the generator hub, something I’ve never had before. I might have opted for a drop bar model had they still offered one with the generator hub and had a different colorway than black, which made the drop bar Pro a non-starter for me. I like flat bars just fine, but in fantasizing about doing a little touring, I wondered if the lack of hand positions might get tiresome. No matter, 99% of my rides will be around town and dirt country roads, so if the touring dream comes true, I can just fit some drops if I decide I want ‘em.

So I bought the bike from The House in St. Paul, MN, because there were none locally and my shop said they were sold out at the supplier and unlikely to be available for “a long time.” Searching online turned up few, too, which jives with what I know I know about Breezer production numbers. The House shipped it out lickety-split, like 3 days, which was great.

Breezer did a nice job of packaging the bike, and great job prepping it. Packing materials were sufficient but minimal, so there wasn’t a lot of trash to dispose of. The prep was really good because of stuff like the threadlock on the brake bolts, and good greasing.

Assembly was pretty easy and straightforward. The front caliper needed mounted, but was otherwise hosed up and complete. The controls were all mounted to the bar and ready to go on the stem, which needed attached. Other than that, the RD was properly adjusted and I just needed to mount the front headlight and adjust the front chainguide.

The headlight is probably my biggest disappointment, as the spec sheet said it came with a nice Busch & Muller IQ XS, but it came with an AXA Blueline 50 instead. Aside from the loss of 20 lumens, I guess they’re fairly equivalent, but I was excited about the versatility of the B&M with regards to fitting a generator taillamp. Maybe it won’t be an issue; we’ll see.

Finish quality on the bike is good, and the component quality seems good, too. The cork grips are particularly nice! The shifter and RD are Deore, and the shifter has a gear indicator, which strikes me as kind of silly.

My fully stock, 58cm framed bike weighs in at about 31.7lbs. That’s a lot of bike! The big cog of the 10spd cassette is a 42t and the chainring is a 40t, so mechanical advantage to the rescue!

I’ve only ridden it up and down the street today, so I can’t say anything about the ride other than the handling feels fresh and lively. I’ll get some miles in and report back on that. There was so little info I could find about this bike, I’m really curious to see if my faith in Joe Breeze pans out!

Here’s a couple of quick pics:

blakcloud

Congratulations on your new bike. The bike looks great. Happy cycling.

chaadster

Neat details; the fender stay mounts wear the Breezer logo:

Oldguyonoldbike

Nice bike!
Just curious, does the generator hub power the rear light too?

chaadster

Thanks!

No, the tail lamp is battery powered, but a replacement dyno tail light could be wired-in. I’m actually looking into doing that right now, as I’d almost prefer to have a dyno tail light (DT) to a dyno headlamp (DH) if I were to only have one. But, I can have both; the hub powers the DH and a fender DT would be wired from the DH back to the fender. The headlamp, an AXA unit, has pigtails for this purpose.

Te problem is, looking at DTs, e’re pretty weak compared to the brightness and features you get in seatpost mounted lighted. Even battery powered fender mount tail lights are stinking lame, so I’m kind of stumped as to what to do right now.

Oldguyonoldbike

Makes sense. I was wondering where the wires were, because it looks so clean. Years ago I had a bike with a sidewall dynamo that was connected to both a (very week) headlight and a (very weak) tail light. I remember that the wiring was a PITA.

Paul Barnard

That was a really good review. Really easy to read and not so stuffy. Good looking bike. Breezer's line-up is very aesthetically pleasing to me. Bar ends will take care of any hand position issues you encounter.

chaadster

Oh, thank you!

I was thinking about bar ends, too, but the bars sweep back a bit, and would probably aim the bar ends outward too much. I dunno...we’ll see. Just yesterday I readjusted the bars to get what I feel is a very comfortable hand position. so I’ll leave the hand position worries as a n issue to deal with if it arises.

blakcloud

Why not go with both types of lights? Put a Planet Bike Super Flash on the seat post and still use the dynamo for the rear.

On my Rivendell I use a dynamo system (just front though) and it is supplemented by two Superflashes on the rear seat stays and a Light and Motion VIS 360 on my helmet. This way I have the best of both worlds.

chaadster

I suppose the great appeal of a dyno taillight was the ability to have an always-on tail lamp, but I’ve found the DTs on the market aren’t bright and don’t flash, so I’m kind of indifferent to going through the hassle to get and install one.

I’ll definitely plan to run the battery powered fender light which came on it for now, probably in conjunction with a better seatpost mount tail lamp, of which I have several.

I will also look at the possibility of using DuoTec to mount something like a Specialized Stix Elite on the fender as a replacement for the lame stock fender light.

Pop N Wood

Seems like the best thing one could do with a dyno light is put a rechargeable battery in there. Let the battery charge all day long than use a combo of battery and dyno to power the light at night. You would never be without a light, but could really boost the wattage when needed.

But since that would require some super nerd neighbor to wire up the better option is supplementing with external battery powered lights. I carry two headlamps anyway

Pretty bike BTW. Love the gumwalls

Rage

Very nice, sir.

chaadster

Thanks! Yeah, that kind of project is beyond my abilities; I’ve been organizing my garage and work space, and a definite category of junk out there Is Failed Elecronics Projects!

chaadster

Thank you. I’m in the process of stylin’ it up with hot pink accents, which seems to be working. I’ll post some pics when it’s done and well see if I made it or munged it!

bruce19

Congrats. Enjoy.

chaadster

‘21 Breezer Doppler Cafe+




Gone are the Doppler’s handsome, straight-laced good looks in favor of a little pop life flair.

