Royal Dutch Gazelle and Bosch Team Up To Create the $4K Ultimate T10 HMB Trekking E-Bike

Folks, that company is Royal Dutch Gazelle, a bicycle manufacturer that's been around more than most others on the market. Even major companies like Trek, Giant, and Specialized seem like mere younglings compared to grandad Gazelle.

Well, the way this company has stayed alive all these years is by simply creating a product that's desirable and capable. Overall, this crew still produces over 250,000 bikes each year. Nowadays, on the other hand, this crew seems to be focused on e-bike production. Time to see what they can achieve.

The way to see what Gazelle can do is to simply pick out a bike from their arsenal and tear it down piece by piece to see what you could be in for. The e-bike for today is Ultimate T10 HMB, a city-going machine with everything you need for everyday life and use in an urban setting.

Now, one of the things Gazelle prides itself on is comfort, and T10 looks to be set for that for sure. Everything, from the suspension integrated into the fork to the step-through frame and slightly curved handlebars, is meant to keep you riding for longer.

Speaking of the frame, Gazelle uses nothing more than aluminum to create the tubing for the bike. One aspect of the structure is the step-through design I mentioned. With it, mounting and dismounting should be a breeze, not to mention the safety aspect of an open frame. But Gazelle produces a version with a top tube too. This does affect the geometry of the bike and gives it a relatively solid trekking bike feel.

However, everything else remains the same, and being an e-bike, we must look at what's powering this trinket. Well, when companies with an outstanding history look for a manufacturer of e-bike components, one name comes up again and again, Bosch.

Sure enough, Gazelle called upon the electric expertise of Bosch and is furnishing T10 with nothing more than a Performance Line mid-mounted motor with a respectable 65 Nm (48 lb-ft) of torque. This motor has also been dialed in with a max speed of 20 mph (32 kph).

We all know that Bosch works best with Bosch, so the battery is from the same manufacturer. Integrated into T10's down tube is a PowerTube 500 with 500 Wh of juice. With four speed settings, you'll achieve a range anywhere from 70 mi (112 km) on Eco mode down to 25 mi (40 km) on Turbo mode. However, these numbers are affected by road conditions.

To transform T10 into a reliable and capable machine, each unit has several mounts to convert this bike into a trek-worthy bike. There are fenders mounted to help keep things clean and racks to add bags and anything else you want. Then there's that 40 mm (1.6 in) of travel mounted onto the fork, enough to reduce bumps and vibrations without affecting your ride too much.

Four-piston hydraulic brakes, Ryde Dutch Rims, and Schwalbe Energizer Plus tires make up the wheels, while a headlight, taillight, and internal cable routing make T10 seem more than just a bike to ride around town. Overall, it's going to weigh 50.7 lbs (23 kg).

So, how much is all this going to run you? Well, they're starting at 4,000 USD (3,588 EUR at current exchange rates), and depending on what you add to it, you can go a bit higher than that price. Something to consider if you're in the market for an equipped e-bike.