Hi All

My wife seems to be showing a great deal of interest in these town/ shopping/ retro style bikes.
Been looking at some on Ebay, however has anyone ridden these as regards weigh, gearing etc

my mum ws dead keen on a dutch bike – after riding a few – hires and wotnot she bought a specialized globe.

It has a similar riding position but much lighter. 8 gears and better brakes.

weight tends to be high and gearing – 3 or 5 speed Sturmey Archer.

Great in flatish areas but if you live anywhere with ‘proper’ hills on routes you’ll ride regularly then they can be difficult if you want to arrive at a destination in a reasonable state to work etc (but this is probably true for anything tbh). Although you can always push up hills and coast down 🙂

My Wife has a Bobbin Birdie. It’s lighter that some Dutch style bikes but still weighs a ton, to be honest weight isn’t a big issue on this type of bike.
She hasn’t used it loads so I can’t comment on the durability.

Dutchie bikes aren’t safe on UK roads, you can only pass them on the left hand side.

Ah well. Tough audience!

Didn’t Halfords launch a range of dutch-ish shopping bikes under the Pendleton name a while back?

My wife has a s/h Pashley Princess, it weigh’s more than me and the gearing is only suitable for pottering along the flat – to quote her: “but it looks pretty” – I tried the lighter but slightly different looking approach and it had to be loop framed, it had to have a basket and it had to be black. we went for a family ride round carsington water, and my 6 year old (on a Jamis X20) burned past her on a number of climbs, she spent a lot of the time uphill walking.

Look at the average journey of the dutch bike….. It aint long nor is it full of hills.

I wanted a bakfiets – but after riding one in amsterdam – i dont anymore

We sell Bobbin and whilst they are heavy, they are lighter than equivalent pashleys and significantly cheaper. As previously mentioned, the weight isn’t really a big issue with this type of bike. The position really dictates you’re speed/ability to be efficient. We’ve sold loads and everyone who I’ve subsequently spoken to says that they’re ace fun and that thy can manage hills etc perfectly well.

Got my wife one of these:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/t10-2011-womens-hybrid-bike-ec001535

As it has that retro, dutchie, style shape and is steel, but has 21 gears and is a lot lighter than a pashley type bike.

With a nice big wicker basket on the front she was satisfied with it, and then later appreciated it when having to climb the small hills in the village.

Probably looks better in real life than that picture.