In this video, I explain how Dutch bikes differ from American bikes. As an American in the Netherlands, I’m thoroughly impressed with the Dutch biking infrastructure. But while Dutch urban planning is amazing, the BIKES are a big part of what make the cycling experience so great.
#travel #travelvlog #cycling #netherlands #american #europe
42 Comments
A 'male' bike provides more stability, based on the similar tubing stiffness. Why: the shape is stronger. A strong stiff frame allows for a better handling, especially at higher speeds or with emergency turns or to carry more people and bagage. The male bike frame is strong. A Gazelle is at the top level, 700 new is ok. Mine lasts 18 years (Gazelle), new tires and small parts, excellent. The classic brands are Gazelle, Batavus, Sparta, very Dutch. Gazelle built in Dieren, which has an Intercity station at walking distance from the factory. You can visit Gazelle daily! (the factory). A quality Gazelle e-bike costs about twice as much as a Chinese brand. But they don't last or have the build quality. The brands don't last either. So: a second hand Gazelle is often an excellent bike, certainly when you get one fixed up from a bike shop. They just last! I ride my Gazelle to high school 10 miles one way, for years! It survived everthing: no corrosion, survived bangs and drops and falls, survived ice and heat and bumpy roads and lots of load and passengers and drunk riding – the frame is key, nothing beats a Gazelle or Batavus. And after many years: you can still get original parts even in original colors. Wow. Fat bike: leisure. Bakfiets: again, get a good brand! Gelderland: Gazelle world. Dieren is a town in the heart of Gelderland. Take the ferry across the Ijssel, visit medieval Doesburg or Zutphen, back to the Western side of the Ijssel along the river to a classic car place dealer in Spankeren or the town center in Brummen. The Zutphensestraatweg in Dieren has a wonderful ice cream parlor. Castles and towers everywhere. Great day, bike touring, in spring.
14:00 I think every man using a men's bike have crushed their nuts on the frameat an emergency stop at least once. At least
🙏🏾🙏🏾
I’ve had a bike stolen in my home city(Amsterdam). A day later, after a night out, I saw a random junkie on the side of the road selling that exact bike. Wanted 10 euros to sell it back to me. In the end I bought him some McDonald’s and he gave it back to me, good dude!
Are you removed to Gelderland (Vaassen)? Near at my place Apeldoorn. Welcome, enjoy and concrats with you excellent choice.🤗
Yeah as a dutch bike mechanic i always feel bad seeing americans pedal around on those cheap mickey-mouse department store bikes. Lol for every 'core' bike brand i've known this holds true; being sold at Walmart means the brand sold out. Which usually impacts quality when given some time.
Regardless (because there are decent bikes at department stores) i've always seen dutch brands as FAR superior to any other bike. Fun fact i was educated and worked at the Gazelle factory in Dieren, Gelderland.
Just get new batteries dude. No need to get new lights. You wouldn't buy a new gas tank for your car if you ran out of gas right?
Ehm… those lights are battery powered. Usually just AA or AAA.
And of course you don't carry spares, but they are interchangeable.
dude, i love this but you are just scratching the surface. weight capacity, brake systems, alternators, shocks, the transmission options are endless, single speed, 3 speed, 21 speed, footbrake, v brake, hydrolic, , drums, etc. electrically asisstested. kids on the back and the front with ‘saddlebags’ , with a trailer for kids or dogs, it is all there. and that would be the ‘standard bike’ not alking about the ‘bakfiets’, fatbika, mountainbike etc. just the normal fiets. so if you need content, you got one.
You should try an ebike, sooo much more convenient and comfortable then a regular bike
That's a low end Gazelle as well, it's their cheap rental line. Go to a bike store and check out some fancy city bikes man!
I ride a 2003 Gazelle impala, still works like a beast!
If you buy a bike you get 2 keys with the bike . So 1 reserve key you can save at home.
Lady bikes. Brrrrrrr.
Your video makes me a bit uneasy because you turn your back to the bike when it's unlocked. 😀 I taught myself to lock it even if i park it at my friends, not because i am worried it will get stolen there but more to keep it a habit that i dont think about and lock it automaticly so i won't forget it.
The "female" bike frame was from the time that women wore long skirts , this way stepping on the bike was more "modest"
Instead of bike baskets a lot of bikes have bike bags instead. I dont know if its the reason but i guess because it doesnt weight down the steer.
Nice to see how bikes can differ between countries .
Nice and very standard bike the Gazelle.
Always use a stringlock as second against pick,carry&load
I always ride with back saddlebags for my city bike carrying the 2nd lock.
Oh btw; The name fatbike originated from the MTB world!
And yes I have 5 totally different bikes! 😉
Ehh.. e-bike, race, mtb, city and cruiser. All 2nd hand. 😀
Leuk kanaal trouwens! 🙂
3:25 you'd be surprised how often 'the guild' managed to grab a whole bunch of bikes locked just by that 'frameslot' by using a semi-official looking small flatbed truck. With modern GPS tracking on bikes, and the common use of chains or cables, it is less of an issue but 20, 30, 40 years ago this happened a lot. Even from semi-guarded places like schoolyards.
