[Closed] dutch city bikes

Even with mechanical disks, if you're just pootling round town, an annual service will be plenty.

Really? I neglect my bikes at times, but the chains tend to get oiled at least once a month once they start going rusty! The Dutch bikes are designed in a way that you should have to worry or concern yourself with very little. You just go out and ride it and it looks after itself. Weight is an issue, but only depending on terrain and how fast you intend to get about.

I have a Kona MinUte which has a much more upright seating position full guards and rack, a very civilised way to commute and haul stuff but it's not a match on a proper Dutch bike. I'm going to replace it with a Dutch bike so I can go to a proper enclosed chain (to keep my clothes clean) and a low maintenance hub gear.

*Edit

Just checked back thru my mail and the order details for crank were (sorry for copy/paste capital punishment!):

SHIMANO NEXUS CHAINSET

FOR USE WITH GEARED HUB / FIXIE

LENGTH OF ARMS: 170MM

33 TOOTH ALLOY SPROCKET

SQUARE BB FITMENT

MODEL: FC-NX40

mattyfez - Member
Yeh, in a week.

Those upright bikes have gears and roll really well. Don't underestimate them.

(I've done a century+ around Wester Ross on a 1930s singlespeed dreadnaught, so younger fitter people shouldn't have any problem.)

The Dutch bikes are designed to be robust, if your Mrs can handle a heavy bike then go for it.

In terms of service they are designed to be as strong as they can be so the servicing of items is not as critical as your MTB.

The internal hubs are not really a home service item although the cables etc that control them are just as easy as any other shifter.

My daughter bought herself [url= http://granvillebikes.com/product/summerside-7v/ ]one of these[/url] in Belgium last summer, and rides it both here in Cardiff, and there. She loves it, and has no issue with weight because she uses it for what it is meant to be used for: pootling around town on paths, getting to her ballet classes, and going down to the shops.

I think it's a fantastic machine, and want to get her mum one as well.

The obvious answer is an elephant bike. £250 for a pashley with hub gears and drum brakes. Always gets admiring comments around town. And they send a bike to Africa for everyone sold here

https://elephantbike.co.uk/

Heavy enough for their own gravitational field, robust enough to never need maintenance. Mine has drum brakes, three speed inside a chainguard, integrated panniers and is generally just a great shopping workhorse. I take particular enjoyment sitting on roadies wheels into Windsor at 20 mph (of course I ride other bikes too 😈 ). Sparta! (Or Gazelle, Batavus...)

Elephant bike is an excellent UK-sourced (ex Pashley postie) bike. Paper bike is another with a little more style.

I use my Elephant Bike for getting to/from work and for getting around town, shopping, etc.

It's absolutely brilliant - I've done almost 3000km since getting it and have done nothing apart from oil the chain and fix a puncture (a drawing pin made it through the rear tyre, but all the glass I've ridden over hasn't); I only washed it for the first time the other week.

It's great, but it's not quite as nice as my mate's Gazelle ( https://twitter.com/MatthewSnedker/status/863047844298620928). I think I'll upgrade eventually. In the meantime, this summer I'm making my Elephant Bike more Dutch by adding a chainguard and, maybe, some [url= https://www.reelight.com/en/ ]Reelights[/url] as a poor-man's dynamo hub.

----

buy it!

I'm in Edinburgh and ride a similar although elderly Batavus 3spd dutch bike everywhere. Work, shops, the park, the pub, the dentist, with child seat, trailer, panniers, whatever. It lives outside, and only ever requires an occasional bit of air in the tyres.

Mudguards, chaincase, hub brakes, centre stand, racks and basket. Weighs a tonne or thereabouts, but it doesn't matter. It just glides along.

It's ACE. Honestly. I used to ride mountain bikes with slicks or road bikes around town, and the dutch bike is better in every respect apart from outright speed, because that is what it is designed for. My extremely civilised commute now takes about 20 mins, compared to 17 or so on a 'faster' bike.

get it bought!

I may upgrade to a slightly more modern gazelle at some point, as my friend sells them in his bike shop.

