( I was about to send this , saw what Matt Gorski had written , decided to add my redundant words anyway :^)
Gazelle began in 1892 - and survives today !!
http://www.rijwiel.net/
A Dutch-owned company once again , since 2001 .
1.) Raleigh bought Gazelle ( actually the owner of Raleigh , T.I. , bought Gazelle in 1971 ) . They used the Gazelle factory to make regular old Raleigh bicycles !
2.) Don't know how "low end" those hubs are , but I like them . And I've seen them on English bicycles of the Raleigh Grand Prix / Raleigh Super Course class level .
3.) Those are EXACTLY the rims I saw on Raleigh quite a few Grand Prix bicycles ! That would have been right around 1972 - 1976 . As a matter of fact , those are exactly the rims I have on my Grand Prix ! ( take off the tires , I'll bet the rim strips are some odd stiff off-white material , are the insides of the rims painted dark green ? or are they painted brown ? ) And those are exactly the tires which originally came on my Grand Prix !
4.) Basically , flip flop hubs are much more "road" hubs , than they are "track" hubs . And when one side is for a multi-cog freewheel , they are DEFINITELY "road" hubs . It was not really uncommon , especially on bicycles from the U.K. , to equip a brand new "10-speed" with a hub which could handle a fixed cog on the other side . That way , if the owner wanted to do some fixed-gear training , all that was needed was the cog and the lock ring . The hub was already set up for it .
5.) As far as I know Raleigh didn't sell any track bicycles , other than the Professional Track . But , I've been wondering about that myself !
6.) Finally , about my very own Raleigh Grand Prix , and my Gazelle Tour L'Avenir . . .
a.) In approximately 1974 , I bought a lovely 23 1/2 inch , Bronze Green , Raleigh Grand Prix . It was new-old-stock , but not really very old . I'm guessing it was made in 1972 . I road it , even road it on a 5-day tour , and loved it . Still have it ! I discovered that it had a little made-in-Holland decal . It's a Gazelle ! Has aluminum hubs , Normandy , high flange , quick release . Has the Raleigh-branded cranks ( not the "Made-By-Stronglight" kind ) . Has the Simplex Prestige rear derailleur , with red label ( not the Criterium rear with white-chrome label ) .
b.) A couple of years ago , I rescued a lonely orphaned bicycle from eBay . It's a Gazelle Tour L'Avenir ! Yours is the only other one I've ever heard of !! It had been "messed with" , and was no longer all that original . But , the paint and decals are in terrifically wonderful condition . It's a slightly darker shade of an odd sort of medium blue . The hubs are matching Normandy . But the rims are Weinmann aluminum which don't quite match each other , and seem awfully nice for this bicycle - probably not original . The crankset is a name-less cottered steel set , of a style which Raleigh did not put on any bicycles they sold in the U.S.A . But the pedals are the old familiar steel quills , exactly identical to what came on so many Grand Prix bicycles ( right down to the same reflectors ! ) .
Someone has ruined all of its original value by removing the black Delrin plastic Simplex Prestige derailleurs , and substituted a complete set of aluminum derailleurs and shift levers , from some company called "Campagnolo" ! Just ruined the originality ! :^)
It has a full set of Nuovo Gran Sport derailleurs . :^)
But , the frame and fork !!!! Love it !!!! It is just exactly the same as so many Raleigh Grand Prix frames and front forks ! Same lugs ! Same completely wrapped-over seat stays ! Same fork crown ! Same stamped Raleigh dropouts ! Same great-looking arched cable-housing-stop , for the rear brake ! They may have labeled it a Gazelle Tour L'Avenir , but it has every unique feature of a Raleigh Grand Prix frame and front fork !
So now I have two Raleigh Grand Prix bicycles . Except that they are really both Gazelle bicycles . Neither one was actually made in the Raleigh factory . Both were made by Gazelle . One is painted and badged as a Raleigh . The other is painted and badged as a Gazelle . They are probably both from right around 1972 - 1973 . They are both 23 1/2 inch frames .
The "bike boom" lives on !
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
> I started working on a bike in the shop today that at first seemed
> pretty average, but once I started, it raised lots of questions.
>
> It's a Gazelle Tour L'Avenir, pretty typical bike boom stuff. But...
> The wheels, which looked original from a distance, have Brampton hubs,
> and a flip flop hub on the rear with a regina freewheel. The rims are
> unmarked, and have a
> patterned sidewall, so I assume they're not track rims. The tires are
> labeled
> "Raleigh racing" and are only rated at 70 psi.
>
> So what I've been wondering
> 1)Were Gazelle and Raleigh close enough to use the same tires etc?
> 2)Are these Brampton hubs relatively nice, or low end?
> http://www.mindspring.com/
> 3)who made the rims? I haven't seen this sidewall pattern before
> http://www.mindspring.com/
>
> 4)The combination of a road bike using a fixed/free hub (I'm assuming
> fixed/free,
> rather than double fixed) with a freewheel seems weird, Perhaps it's
just
> a bike boom
> parts shortage thing?
>
> 5)If the wheels aren't actually right for the bike, did Raleigh make any
> cheap track
> bikes?
>
> Probably some silly questions, but I have to learn somehow.
>
> Steve Birmingham
> Lowell, Ma