Royal Dutch Gazelle is the largest and most famous

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

manufacturer in the Netherlands. Gazelle employs 550 workers at its factory in

Dieren Dieren () is a town in the eastern Netherlands. It is located in Rheden, Gelderland, between Zutphen and Arnhem, on the bank of the IJssel. Dieren was a separate municipality until 1818, when it became a part of Rheden. The Gazelle bicycle facto ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, producing 300,000 bicycles a year. Total production has passed 13 million.

History

1892-1919

The company was founded 1892 by Willem Kölling and Rudolf Arentsen. Initially they sold bicycles imported from England. They started their own production using the Gazelle name in 1902.

1920-1949

During the period from the 1920s to the 1940s, Gazelle had success exporting bicycles to the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

. Many Gazelle bicycles survive throughout

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

even today and are a highly sought after Dutch collectors item. During this period, Gazelle was to use the Piet Pelle cartoon character throughout many advertising campaigns
This video
from 1925 shows the Gazelle factory and production techniques. Developments include a collapsible delivery bicycle in 1930 and a

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

bicycle introduced in 1935. An electric bicycle was produced in 1937 together with

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

1950-1979

In 1954 Gazelle became a public company and built its millionth bicycle. In 1959, Gazelle patented the first 3-speed grip shift gear system. Gazelle was the first Dutch bicycle manufacturer to introduce the "Kwikstep"

folding bicycle A folding bicycle is a bicycle designed to fold into a compact form, facilitating transport and storage. When folded, the bikes can be more easily carried into buildings, on public transportation (facilitating mixed-mode commuting and bicycl ...

in 1964. The front-hub drum brake was developed in 1968 and is still in production today. In the mid-1960s Gazelle built a "Special Racing Division" workshop at their factory in

. In this workshop race frames were handbuilt by skilled craftsmen. At the height of their commercial success (around 1980–1985) about 35 people were employed. Gazelle had success with the steel framed "Champion Mondial" bicycles and sponsored the now infamous TVMracing team. The team folded in 2000 because of a doping scandal.

1980-2009

The centenary in 1992 coincided with the eighth millionth bicycle produced.

Princess Margriet Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands (born 19 January 1943) is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. As an aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, she is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently ...

classified the company "Royal" Gazelle in honor of the anniversary. From then on one million bicycles were produced every three to four years. In 2009, Gazelle won the Dutch Bike of the Year with the Chamonix Innergy electric bike. This was the first time in the competition's history that an electric bike had won the prestigious award.

2010-present

In 2010, Gazelle was voted the most trusted bicycle brand in the

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

annual brand survey in Europe. In 2011 Gazelle was acquired by

Pon Holdings Pon Holdings BV is a Dutch conglomerate in the transport sector. It was founded in 1980 by Ben Pon, Jr., a former racing car driver and son of Ben Pon, Sr., who became the importer of Volkswagen in the Netherlands in 1947. Activities Tra ...

, co-owner of

Cervélo Cervélo Cycles is a Canadian manufacturer of racing and track bicycles. Cervélo uses CAD, computational fluid dynamics, and wind tunnel testing at a variety of facilities including the San Diego Air and Space Technology Center, in California, ...

bikes and importer of

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

in the Netherlands.

References

External links

Gazelle bicycle company website
{{Bicycle manufacturers of the Netherlands Cycle manufacturers of the Netherlands Dutch brands Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1892 Rheden