A funny, universally unexplained phenomenon involving 'frame-sloten' is that, no matter when and even though the wheel spokes make up a tiny percentage of the space, every single time you try to lock your bike… the lock hits a spoke on the first attempt.😂
Cool to see you moved to Gelderland, so did I a month ago (Nunspeet). If you ever wanna try the mountainbiking trails through the Veluwe forests let me know. You can rent MTB's as well per day for the same price you rented your bike for per month.
18:30 Dutch bikes easily last 20 to 25 years.
I’m a female but I love the male bikes because the frame has a lot of stability, it feels different. But you need trousers. The brake activated with the pedals is also typically Dutch, robust and maintenance free. I find it also safer than front brakes. If you brake to hard on the front brakes you can roll over, This cannot happen with brakes beneath your central weight . Also you can buy Dutch bikes from 500 euro or so but quality has a price. And you have a lot of other kinds of bikes like a typical transport bike to fit a crate in front of you, then the bakfiets for transport, then the bike for children transport, the bike for dog transport…
I think most Dutch children at one point lost their cycle key. It is part of growing up Dutch. I lost my key in a library of a cloister where I made my final thesis for history. Nobody ever came there and it was a beautiful building and a big library. Twenty years later I read in the newspaper that the cloister will be demolished. What a shame, I decided to go back one more time for memories sake. I stepped inside, and the first thing I saw, was my old bicycle key lying on the floor! I recognised it immediately. It had the same color as the tiled floor (black with silver and reddish inserts). So, after twenty years I got my key back. The bicycle was long gone (stolen) so, yeah….
If a dutch cop wants to be salty, you really need reflectors in the wheels as well. 😂
The male/female bikes are a bit old fashioned. The idea was that women wear robes and then they could go on and off their bikes and bike with robes, dresses or skirts, these usually also have a different type of saddle. But the frame is less stiff than the male one. Males have more power in their legs. A triangle frame is stronger and thus less "wobbly" if driven fast. A male type bicycle feels more stable in extreme conditions. It is all a bit old fashioned nowadays.
Its all about reliability and low maintenance. Its very much a tool that needs to work in order to get you from A to B.
Do you know that in The Netherlands there are more bicycles than inhabitants? 😅
You cannot get a Gazelle bike for 450 Euros. Make it at least 700, up to 1100 for non-assisted bikes. Electric bikes up to 2500 Euro.
you can fix every part of the bike yourself, all you need is some screwdrivers and a set of spanners, i have been repearing my own bikes since i was 15 years old, if the light stops working open the unit and change the lightbulb or the battery´s, if you have a flat tire take the tire of, find the hole and fix it, repair sets are sold at every bikeshop and supermarket.
i think its sad a grown men cant fix something so simple as a bike, its not that hard.
Anatomically, the women’s bike should be the men’s bike. ⚽️⚽️
So the lights are not battery powered?
Day 376 waiting to see Jordan Green on a bike…
Today i saw a "bakfiets" a transport bike in Austin texas. A delivery guy was riding it.
If you consider getting a front basket, consider buying one that attaches to the frame instead of hanging on the handlebar, because when heavy loaded the latter model makes steering difficult and heavier.
The reason most Dutch don’t have a basket or carrying bags on the back transport rack is because that isn’t cool, it’s for suckers, the same reason why the majority refuses to use helmets!😂😂
Helmets are for old people!!
you have an urban accent, why not try to sound like Kanye
Pounding that algorithm 😂 🤙
The bakfiets you are referring to, is a modern one. A classic one looks quite different, not meant for children, but for stuff.
Hello kind sir. Born and grown up in Den Haag, I have had about 5 bikes stolen from me throughout the years. With a small electric angular grinder you plough through the bar of the fixed lock quite easily. So you always have to chain in up as well if the bike stays out of sight for a while 😅
The cheapest Gazelle would be about 700 euros I guess. The model you are showing might be 1000 euro or up.
An e-bike from Gazelle starts at about 2500 euro.
A bike with a basked often does not fit well in the bike racks. I think it is also more difficult to manoeuvre. But I don’t know because I never had a bike with a basked.
Doesn't even hit on the fact we use internal gear hub shifting (for the most part) instead of derailleurs
"it can be inconvenient if you lose the key" 🙂
The low step is for females, to make it easier to hop on with a (tight) skirt. The male bike frame, where you have to swing your leg over the seat, is structurally stronger because of the straight tube directly from your steering tube directly to the seatpost. Basically you have 2 triangles and in structural terms; triangles can be deformed. For the lights; on the newer bikes there is a dynamo in the front axle. The lights have a light sensor and come on when it gets dark automatically. For repair, if you can't fix it yourself, you just go to a bike shop. Gazelle and Batavus, are the older brands that still make great bikes. If you really want to go upscale you look for a Koga where you can also order some models bespoke. As a teenager I had a bike to go to school every day 15km one way. It lasted 10 years but was brutally used as a teenager. If you take care and store it inside, your bike will last 30 years or even more. BTW, about american bikes, Cannondale, originally from Connecticut, are expensive top end bikes you should check out.
For us Dutch this is "just a bike". Great to see that you can actually make a 20 minute video on it. :^)