Reaction To Why Dutch Bikes are Better (and why you should want one) 

"Bike theft, is that a thing in the Netherlands?" Dutch people: "Are you for real?" Having your first bike stolen at age 8 or thereabouts is sort of a rite of passage.

As a Dutch I think it’s fair to say: Everyone of us had their bike stolen at least once. Those of us who never had their bike stolen, should cycle more often.

Having a bike stolen and riding a stolen bike is part of growing up in the Netherlands

I've had an Oma fiets for almost 3 decades, got me through any type of weather and to anywhere, from the pub to school and so on.. Now I have an Oma E-bike

second-hand bikes start at 50 euros ( bikes from a junky supplier can be even more affordable) but also new bikes can be very cheap. like this: Spirit Omafiets Deluxe Jeans-Blauw 28 inch € 199,00

I'm living on the Wirral UK and I ride a dutch cargo bike (Batavus) 15 minutes either way on the train to Liverpool or Chester for about £3 and no need to find parking so I've only used my car twice in the last year since I got my dutch bike, mine is a super heavy duty frame with drum brakes and shimano 7 speed with puncture resistant tyres , was made to be a council hire bike but I got to buy one new before it was ever hired. I played £100 for mine , best tonne I've ever spent, pinched two aldi shopping baskets I fixed front n back so can carry loads of shopping or beers and fishing gear for days along the canals👍

I used to cycle a lot when I lived in Scotland, mountain bikes mostly, but after moving to the Netherlands, I LOVE the bikes here, they really are comfotable and you can ride them for hours and feel ok, thanks to everything being flat, and the sheer amount of bike paths. It truly is an amazing way of life, being a mother of course I had my daughter on the back of my bike for a few years, and have the shopping bags, the same locks, but i do have 3 gears and brakes lol... my bike is actualy meant for pregnant women, so it has a nice wide frame for me to step through and an excellent double stand, keeps the bike up sturdy when you are putting shopping into the bags, and your kid back into its seat, you can physicaly let go of the bike whilst your kid is on the back its that stable, a wonderful feature :) My bikes have been mostly second hand, so cost me roughly 150-200 euros, ive had 4 bikes in 14 years, big names are Gazelle, Giant, Stella and a few more. Those can cost a lot, my daughter has a Giant xl heavy duty, new its almost 900 euros, we got it second hand for 450, and never had a problem with it in 2 years, my bike has been good too, had the one ive got for 4 years now, and ive only needed to repair punctures and fix my gears once, even the bike repair shops are good, fix a burst tyre for around 25 euros, if you are not able to do it yourself, its a good option. As long as you keep it cleaned, give it some love with WD40 now and again, these bikes are brilliant and will last years. And the clothing part, yep, wear what you need to for what you are doing, ive seen men in suits, women and men dressed up for a night out, people in party costumes you name it, its so convenient, I mean who would pay for a taxi to go into town when you can ride there on your bike and be there in 10 minutes, and your hair is still fine because you cant really travel that fast lol .... i think average speed is about 15kmph I barely go anywhere without my bike, even to the shops that are a 10 minute walk away... the bike cuts that ride time to 3 minutes, and I have somewhere to put my shopping lol.

Getting your foot stuck in the spokes is something the vast majority of Dutch people can relate too.

you can find bikes from 50euro to 250euro second hand, electric bikes are way more expensiv. but a few weeks ago i bought a omafiets for 75euro

An average dutchie has 2 bikes, their regular day to day bike and a bierfiets. A bierfiets is an bike thats on the point of breakage and you won't mind getting stolen. You use it to go out to a party or festival, get drunk and go a night out. But because the bikes are sturdy as f it won't break how many times you fallen off, hit a pole or sign or as a dutch rite of passage fall in a sloot (ditch).

We usually have more than 1 bikes so basically there is a bike for general transport really beat up and there there might be a bike to carry heavy stuff like a bakfieten or a folding bike or a sports bike but even sports bike are usually sport bike not those usuall ones that you will find everywhere. Personally I own 4 bikes and I am interested in soon buying an omafieten.

