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The Dutch-style bicycle, an upright bicycle designed for comfort – not sport – is commonplace in the Netherlands. But they’re incredibly rare in many other countries.
This video explores why these bicycles are so useful, practical, and comfortable.
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Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:05 Omafiets & Practical Bicycles
0:49 Other bicycles in the Netherlands
1:10 Upright riding
2:20 Step-through frames
3:07 Coat guard and chain guard
3:34 Frame locks
5:07 Fenders, kickstands, & racks
6:05 In-hub gearing
6:28 Coaster brakes
7:12 Tires & tubes
7:39 Dynamos & bells
8:08 Upright bikes in Canada
9:14 Summary & Conclusion
10:03 Patreon shout-out
10:15 Outro
34 Comments
Bikes of this style are considered extremely daggy (uncool) in America or Australia, you really don’t see them here. They have heavy steel frames with lots of crap bolted to them making them better suited to flat cities like in Europe. The 3 speed hub gears don’t offer enough gears for hilly country. Light weight racing style bikes are far more efficient and effortless to cover miles and hills on.
These kinds of bikes are also. Found in Sweden.
Although a upright bike is not designed for fast cycling I can reach 30km/u on a single-speed bike (with no gears).
Atlas Cycles..lol
I’m a Canadian living in Belgium and my Ukrainian friend just suggested your channel to me. So you’re very international l. Thank you for pointing out the ridiculousness of “men’s bikes”. I rode my sister’s hand-me-down “girl’s bike” and always laughed at my friends who would ride bikes that constantly endangered their nuts.
Thanks for making this video. We are moving back to a NE (USA) city in Feb. and I plan on using my bike(s) for must of my transportation needs. Is there specific brands I should look for when purchasing?
Nice
U-locks are also ridiculously easy to break with an iron bar. Ducht bike thieves have long experience.
There is only one big problem with your dutch bicycles: They are unbearably UGLY.
I remember as a kid being talked out of getting a step-through bike because it was a "women's bike" and my experience with the mountain bike I got instead was… not bad, certainly, but confirmed exactly what I'd thought of while picking one out, and you said here: "Why is the 'mens' bike the one with the greatest risk of hitting your nuts?" Especially if, like me, you have proportionally-short legs, sliding forward off the seat just to stop in a stable position that you can easily resume from can mean having to be pretty gentle with how you dismount if you want to avoid pointless pain.
Thank You So Much The Netherlands for Going Green decades ago! 🌷🌿🌍💗🕊
All of these things are common in sweden to
sounds really great and practical, but the part where you said that it has no gear?? misfortunate, will still have to use sportbike
Those Dutch bikes must weigh half a ton. No thanks.
Please don't confuse Dutch bikes with Dutch-*style bikes (also called city bikes). In Europe, Dutch bikes are almost exclusively found in The Netherlands: back-pedalling breaks are illegal in most other countries, and the single speed and heavy weight make them impossible to use in other regions that aren't as flat. City bikes have similar features (upright ride, step-through frame, kickstand, mudguards/fenders, front and back lights etc) but they're not the same, in that they are significantly lighter, have handlebar breaks, and have several gears. It makes a huge difference in riding, even though visually they look very much the same. Dutch-style/city bikes might not last decades like Dutch bikes do as they require more maintenance, but they're way better for everyday transportation.
I believe the reason why they're considered "womens" bike is they're often rated for 85kg (190lbs) or lower.
Can confirm, the world best and worse bicycle. Buy cheap it will be the worse bicycle you ever use (no conventional brake, bad seat, single gear), buy decent price and you get the best commuter vehicle.
BMX is better
They are great bikes in The Netherlands but not in the Chiltern Hills when commuting. An F1 car is great on a track but not a grocery shop. Pointless video.
These "omafiets" seem very similar to the Southern California style "beach cruiser." Would you have had an easier time importing one of those to Canada?
I wish i could find bikes like this in Bulgaria. I can find some that have the right frame (labeled as "Girl's Bikes"), but without the other features.
We still call those men's bikes because men still dont wear skirts. And women's bikes are designed with skirts in mind. And because all kilt wearing Scottish men are actually women.
One more thing, these bikes go 2nd hand for as low as 50euro or even less. While still getting good quality, with this its easy for people to get into cycling. (Might also be because there are more bicycles in the Netherlandse then people)
There is better control with handlebars at a more straight position
The infrastructure is what adds to the design of the bike.
Wonderful sharing 👏💗😍👌💐👍👏👏👏👏
As someone who mainly uses bicycle to travel around my city, I completely disagree with this.
These bikes handle like a truck. They are heavier, the steering is awful because the handles are terrible, and as you said in the video, they are quite slow. Don't get why would someone like this, especially because of the lack of maneuverability due to the bad steering.
Road bikes all the way
As someone with chronic neck/ upper back problems, I appreciate that there are bikes where you can sit up straighter. Bending forward is not good for my back. Maybe there’s a bike where you can sit up straight but still go up and down hills more easily.
This looks so nice. I will likely never see or experience it in my life time.
It is more about the infrastructure then the bike, i live in Belgium and i have to cycling everywhere or take the bus or go by car but in Belgium you can have an amazing cycling path that suddenly stops and turns into a narrow concrete cycling path or not even a cycling path. Belgium are becoming more like dutch bikes, I really like my electric bike but my city bike is really hard to drive while it is way less hard on a dutch bike because its way less heavy
i ride my Dirt jumper or downhillbike to work haha
The big issue here is those bikes are heavy and you only commute by bike a quarter out of the year at best. If it's snowing or too hot you take the train or bus. Still, you don't have to pay for insurance on them or expensive fuels and maintenance. It is one of the most reliable things man kind has ever created and is found in just about every country on the planet and almost everyone knows how to ride it.
Thanks!
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