#opafiets

[transportblog]

The Dutch Bike.

 Moving to the Netherlands, I was super excited. I always enjoyed the minimalist experience of cycling. You don’t have to worry about parking, fender benders are no big deal, you can stop wherever and whenever you want and you become part of the mechanics that move you forward. Having been to the Netherlands a couple of times before, I couldn’t wait to cycle through the cities built for cycling as the main mode of transport.

 There was just one thing I couldn’t understand. Almost everyone seemed to be on big heavy looking bicycles that didn’t seem very fast nor exciting. I looked online before coming to the Netherlands and these bikes weren’t exactly cheap either. Typically, you’d be looking at around EUR 500 for a basic Dutch bike that weighs almost 20kg. My fixie cost around that much and it was in the 9s and my commuter hybrid cost half that and was in the 8s. What is the deal with these bikes?

 If one would compare it to a car, I would say it would be the Citroen DS of bikes. It’s not screaming excitement, but little details make it the most comfortable and the appealing ride.

 First, the 28 1/2 wheels give it a tremendous ride. The huge wheels simply glide over any surface imperfection and the springs under the saddles make the ride even smoother. Posture is as comfortable as it can get and gearing is usually moderate, giving you both smooth acceleration and around 20kph of cruising speed. 

 Dutch bikes are often equipped with chain cases and dress guards that clip onto the rear fenders. All of my jeans had chain grease stains on the inner ankle area from the chains of my fixie, road and hybrid. With the Dutch bike, your pants will never touch the chain. Even if you’re wearing a long coat, you don’t have to worry about it being ravaged by the rear wheels thanks to the dress guards. Dutch bikes also come with front and rear lights fixed on top of the headset and rear rack so you don’t have to remember to carry lights around separately.

 Although some bikes are equipped with gears and rollerbrakes that are operated by hand, basic Dutch bikes have single geared coaster hubs, eliminating the need for any cabling. Without the cables, there’s one less thing to worry about getting caught on handle bars of other bikes when parking on crowded racks. It goes without saying that these bikes are built to last. With a simple coaster hub trap brake, there isn’t that much to break and the frames are built to withstand the ever rainy Dutch weather as well as pannier bags that hold 20kg of groceries or more.

 While all of this means that Dutch bikes weigh a lot, I learned that weight is not necessarily a terrible thing. Of course, climbing is an awful experience, but with more weight, you are less susceptible to headwind and downhills can be a blast. Instead of carving through wind, it feels more like bashing through wind and the weight helps you push through air resistance like a swinging hammer.

 Long rides tend to be difficult because of the slow speed. On the other hand, the posture is much more comfortable so it’s much less painful to be on the bike for longer periods. There’s always a trade-off to everything. I’ve had my share of fun with fast bikes and pushing the limits of my strength. For the time being, I think I’ll enjoy the relaxing rides on the Dutch bike.

[revenantwinery]

Happy Holiday’s

[lemondeabicyclette]

Palmarès des 10 genres de vélos les plus populaires d’Amsterdam ...

10. Le vélo de canal

Entre 12 000 et 15 000 vélos sont sortis des canaux d'Amsterdam chaque année. ��� [Après une nuit de débauche éthylique, les soûlards ont tendance à voler la première bécane qui supporte leur popotin; épris d’une culpabilité incontrôlable rendus à la maison, noyer l’évidence est ce qui vient au peu d’esprit qui leur reste 🤬. ]

9. Le Veloretti

Élégant, conçu à Amsterdam et favori des hipsters. Une ou 3 vitesses et accessoires Brooks.

8. Le vélo familial

La norme à Amsterdam est une révélation pour les visiteurs de la ville.

7. L’OV-Fiets

Un vélo de location que l'on trouve dans près de 300 gares et stations de métro à travers les Pays-Bas.

6. Le Swapfiets

Le plus populaire, sa version à vitesse unique et pneu avant bleu est mythique mais les gens ne les possèdent pas car ils sont loués pour 16,50 € par mois.

5. Le vélo peint

Phénomène peu connu en dehors des Pays-Bas, ces vélos peuvent être une toile vierge avec une touche de créativité.