The light blue brand graphics seemed a natural with hot pink (from my came-of-age-the-‘80s perspective &#128540, but when I decided to do the touch points in blue, I knew I was pushing the limits. I like it right now, but the saddle bothers me just a bit; it’s hard to find blue saddles, though. I actually have a light blue seat post coming which might work with a black saddle, but that post could be kinda wild, evocative of the ‘90s MTB scene. We’ll see.

I had the fenders wrapped in Avery Dennison’s Lightning Ridge ColorFlow vinyl, which came out great! The colors flip nicely and have the perfect blue and purple hues dominant, but shows yellows, reds, and greens, too. I’m really happy I went with gloss, too.

I think I found all the hot pink bits I could— chainring bolts, seat clamp, headset spacer, and assorted bolts— but would have done other bits, like axles and disc lockrings had I been able to get them. In fact, the Phil Wood clamp I had to source out of Singapore; turns out hot pink isn’t that popular. I may have a local shop do a hot pink anodize tank for me to finish the parts I want, so if anyone wants to get in on some of that, lemme know.

To more important matters, I’ve gotten in a few rides now, including a 38mi gravel ride, and I can say the Doppler is fantastic. It’s lively yet solid and sure-footed, and responds crisply to inputs, whether pedaling or steering, and the 47c WTB Horizon tires smooth out the edges while rolling quickly. Gearing is a little odd for me; it’s 1x10, and the jumps between gears are much bigger than my road 11spd, which will providing range for me to spin up hills (those long chainstays keep it planted, boy!), but limits me in utilizing power on flat road. I’ll get used to it, though; doing more relaxing riding was a prime motivator (or excuse) for getting this rig, so I’m trying to settle in and enjoy it. It’s a heavy bike, but feels really athletic, and I’ve been having a blast. Pretty sure this one’s a keeper!

CaliDreaming

That's a beautiful bike you've got there! Nicely done

chaadster

Man, this seating scenario is giving me a hard time! I’m not feelin’ the blue post 100%; it’s more sky blue to the than in the photo, which makes it
looks turquoise and more bright. I’ve been trying to avoid throwing down for a Supacaz saddle, but will have to give one a try on a black post. Oil slick or neon blue though?

Germany_chris

Breezer has been giving me N+1 feels more than a little bit

chaadster

Do it! I find the Doppler’s handling and ride quality to be great! Yes, my old bones appreciate the smooth comfort of the big tires, but the geometry is not lazy, so it has a sporting feel to it.

Interestingly, it seems the EU market gets that model you pictured, the Doppler Team, but the USA does not. It’s not listed on the Breezerbikes.com website, and the only places I found it were DE and ES. Here we get the Doppler Cafe+ and Doppler Pro only, apparently. It strikes me as an unusual situation, but you’re fortunate to have the option; had it been more accessible to me, the Team would have made choosing between it and the Cafe, but the Cafe is suiting my needs really well right now.

tdonline

I have a step thru 2017 Breezer Liberty. It came with a rear rack so the rear light is wired to the front hub light. The rear is great, large and bright. The front light is more of a to be seen device. The rear WAS great...until I idiotically cut the wire. Still haven't gotten around to fixing it. Should though since I often forget to charge my crappy Cygolite Hotshot (it works but doesn't hold a charge after a few days).

Bought the bike at 50% discount from Performance's store closing sale. Initially it was a pain and I regretted the purchase. Took awhile to fix the small annoying problems but thankfully, it's been fine since. I'm pretty happy with it and glad I'm finally riding a comfy city bike rather than my frankensteined road bike.

JerrySTL

I have a 2019 Breezer Doppler Team which I really like especially the hydraulic disc brakes. I'll probably replace the 650bx47 tires with something like 650bx42's as the tires are overkill for the riding that I do.
Here's a photo of it. Please note that the handlebars and saddle aren't adjusted properly as I just got the bike built out of the box.

chaadster

tdonline were you like, “what could this wire be for?” *snip* 😆😜

Those Transportation line Breezers are nice; I really wanted— back about 10 years ago, I think— that top-of-line, belt drive Beltway, all fully kitted-out like yours with dynamo lights, fenders and rack. It was so sporty for a commuter, and one of the few production belt drives in the US at the time.

I do have a Breezer Venturi roadie, which I love and is my favorite road bike. So long as Joe Breeze is still involved with his eponymous brand, I’ll look to Breezer as a top choice in any category of bike I need. I really trust his geometries and designs. I’ve only ridden three, but from that first Thunder experience, I’ve consistently been struck with how natural and lively they feel, and that they just don’t have any real handling quirks or awkwardness, things which I cannot say about any of the other bikes I’ve owned.

chaadster

Nice! I know there had been a Team model here in US previously, and I think one year it was a Team+, like the EU one upthread, with the dynamo hub and lights.

How do you like yours?

tdonline

Yeah, just dumber...I was moving the front light to install a rack. I cut the plastic brackets holding the wire...and cut the wire in the process. Definitely one of those moments of "You idiot!" It was so obvious, why wasn't it clear as day 10 seconds ago...

I wasn't happy with Breezer as they wouldn't owe up to some of the problems with the bike. At first they offered to take care of the bill if I took the bike to my LBS. Then reneged by forcing me to take the bike to their BS of choice and then telling me I was responsible for the cost of labor. Thankfully, I was able to take care of the problem with the help of this forum. Thank you BF!

Now, 18 months later, I'm a little more tranquil about Breezer. It's a good bike and I got a very good deal. It's amazing how your POV lightens when the bike just works. I guess all budget minded bikes have their little issues and they're a PITA initially but once they ride worry-free, it's easy to forget the initial growing pains. I'm going through this stage once more with a $200 closeout deal Orbea. I'm hardly a bike tech so little things tend to bother me until I finally get off my butt and fix them. T