Description
Top of the range Gazelle
Gazelle, as the largest manufacturer of bikes in the Netherlands are rightly well known for the quality of their bikes. We love them and the only problem we have had is that because the Dutch people are (on the whole) large people we find some of our customers struggle to get on them.
This is the step through version. It is also available with a cross bar.
The main advantages of this bike over our other gazelles are its Activeline Plus motor compared to Activeline (giving a 25% increase in torque to 50Nm and allowing a maximum of 275% additional wattage rather than 250%) and a more elegant design owing to the fact that its battery is blended into the downtube rather than sat on top of the back wheel. However whilst it still has a suspension seat post it no longer has front for suspension like the C7 HMB.
The Electric System
Another reason for choosing this bike is that it comes with the more powerful and relatively light motor, the activeline plus. This motor has 25% more torque (oomph) than the activeline motor, so certainly for the hills around Surrey and indeed many parts of the UK this will make life a lot easier. This motor is also good for those who want to cycle without assistance from time to time. This is because when the motor is turned off it is completely disengaged from the chain so it is lust like riding a conventional bike.
This bike comes with the largest possible 500 Watt hour battery, capable of easily 50 miles range with use in varying levels.
Bike Detail
The Grenoble Elite is a high end model with some great touches to make it a little bit more special.
Gazelles are made to be comfortable, easy to maintain and extremely durable. The Dutch like their bikes to last a life-time and that’s how they build them.
Leather grip on the Gazelle Grenoble
To make it comfortable it has a suspension seatpost, very nice spongy saddle and suspension in the headset. The handlebars are easily adjustable to get your preferred sitting position.
For lower maintenance the chain is completely enclosed and even has brushes inside the chain guard to keep it clean. The hubs gears also need next to no maintenance and last far longer than derailleur gears.
The tyres are wider than most also adding to the comfort and enabling to more readily tackle potholes and bumps.
Other features on the bike include a rack, mudguards and good, effective lights than run off the battery. It also has a sturdy kick stand.
Colours
The two colours for this bike are black matt or Sienna (a kind of sandy gold). The smaller sizes (42 and 46 cm) are only available in the black.
Our Conclusion
We are great fans of the Gazelle bikes because of their build quality. This bike will be better suited to the UK market than some of the other models because of the more powerful motor and the smaller size. Strongly recommended for those that love the Dutch style of cycling.
This bike wins out over the other gazelles if you plan to travel over hillier ground due to the stronger motor which will ensure you can get up the steepest hills without sweating. In addition, having the battery in the downtube (we think) makes the bike look better and has no real impact on weight distribution either.
Warranty
Gazelle’s confidence in the quality of their bikes is backed up by a 10 years warranty on the frames, 5 years on suspension front forks and 2 years on all other components.
We currently only have this model in the 49cm Medium frame size.
