Are we ready for Dutch bicycles?

gazelle Dutch bicycles

The ‘mini Hollands’ project currently transforming three London suburbs into enclaves of cycling excellence could result in an influx of Dutch bicycles.

pedal-powered school bus

When you see pedal-powered yellow school buses on the streets, you’ll know the mini Holland grants have been a success

The £90m budget shared between Kingston, Enfield and Waltham Forest is being spent, for the most part, on major improvements to infrastructure, but other ‘softer’ measures include a variation of our own Back on a Bike roadshows. The results after three years should normalise a cheap, healthy and environmentally benign way of getting about of travelling that at present seems radical.

For example, there are children’s nurseries in London that use specially designed hand carts to transport kids to the local park, but the idea that the same group of infants might be carried about by bicycle would be considered by most schools too foolhardy to contemplate. However, when streets are designed with a consideration for children getting to and from school, such things may soon be considered the norm.

Dutch bicycles: A pedal-powered yellow school bus

Dutch bicycle manufacturer De Redding builds pedal-powered school buses capable of carrying up to eight toddlers

If you thought that Dutch bikes, with their comfortable seats and sit-up-and-beg riding position, were somehow old fashioned, think again. If you consider cycling a sport, then they are unlikely to appeal, but if you’re an A-to-B kind of cyclist that runs the odd errand, the Dutch bike ethos that you should enjoy optimum comfort and a great cycling experience is a far better match. A good example is the Gazelle C11, a city bike that boasts Shimano internal hub gears, mudguards, lights and a luggage rack as standard.

gazelle dutch bicycles

Dutch bicycles have a reputation for being tough and practical – attributes that make perfect town bikes. And those used to the uncompromising nature of fixed and single-speed bikes might welcome the fact that any Dutch town bike worth its salt comes equipped as standard with full-length mudguards, a stand and comfy seat. The Dutch are masters of the practical bicycle – they would no sooner sell a town bicycle without mudguards and lights as a car maker would sell a city runabout without windscreen wipers.

Are we ready to go Dutch?

Many would-be cycle commuters in Britain cite a lack of workplace showers as the reason they don’t travel by bike. It’s an excuse that would seem strange to the Dutch, who have a adopted a more relaxed, but no less efficient, approach to cycling and bicycle design. Not for them the a sweaty race to the office, or clothes splattered in rain and road muck because their commuter bike has no mudguards.

The incessant presentation of cycling as a sport and its reliance on expensive bikes and specialist clothing or equipment means few of those new to cycling consider anything beyond a road bike or MTB. It will be interesting to see whether the mini Hollands boroughs become havens not only for greater levels of cycling, but a broader range of bicycle type.

Cycle insurance whatever you ride

Whatever style of bicycle you choose to ride, cycle insurance from the ETA includes new-for-old, third party cover, personal accident cover, race event cover and if you suffer a mechanical breakdown, they will come out and recover you and your bike.

ETA cycle insurance offers a true new-for-old benefit – however old the bike, if it’s stolen you get enough to buy a new model.

For 25 years we have been providing this kind of straightforward, affordable bicycle insurance. It’s one of the reasons The Good Shopping Guide voted us to be an ethical company like no other in 2015.Whether you use your bike to commute, shop, race or amble in the park, ETA cycle insurance has you covered.

 

 

Comments

  1. Ed Rowe

    Reply

    Thanks for this article, which brought back many happy memories! After living for a couple of years in Holland, there was no way I was going back to the UK sporty mode of cycling – sweat, dropped handlebars, and a sore back. I shipped my Dutch bike over, but it got stolen in transit. I didn’t fancy paying to import a new Dutch bike, so I (eventually) persuaded my bike shop that no I didn’t want the latest lightest hybrid, and got a Trek Navigator. With a bit of hacking this can give a riding position that approaches the comfort of a classic Dutch bike. OK the windage is worse and you can’t hit the same top speeds as you would on a road bike. But this means I get fitter, and (touch wood) am at less risk – I wouldn’t want to blame cyclists for any accidents on the UK’s crazy roads and its “cyclepaths” designed for the convenience of motorists, but it does seem that there is some correlation between riding superfast and having more serious accidents. The other big advantage of comfortable bikes is that they encourages more people to ride. If you’ve never been cycling in Holland, I really encourage you to go and experience how different a culture can be when just about everyone cycles. There’s far less obesity. You can chat to your mates as you ride along. You can transport your whole family, or move house, by bike. It would be great if UK cycling became less kit-focused and more inclusive, and if UK bike shops started stocking genuinely comfortable bikes.

  2. Berno Brosschot

    Reply

    I certainly hope Dutch bicycles will become better known and more widely available. It will mean more choice and will definitely get more people to enjoy bicycling. Don’t think though we have to wait for more ‘mini Hollands’ to be developed, or that Dutch bikes can only be used in flattish towns. There is a huge variety of Dutch bicycles, with suitable models for any part of Britain. I know it goes against conventional wisdom, but climbing hills on an upright Dutch bicycle, provided you have enough gears, is a pleasure. See for example Gazelle’s Vento T24 or Chamonix S27.

  3. edmund white

    Reply

    Cycling is NOT just a sport, it’s a way of life. From the ride to get shopping, to work, picnicking in the park, an whole lot more. MTBs & Road bikes are just a part of of the picture

  4. Paul Lovatt Smith

    Reply

    IF you can look, listen and smell the world you are travelling through, if you don’t mind getting off your bike and walk up steeper hills and take pleasure in the walking, if you want to sit on a saddle that feels comfortable, if you don’t need to change clothes in order to cycle, if you don’t mind being seen with your trousers tucked into your socks, if you can stick all your kit into one battered old pannier and still avoid it getting wet, then yours is the world and all that’s in it and what’s more, you are ready for a Dutch bicycle.

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