I have an omafiets and prefer it to a mountainbike type because of the positioning of the body and hands. You'll lean on your hands more on a mountainbike, making it uncomfortable after a while. Plus the old oma models are practically the Toyota from Topgear, nigh indestructable.

honestly over here the oma fiets works perfectly fine....nice and flat you know....kinda wish i had one....they arent much fun on hills tho...high winds may make you wish for gears too.... anyways i currently own 2 and a half broken mountainbikes i need to fix....and 2 touring bikes that make me wish i sucked it up and put up with a lack of gears instead........in wheel gears and brakes are a pain in the arse when you want to swap a rear tire.

Bikes get stolen quite a bit, it's one of the reasons why we have more bikes then people. People keep their old but still functional bike. We call that a stationsfiets or (train)stationbike. You use the old bike when you have to leave it at sketchy places, where it might get stolen. Like trainstations used to be, before the new underground guarded parking spaces.

What type of bike i own (or we own), that is the wrong question Mert. It should be, what tpyes of bikes do you own😂. I have a citybike, a roadbike, mountainbike, cargobike and a stationsfiets (worthless bike you use at places like trainstations, and not minding a whole lot when it would be stolen) Keep up the good content and reaction video's! Cheers

I always preferred Transport bikes (pretty much an oma bike with a rack at the front) because it allowed me to put a crate on the front to transport stuff. Now that my commute to work has trippled I bought a Transport E-Bike. There are some tall bridges on that route I need to cross, so I decided to treat myself.

I've got a Top End Handcycle/Handbike and a Thijs Rowingbike

man made a giant bicle add and no one notesed.

I feel very very very safe in the Netherlands pretty much everywhere all of the time. You do have to lock your bike very well and then still don't be shocked when it's still stolen though.

Bike thefts is really common. Especially in busy areas like big bike parks and the big cities. And people get their bikes often stolen when their at bars. People then don’t look for their own bike all that well and just take whatever they can ride home. I personally never had mine stolen but that why you should at least had your frame lock on when your leave your bike. It’s also common knowledge to go out in to the town on a beat up bike that your bought for like 25 bucks so when it gets stolen or ends up in a canal it’s not to bad.

biketheft is def a thing over here but the last few years it's mainly electric bikes and the more expensive fatbikes and so on.. Nowadays having a 'normal' bike is pretty safe. I myself have a normal bike and a mountainbike but that one I rarely use...

I have 1978 Gazelle with rod brakes and 3 internal gears, with a top tube. They don't build them anymore like the old ones. A top tube does matter because if flexes less under de strain of a heavy man going 20 kp/h and flexing steel makes you sweat, it's power wasted. Rod brakes are far less vulnerable in racks than cables. In the past years more bikes are alumium with wider frames and fatter tyres. Lighting technology has hugely improved, front racks have become much more popular. The relatively young company Azor has taken it upon itself to build bikes like they used to, indestructible, and they have features like a protected gear lever for in bike racks. It's all about practicality and durabilty. Hand made and bespoke but it won't have to set you back a 1000 euros, it sure can though. Van Moof pretended to innovate on the reliable durable city bike with quite a nice design, but they forgot to make them reliable and durable, and ar now bankrupt.

I have 2 granny bikes and a mountain bike, I also have a moped (25 kp/h) and a regular moped (45 kp/h) and a car that I only use when I have to travel long distances, so it often stands still for weeks or even months.

7:10 yes..so when you spot someone caqrrying a bike like that, he is stelaing it, everyone knows.. so no actuall need for a chainlock... it is just to make sure..

One thing is true, Dutch bikes last for ever. I have sinds I was een teen a old Union Omafiets as a cafe/bar/disco bike from a police auction sell for les than 10 Gulden (around 4 Euro now) and no problem if it was stolen. I am 58 now and stil use it. I also have a sportsbike and not for my healt, just for speed. And if I count up the near accidents with carowners.... damn. And I have a electric bike just for the summers to relax and enjoy everthing around me.

Ohh man, my ex wife had to take my first child to ballet class, so she hurried and didn't notice she had crushed the skirtguard. My kid (3 yrs old) ended up in hospital with a big chunk of flesh missing from her heel and damageing het tendant. She was in a plaster cast for 4 weeks !. She is still mad abaut that 15 yrs later. True.