*mine is 'unisex' too, for full effect

She loves the riding position though

*s*****

I love dutch bikes, I still get a kick out of seeing so many bikes whizzing around when im in the Netherlands.

It's the sort of bike where you don't have to think about getting kitted up and ready, you just get on it and go whenever you want/need to and whatever you are wearing.

So, every bike ever then?!

I spent a fantastic six months seconded to a branch of my work out at Cults, Aberdeenshire many years ago which meant I had a 10 mile commute. The only bike available to me was my mum's 1940s BSA Ladys' Shopper - a step-through behemoth with three speeds. As mentioned, the incredibly high riding position was fantastic and on the flat, it went like stink once you got the momentum going.

Those Elephant bikes are ace.

FWIW, MrsIHN has a Dawes Duchess sit-up-beg Dutch style bike for riding the mile and a bit through town to work. It's the shizzle. As someone up there /\ said, once you ride that style of bike through a town, you realise that it's exactly the tool for the job.

what about a mixte road bike?
not sure of your budget but crème cycle so a couple of nice retro looking mixte and dutch style bikes.

But seriously how many people would buy that bike?

If we had Dutch infrastructure, everyone would have one

You've gotta remove your 'cyclist' head with all the knowledge it contains and wear a 'cheap transport' head instead.
Dutch bikes make sooooooo much sense it's untrue. How many cyclists do we all know who ride a nice bike, go on the organised ride, wear the right gear and belong to a club...... Then as soon as they need to do the shopping they get in a goddam car?!!?!!
Bikes like this are built for short journeys and carrying a load. EVERYONE needs one, if only they'd take the blinkers off 🙂

Three words:
Royal Dutch Gazelle
They make some awesome bikes, better quality than anything I've ever seen this side of a hand brazed custom bike. And they're stupendous value. £600 gets hub gears, drum brakes, integral Dynamo lighting, integral lock, bell and side stand, a rack and a tool free adjustable stem to change the position of the bars. They build their own wheels and as the bikes are designed to be left outside, everything on it is stainless steel, galvanised, or covered in 4 layers of paint. I can't over exaggerate how well these Gazelles are made. They make Trek, Giant, Spesh et al look cheap and nasty.

That's a good point. They're a form of transport, not a form of exercise or sport. Everyone has one and they get used for daily activities that you would use a car for

But I wouldn't want to be doing hilly stuff on them

And it took me ages to get used to coaster brakes! Rolling up to lights and then back pedalling so I could pull away for a right leg first start wasn't possible, had to learn to roll up to lights in the right position

Mine

[img] ?oh=90cb65eafaac48c4021efa2f7a76d611&oe=59B608CB[/img]

Sparta girls bike with longer seatpost. Brought back from Utrecht.

it took me ages to get used to coaster brakes!

I borrowed a German Strike Bike for a month and it took a while to get used to the coaster brake, but I loved it once I did. The next time I rode my MTB I almost fell off at the first corner when I tried to brake by back pedaling.

I have access to [url= http://darlovelo.org/our-bikes/our-model-range/ ]a warehouse full of Dutch bikes[/url] 🙂

And what's more, you can't do this so easily on a hybrid:

[img] [/img]

So, every bike ever then?!

Well, nearly but no.

I don't wear tight jeans and never wear posh clothes outside of funerals and weddings, but my step-thru Dutch has full guards and onboard lock/s, panniers, and 'always-on' dynamo lighting/phone charging. It's the epitome of all-weather 'grab nothing, wear anything, stepthru and ride, stop and kick-stand, turn key in wheel-lock and go' bikes

Can't do any of that on my road bike or ATB, have to find lock, stow lock, charge and fit lights, attach panniers, etc. And I still worry about leaving them locked. Not so with the Batavus. I lost the key to the rear (wheel) lock and had to buy a new lock. It took an angle-grinder to remove the old one. Lucky it was at home - could have been a scene in the street, or else a(nother) hernia carrying the swine home.

But I wouldn't want to be doing hilly stuff on them

Agreed. But a new Nexus chainset with a few more gnashers cost me £15. Now hills.

