What is a Dutch Bike?

Josh’s Top Ten Features of a “Real” Dutch Bike

Many bicycle companies are now using the terms “City Bike” or “Dutch-Style” to label their “Commuter” or “Utility” models. Sadly, even though these bikes are often said to be based upon or inspired by “real” Dutch bikes, they’re often lacking many essential features, which would otherwise make the bike complete and ultimately enjoyable and practical. A traditional Dutch bike is a “rain-or-shine, night-or-day” bike for getting you wherever you need to go comfortably and conveniently within the town in which you live, all while wearing normal clothing and shoes and carrying whatever it is you need to carry. Additionally, the bike will last for decades amassing minimal maintenance cost. Below are the top ten features to look for in a bike that all ad up to making this possible.

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Cargo bikes and the Information Revolution, by Josh Boisclair (MDB mechanic)

Our mechanic Josh is a fervent utility bicycle enthusiast. Here are some of his personal thoughts and opinions on various cargo and utility bicycles. Enjoy!

Cargo bikes and the Information Revolution

Bicycles that carry stuff have been around for over 100 years. Some of the earliest know examples are the Monark Long John, still in limited production, and the Dutch Bergreijer company, who made various styles of cargo-carrying bicycles. There does however, appear to be a relatively recent “revival” of cargo bicycles (at least in America) throughout the last few years, due to a number of factors. First of all, bicycles in general have been gaining popularity since fuel prices are high and climate concern is high. As Americans, we tend to think “large” and desire to move all about easily, often carrying loads of useful cargo or loads of crap. Either way, we like “stuff” and now more and more of us are looking for ways to carry our stuff by bicycle. This desire is nothing new at all: the traditional Randoneuring and Porteur bikes of France, the Transportfietsen of Holland, the Bakfietsen of Holland, and the Long John of Switzerland, and the Postal bikes of England are all tried-and-true examples of this. One thing that has changed rather recently however, is the way we buy things, and they we gather information-(often misinterpreted as learning) about things. The Internet has changed the way we live in almost every way.   » Read More »