I got a Oma fiets and a ATB with front and rear suspension

The question should be: who hasn't had their bike stolen in the Netherlands? I only have had two of my bikes stolen in my 40 years and I consider myself lucky. And concerning the price: that depends who you buy them from...some are really cheap ~50 euros, which is related to my first comment/question.

Everyone in the Netherlands has their bike stolen at least once or twice in their life. It's rediculous. Half of the stolen bikes are in eastern Europe now and the other half are in the canals of Amsterdam.

A good (new) bike costs around 1500 euro, so it better be good ! Mine was 3700

In Amsterdam the concept is that your bike is too crappy to get stolen, for it is worth nothing, but in other places, whole streets of bikes will be loaded up in a van when people have (electric) expensive bikes. Happened to me to when I was given a nice bike, they get sold abroad for good money. Personally I have never bought a bike in my life, I put one together from karases on the streets, for my kids too, for they will destroy them in some months anyway.

So many bikes. So therefor a lot of thefts. But in general...what chance it is going to be your bike.

These bikes are mostly found in Amsterdam. A lot of bikes have gears but because a lot of bikes are stolen in Amsterdam they are less common there because the bikes with gears are a lot more expensive. Bikes that are stolen is not strange and it happens most in big cities and a city center

Also..US bikes are overpriced compared to quality

3:40.. i own many bikes bro, i got an OMA bike and a mountain bike i got 2 BMX bikes and i got just my regular bike, i wish i could send some pictures L0L 4:18.. no no no, you're just doing it wrong bro.. with a kid on the back you should step on with your leg just forward or straight up like how you mount a horse... come now.. did stoned tourists are making this video.?? 4:31.. yeah that's true and i don't understand either whaha 5:06.. yeah best invention ever bro...! keep the kids safe and no torn up clothings like dresses.. imagine going to work in your new suit, and your jacket gets ripped apart.. that would be so bad.... 8:10.. in rainy seasons we use fenders to prevent mud and diirt to get on our clothes... 6:05.. like 75% of bikes have em, and you could olso choose te remove it though. for example, on a BMX bike or a mountain bike its not very convenient.. 6:42.. Maybe you should go to a bike shop and have your rear wheel repaired, probably you hit too many curbs hahaha 6:49.. yeah this man is a criminal..! this is how you steal bikes L0L very common in The Netherlands. i,m not trying to incriminate myself but as a kid i stole many bikes in that way.. call my lawyer LMAO... 9:08.. yeah this is the BEST bike invention so far..! apart from electrical bikes but they use the same gear system so yeah.... 11:17.. oh yeah, another award winning invention...! 11:38.. you could just buy any bell with any sound you like BTW.... 12:26.. i actually ask myself, howmany of these bikes where stolen... L0L call my lawyer again..... 13:52.. you can buy an OMA bike off a junky for like 5 euro L0L but IDK man you can easly google the shop prices and you could make them as exspensive as you want man... ( welcome to The Netherlands )

Leer over belgie

Americans think they are the biggest and the best country, but actually its The Netherlands...! whahaha enjoy the video.... :)

There is nothing innovative about those dutch bikes, they are just what "bad" old womans bikes (and childrens bikes) looked like for decades. I grew up with such bikes in Germany. When bikes like mountain bikes became more common (bikes with more gears and better performance for other applications became a bigger thing later), hardly anybody wanted to keep those things for a reason. Those old bikes are heavy and the typically 3 gears are very insufficient for most applications, the sitting position is not ergonomic and using them gets very exhausting very easily. They were bad for going really fast, they were bad for going up hills and they were bad for long distances. What makes them an appropriate tool for the Netherlands is a combination of factos. Firsly, the country is as flat as it gets. Secondly, most of the time bikes are used for intermediate or short distances. And thirdly, bike traffic is slow, steady and dense anyways. The world is a big place and I guess, there are many urban centers for which such bikes would be as good as a solution - if the biking infrastructure there was sufficient. But that is far from making such bikes universally "better" or suitable for the task of urban cycling everwhere.

Ik heb mijn mountainbike 3 keer gestolen gehad. 3 keer in 9 maanden.