Dutch women always look so sophisticated on their bikes. This is largely down to the type of bikes they ride. Dutch bikes with their ‘sit up and beg’ style handlebars put you in a far more graceful, ladylike, not to mention comfortable, position than regular hybrid bikes. They have a low step-through frame to avoid any undignified dismounting as well as mud-guards and chain-guards so your femininity is not compromised.
Luckily for us there are a number of shops and website that sell Dutch Style bikes both in London and elsewhere in the UK.
• The rather lovely Sunshine pictured above is from Littlehampton’s Dutch Bike shop , they have a fantastic range of both traditional and more modern Dutch bikes. Also on the South coast, in Brighton try Amsterdammers
• If you want to go Dutch in London try Velorution have a look at the Azor Oma, the bright yellow Kemper or the Retrovelo. Also try Bobbins bikes in Clerkenwell and Brixton Cycles
• Cambridge having the highest proportion of cycling commuters than anywhere else in the UK have cottoned on to the benefits of Dutch bikes with Cambridge Cycle Company selling renowed Dutch make Sparta and dutchbike.co.uk have a large range of models.
• If you want to go Dutch up north try Cycle Heaven
Prices range from around £300-£600 but check out the Amsterdammers second hand section for a cheaper deal and the Bobbins play bike is a bargain at £210
Anywhere else that sells Dutch Bikes? Please let me know.
9 comments:
I bought a beautiful dutch bike from the Dutch Bike Company...I think they are a London based importer, www.dutchbikecompany.co.uk
Definitely highly recommend Amsterdammers; most of the business seems to be second hand - so much cheaper than new (ranging from appx £130-190 or so - depending on number of gears - Brighton has serious hills!), and Stefan is serious about his bikes. They all come with reflective tyres and lights (the law in NL), as well as the rear wheel lock, and have all been serviced and are ready to go. When I had a problem with my gears (v unusually) 3 months after I bought it, it was fixed for free, all in the day that I was able to be in Brighton. Have been riding it around for nearly a year since, in (nearly!) all weathers - and great for eye-balling the London traffic. Amsterdammers v. recommended.
I bought a Gazelle Toer Populaire from Walton Street Cycles in Oxford, and once I got out to the workshop where they keep nearly all their stock I was able to do a lot of browsing, and the lad in the workshop assembled a bunch of bikes for me to test-ride.
The Toer Populaire isn't inexpensive -- Bobbin Bicycles has a very similar cycle that costs about half -- but most of the components on the Gazelle are a notch up from what Bobbin has. (The one really first-rate component on the Bobbin basic cycles is the shifter, which is the same as the one on the Azor which, like the Toer Populaire, costs about double.)
Walton Street's website is http://www.spoke.co.uk/ and it's not exactly Web 2.0 e-commerce. Really, you need to spend the afternoon out back in the workshop.
I got a awesome new bike from www.dutchflyerbicycles.com the bikes are great quality, under 300GBP and it was send to me within 24 hours of ordered
I got a great beautiful dutch bike from www.dutchflyerbicycles.com I received the bike within 24 hours of ordered and it ws under 300GBP
Grey which bike did you get? I'm very tempted with one of the city bikes, they look lovely but I can't find any reviews for them other than your recommendation.
Any info would be great.
Rachel,Sorry not sure about the city bikes, I got the duke, single speed which works well. Maybe contact them on the website and the can direct you to reviews. Had a few questions before I got my bike and got pretty fast response. Hope that helps.
Look at www.mybeautifulbike.com the site is full of sit up & beg style bikes for under £200.
Norma
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