And it took me ages to get used to coaster brakes

Don't favour them either. Not at all. But not all Dutch bikes are equal in that. Mine came with front and rear Shimano roller-brakes and they do fine once you adjust to the 'gentle stop'

Forgot to say (again) -

Shhhhh, but (utilitarian and slightly ill-kempt) Dutch bikes are also seemingly invisible to tea-leafing scrotes. May be worth two or three times more than a Carrera MTB or road bike, but it sits there under a cloak of fugly fog, a fog which prevents a scrote from registering it at all.

I bloody love my Dutch stealth-battle-cruiser. It's the one bike that's a true keeper. Am still surprised at this as I bought it cheaply and with a raised eyebrow and low expectations. They really do know how to put a town/cargo-bike together. To steal a phrase - it just works. Except it really does.

I spent a bit of time looking at Dutch bikes in order to get all my crap to and from work. This place is seems to turn up on my Facebook feed...

benp1 - Member
...But I wouldn't want to be doing hilly stuff on them..

Why not? Simply a matter of gearing.

They handle climbs perfectly well as well as a bit of gravel (they should, that was what roads were when they were invented).

[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8538/8610684106_283c6c3325_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8538/8610684106_283c6c3325_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

thanks malvern rider for the info.

seems to be a lot of love for these which is good to hear. She is quite excited at the prospect of getting it now.

I think if we had heard of the elephant bikes project earlier we may have got one as we both like to support such projects.

I've 'volunteered' to ride it back home, should be fun

I've 'volunteered' to ride it back home, should be fun

Could be! How many sizes small is it? 😉

+100 Peter Poddy's epic post. Truth!

not sure if it's been suggested, i read through some of the post but not all. anyway the best dutch style bike around is the Paper Bicycle

http://www.paper-bicycle.com/hustle/

anyway the best dutch style bike around is the Paper Bicycle

Seems expensive for a singlespeed high ten with no AXA locks and almost everything else (hub generator, gears, rack, lights etc) extra on top? Speccing it the same as a Batavus Personal (this is hi ten with 26ers and all the gubbins) puts it over £100 more and that's still lacking integrated locks.

Any reason why it's a better option than a 'real' actual Dutch one, ie a modern aluminium Gazelle?
A C7 comes in at 570 with everything
Genuine interest as looking at a small fleet of town bikes for friend's project

aye well it may be a bit small! Im 6'4" but when i lived in Germany spent my time on a bike that was way too small but at the end of the day it was a bike and I had tons of fun hooning around.

I've done a century+ around Wester Ross on a 1930s singlespeed dreadnaught

Who wouldn't love a bike named 'Dreadnaught'!

Malvern Rider - Member
'I've done a century+ around Wester Ross on a 1930s singlespeed dreadnaught'
Who wouldn't love a bike named 'Dreadnaught'!

However there was a small manufacturer around the late 1890s and early 1900s who branded his bikes Dreadnaught with a fine badge of a pre WW1 battleship. I have some of the original transfers and am tempted to create an authentic looking replica. I don't know if it was the same mob, but there is also a Birmingham version. My guess is they were shop (lbs) built hearth brazed frames that got the brand transfers applied, a bit like generic Chinese frames get in the UK.

[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4191/34566751761_9bf428e376.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4191/34566751761_9bf428e376.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

I haven't been able to find out much about them as a brand, so if anyone knows anything definite about Dreadnaughts, I'm all ears.

BTW There was a police report of a stolen one in 1899, so if you folks with Victorian houses check down the back of the shed, who knows - it could be returned to its grateful owner. 🙂

Nothing to contribute - but loving this thread. Elephant bikes look great.

I definitely need an errand bike, cause I'm sure I'll find a bunch of errands that need doing very soon.

Shameless erranding:

Buying Mrs some flowers: (much beer cunningly concealed in pannier 😉 )

[IMG] [/IMG]

Nearly out of coffee? Not really but just in case..:

[IMG] [/IMG]

Need me to deliver a flannel shirt to you in Tintagel, via the coastal path? Oh go on then...(you din't see me, roight?)

