Gazelle (bicycle)

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Gazelle is the largest bicycle manufacturer in the Netherlands, and dominates the middle to high end bicycle market there.^{[citation needed]} It has a history of innovation and sound engineering with a reputation for building comfortable and reliable bicycles.^{[citation needed]} Gazelle has 550 employees at its factory in Dieren, and produces 350,000 bicycles each year.

The company was founded 1892 by Willem Kölling and Rudolf Arentsen. Initially they sold bicycles that had been imported from England but they started their own production using the Gazelle name in 1902. After changing hands several times, Gazelle is now owned by Glide Buy Out Fund, a Dutch venture capital fund.

In 2006, the bicycle frame production stopped at the Dieren factory. Gazelle frames are now built in China and then transported to the factory, where the bicycles are finished. Total production has passed 12 million bicycles.

Notable developments in the company's history include a tandem model in 1935 and an electric bicycle in 1937. In 1954 Gazelle became a public company and it built its 1 millionth bicycle. The Kwikstep folding bicycle was introduced in 1964. In recent years they have resumed production of electrically-assisted bicycles using modern motor, battery and control technologies, for instance with the Gazelle Easy Glider.