A venerable ebike

[RobF]

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon helping my local bike shop fix an oldish Gazelle ebike.

Panasonic crank drive, Nexus hub, two hub/drum brakes, step-through, swept back bars with a twisty bell and gear change.

Controls limited to three levels - I think - and a three light battery meter.

The rear sprocket was worn and letting the chain jump, so it was a wheel off job to replace.

Quite a faff, the enclosed chaincase is in several bits, then there's the brake and gears to disconnect.

Typical Gazelle, everything was well made and if anything, over engineered.

We changed a frayed cable and the mechanic commented the original was a stainless steel one - not often seen these days.

Sprocket change was straightforward after which I took the old girl for a brief test.

Pleasant enough ride, although it didn't feel as powerful as my Rose/Bosch.

A couple of questions, there was no brake cut off, which meant mounting and dismounting needed a bit of care.

Would there have been one fitted originally?

What age might the bike be?

No pics, I'm afraid, but it was a customer's bike - recent purchase from ebay - it would have been a bit cheeky taking a pic without permission.

 

[flecc]

They didn't have any cutoffs, in common with Panasonic unit pedelecs in general. Gazelle specified the lowest power unit for this model which was of course primarily for their Dutch market. It was unusual in being the last to have an 8Ah battery as standard with this unit. Just over £1500 when new in 2007, it was the first e-bike with the second series Panasonic unit to reach the UK, beating the Kalkhoff Agattu by several months.

Gazelle soon dropped it in favour of the hub motor Innergy model.

 

[davidw]

They didn't have any cutoffs, in common with Panasonic unit pedelecs in general. Gazelle specified the lowest power unit for this model which was of course primarily for their Dutch market. It was unusual in being the last to have an 8Ah battery as standard with this unit. Just over £1500 when new in 2007, it was the first e-bike with the second series Panasonic unit to reach the UK, beating the Kalkhoff Agattu by several months.

Gazelle soon dropped it in favour of the hub motor Innergy model.

I had one. Here is a photo of it in its prime

 

[oldtom]

Great style and the Dutch have that in spades when it comes to leisure/utility bikes.

Tom

 

[flecc]

Yes Tom, they really did have style. I particularly liked that headlamp integration into the fork crown, showed imagination.

As well as David above, former member Indalo had a Gazelle and always liked it. He may well still have it.

 

[RobF]

I had one. Here is a photo of it View attachment 8706 in its prime

That's just the same as the one I was playing with, even down to the colour.

 

[davidw]

I had one. Here is a photo of it View attachment 8706 in its prime

Yes it was a lovely bike and it and I did many miles together both up north in this country and in Extremadura Spain. More reliable cycling weather out there!