[IMG] [/IMG]

Any excuse 🙂

But I wouldn't want to be doing hilly stuff on them

If I was somewhere hilly I'd get an electric one. 16mph up any hill. 🙂

Malvern Rider (and PeterPoddy and anyone else with experience of the step through frame), I would be interested to know what you think of the step through frames - usually marketed as the ladies' version - as opposed to those with a cross bar/top tube.

I suspect that they are so overbuilt that the traditional arguments against ladies' and mixte touring frames, e.g. too flexy, don't apply to these bikes.

If you were buying one (again), would you get the step though version or one with a top tube?

^ I didn't choose unisex, it just came that way at the right price 🙂

Functionally I find the step-thru quite useful as far as super-loading with shopping/cargo as it seems easier to stabilise when mounting and dismounting. Those actions are also quicker and easier with a step-thru. Super-relaxercise. Even in tight jeans, best trews or a short-skirt as is also the kind of bike all kinds of friends want to borrow or ride along on, either on the rack or standing on the pedals in front of you. I like a versatile bike to be the most versatile.

Yes I'd have a stepthru again. Only thing it limits IMO is the inability to mount on a vehicle bike rack by a top-tube. You can buy clamp-on tubes for that tho so no biggie. You're right on the overbuiltness, no concerns there so far on most all-terrain except laden offroad downhilling maybe! I'd still worry more about the roller-brakes than it folding on me 😉

Pretty sure unisex and stepthru bikes don't carry the same social stigma for men in the Netherlands as they do in the UK?

The step thru frame is really useful for when loaded.

The best part of the Elephant Bike is the 'basket' on the front.

Yeah, if it was hilly then an electric one would be great

The one I rode in Berlin (but was a Dutch bike with a hub gear and coaster brakes) was fine for pootling but was bloody heavy, so the hilly stuff was ok but any serious stuff would be painful

(I have a 3 speed Brompton which I love!)

Are coaster brakes the back pedal ones? They're bloody awful in my experience. I had one on my old commuter and despite riding it 5 days/week it still caught me out occasionally (not being able to make the pedals horizontal at traffic lights was a total PITA). I wouldn't have another. Hub gears and dynamo hubs make a lot of sense for commuting though. I'd have a Dutch bike for commuting if I didn't live 5 miles away. They're immensely practical but deeply uncool; so less of a thief target compared to similar priced MTB/hybrid/road bikes/CX (I assume?!).

I'd have a Dutch bike for commuting if I didn't live 5 miles away

My round-trip grocery runs are 5 or 16 miles depending on what we need. It's a breeze once I sorted the ratios! Roller brakes and hub gears/front generator. Agreed on the coaster brakes, our kid had some on his cruiser, I couldn't get on with them at all.

Becausen they are functional and utilitarian they are cool. Plus they did the whole matt black stealth look way before rock shox came up with black stanchions.

Malvern rider love the photos.

Malvern Rider (and PeterPoddy and anyone else with experience of the step through frame), I would be interested to know what you think of the step through frames - usually marketed as the ladies' version - as opposed to those with a cross bar/top tube.

I'd have a step through every time. I've ridden quite a few and you just sort of walk onto the bike. None of this cocking your leg over mullarky.
Plus, add a load on the front and rear and that's a lot of bulk to get your leg round. You just walk into the bike, kick the sidestand back and ride off.

I want a Gazelle Heavy Duty NL. Step thru.... 🙂

My old batavaus step through is ace for all the reasons above. It's quite simply the most civilised and practical bike I have. Being a bit old and of extremely skinny lugged construction, it is quite amusingly flexible (especially when loaded with child on the back and a basket load of stuff on the front), but it really doesn't matter. It only makes it more comfortable over the cobbles in Edinburgh.

If I get a replacement it's likely to be a Gazelle Heavy Duty NL like PP, and it may well be a step through too!

Oh, and I commute about 9 miles a day on it, often a bit more.

It's the same as this, but a bit older and with a big old rack on the front.

[img] [/img]

PS. who reckons the OP will want one for himself after collecting this one?

I'd have a Dutch bike for commuting if I didn't live 5 miles away.

This is the perfect kind of bike for that kind of use.

I pointed a friend at one of these a few years back and she's still loving it.
http://www.bikefix.co.uk/S300
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