Picture, picture!

[Geonz]

I really only have time for one... it *is* a school night, good people! http://www.resourceroom.net/pcc/gazelle1.jpg

She is so elegant! (It even says so right on the stem... I *will* take some zoom shots soon.)
It is very much like my Xtracycle in that so much attention has been paid to little details that just make the everyday stuff easier. If you could get bikes like this here, I think a lot mroe people would commute. Everything is built in and I'm seeing details that are what made Fritz say "it is a classic!" like the beautiful little thingies that keep the cables from wrapping around things (but the brakes are in the wheels, not caliper), and the mud flaps, and the hidden bell.
I am of course simplying enjoying her sweetness, but trying to think like a Buddhist and not get **attached** to it :)

Oh, (editing after I see the picture) ... and those reflective sidewalls - see how shiny the front wheel looks?

[KnottedYet]

Beautiful!!!:p

[chickwhorips]

very nice. screams ride me!

[Bad JuJu]

Gorgeous! And very sleek in her way, maybe because of the built-ins.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Reminds me of one of those 1930's black sedans....sleek and rounded.
Just gorgeous!
I wouldn't leave her locked up unattended...people are getting into retro more and more these days, and this is not really an unobtrusive bicycle- it's quite outstanding!

[Geonz]

It's parked out in the rain right now (but this is in the far west wing of the far west campus - reasonably safe). And honestly, non-bikers don't perceive its difference (my coworkers said so).
It was raining lightly but steadily all the way in. The bike is like a Newfie dog... it just loved it. Even going through the two-inch deep puddle, the mud flaps kept the water where it belonged; everything is sealed inside itself. I hadn't realized that riding in the rain does feel different in the drive train on a regular bike - I could tell I was riding on a chain that wasn't getting sloshed on.
I couldn't find my red and blue spoke lights this morning... maybe tomorrow.
(And I am again grateful to Gore-Tex!)

[Pax]

Woo Hoo!!! http://QB.smugmug.com/photos/49063420-Ti.gif Gorgeous bike, can't wait to see it in person.

[pooks]

It is SO gorgeous! And everything you say about it makes it sound fabulous.

So here's the question -- is the Breezer anything equivalent? If not, do we all need to fly to Europe to buy bikes? Are they expensive to transport? And wouldn't the test ride process be fun?

[Mimosa]

The price of a normal gazelle (http://www.gazelle.nl/nl/product.php?idParent=2&idChild=70&idFiets=115&idSegment=19) would be around the 650 euro (here in holland).

If I would look at the ups website and I would take the max package then the price varies around 250 euros to ship it from the netherlands to the us.

There, now you know :p a grand total of $1150 :eek:

[margo49]

Beautiful
Fantasies of country roads and a picnic hamper with a girlfriend

[Deanna]

I And honestly, non-bikers don't perceive its difference (my coworkers said so).


This is so true! When I got my Breezer I assumed EVERYBODY knew who Joe Breeze was and was surprised that I had to explain how cool all the built-ons are.

[twin]

Your bike looks like a wonderful sleek sculpture. Very nice.

[CyclChyk]

A classic beauty indeed!

[Bikingmomof3]

Simply beautiful.

[Geonz]

One difference between the Gazelle and the Breezer is that my whole drive train (I guess that's what it is called :)) is enclosed - totally. It's not just protected from the top with a chain guard, which still lets all kinds of slop come at it from the bottom.

I believe it has the same brand of dynamo light, but I don't know if the Breezer has it as built-in. This light is pretty well integrated into the frame. My rear light's not dynamo-driven, tho', which I believe the BReezer's are. My model is still wheel-dynamo driven; newer Gazelle's have hub generators. I don't know which the BReezer has. It is really easy to turn on and off. The owner said the tire one could have problems when it got wet, so I think that is what happened when it suddenly stopped shining for a little while (but on exactly the same place in the road), which was not good. I suspect the rain did that thing water is so good at and reduced the friction between generator and tire.

This bike does not have the frame angles to put your feet down when you're riding, and I'm still figuring out how to dismount and mount at intersections. Nobody's fallen out of their cars laughing yet, but :)

Breezer does have a built in lock, too, but I don't know if it's the same engineering or an imitation (which of course could be better or worse).

I had been fantasizing about the Breezer Uptown 8 with Free Radical (hey, only about $1200...) - but this way's much cheaper, lets this man take something off his gotta-do-before-we-move list, and gives me incentive to straighten up the garage so there's room for the whole family. Another mouth to feed - but air is cheap :)

[pooks]

Oh, so the chain is totally enclosed? That's making it more like my shaft-drive bike, then. And you shift gears by twisting the handlegrips? Does that make it less likely that you'll throw a chain?

What is a free radical?

Thanks for the pricing info, Mimosa! My husband's family is from The Netherlands and he's been wanting to go there. (Well, the first one over with his surname (though it has changed drastically) came to New Amsterdam in the early 1600s!) If they'd kept the surname it would be Lubberdink. I'm kind of glad they didn't!

[SouthernBelle]

This is such a cool bike.

Although it does make me think of the evil landlady/witch in the Wizard of Oz. :p

[DDH]

Beautiful bike. Congrats!!! Does everything being enclosed make things harder to get to? What if your chain drops? Or does it not do that?

[Geonz]

I believe that the cover pops off easily so things are accessible. It shifts very easily, though of course, in these flatlands I don't do that a whole lot. The gears are in the hub so I reckon chaindrop is unlikely.

This is what Breezer + Free Radical looks like, Free Radical being the extension that makes it longer and the cargo carrying parts, from the store at www.xtracycle.com . I've got a Free Radical on my red hybrid (and the bike-powered blender accessory), and it's great, but it doesn't have the dynamo light (I was looking into that before the Gazelle came along) or the other specific commuting features.

http://www.xtracycle.com/images/images_big/breezer.jpg

[pooks]

::slapping forehead::

I knew that. Thanks for the reminder!

[Geonz]

Naw, I figured that you're really Laughter in disguise (one of the ladies who works for Xtracycle), and wanted to make sure it got anothe rpicture up there :)

People have asked "well, is it going to replace one of your bikes?"

What?!?!?!

Do you throw out shoes because you find another pair? Only if htey're worn out, and my bicycles are not worn out. This is just a bicycle for different outfits. In fact, one of the ladies this morning said, "I thought you were going to wear the Gazelle today!" and I don't think she did it on purpose!

Sigh, I'm going to have to take it by the LBS for some painfully obvious questions like - it's not written on the side of the tire, how much air goes in?