4. Le Bakfiets

Le Bakfiets (vélo de transport) et ses déclinaisons, telles le cousin haut de gamme, l'Urban Arrow font partie intégrante du paysage amsterdamois pour déplacer les enfants ou tout type de cargaison.

3. Le VanMoof

La société néerlandaise est populaire à Amsterdam depuis des années. Connue pour son design élégant et minimaliste avec leur tube supérieur surdimensionné, VanMoof est aussi un leader du marché des vélos électriques.

2. Le Opafiets

Un rétro classique avec double tube supérieur (Opafiets). Conçu avec la solidité en tête, son cadre est bien adapté aux Néerlandais de grande taille.

1. Le Omafiets

Alias grand-mère ou vélo pour dames, il est souvent considéré comme le vélo néerlandais typique dégenré (et non dérangé). Le cadre dispose d'un tube inférieur droit et d'un tube supérieur courbé, ce qui en facilite l’accès. Avec une seule vitesse, adapté pour naviguer en posture verticale avec un guidon surélevé, c’est le bicyk classique du cycliste urbain néerlandais... pour hommes, femmes et enfants.

... selon Gus de RollingSpoke en novembre 2019.

[achielle]

𝙲𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚄𝚙 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚜⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ A classic from day one, full-option double top tube Craighton PickUp in Mossgreen.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ::⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #achielle #velo #fiets #bicycle #ihavethisthingwithbikes⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #artisans #artisan #handmade #handmadeinbelgium #hibambassadeur⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #erkendambacht #certifiedcraft #ikkoopbelgisch⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bikeporn #bicycleporn #vintagelifestyle⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #Craighton #pickup #olddutch #britishracinggreen⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #brooksengland #classic #retro #opafiets #transportfiets https://instagr.am/p/CSYcO6vgSWw/

[cyclop-bikes-blog]

Daily Dutch Prestige is a luxury men's robust transport bike; relatively lightweight with trendy Opafiets style frame made of aluminum with the traditional front trunk, comfortable upright position, and Shimano Nexus gearbox - this is a classic old school style bike with modern components to make your ride feeling like a breeze. Available in 3 specification. Free 🇬🇧 shipping #dutchbike #opafiets #classicbike . . . . #bike #bicycle #rower #rowerowo #velo #cykler #fiets #bici #classicbike #urbancycling #urbancyclist #instabike #cyclogram #citybike #transportfiets #cycletowork #cycleeveryday #cycleevrywhere #biketowork #londoncyclist #popal #dailydutchprestige #cyclopbikes (at Cyclop Bikes)

[marcelvangunst]

Gave oude Gazelle ‘opafiets’ gekocht. Ben er blij mee! 😀 #bike #bycicle #gazelle #opafiets #vintage #hengelo #fiets #fahrrad (bij Hengelo, Overijssel, Netherlands)

[wolfliving]

Pebble watches still not dead

*Mostly because the users like them and they were murdered by Fitbit.

https://www.ifixit.com/News/rebble-with-a-cause-how-pebble-watches-got-their-amazing-afterlife

In the early summer of 2018, you could buy an Apple Watch with built-in GPS, wireless payments, and speakers that buzz water out after a swim. Meanwhile, Katharine Berry was hustling to keep five-year-old watches with black and white screens alive.

Berry had worked for Pebble, maker of the first notable smartwatch. The company was acquired by Fitbit and shut down a year and a half earlier. Now Fitbit was turning off the servers that fed Pebbles apps, weather, and other useful data.

But Berry and a cadre of crafty enthusiasts, the Rebble Alliance, had prepared for this moment. They had archived Pebble’s web and development assets, opened up the devices’ firmware a bit, and worked with former Pebble and Fitbit developers inside a Discord channel. Berry, between jobs, sprinted for two weeks to code a replacement cloud infrastructure. She guessed that, if they could pull it off, maybe a thousand people, at most, would try it out.

One morning seven months later, Berry realized that Rebble had 100,000 accounts. Today, more than 212,000 accounts have been created—more than 10% of the two million Pebbles ever sold—and nearly 9,000 have subscribed. Press coverage certainly helped. But, really, it is Rebblers’ enthusiasm that keeps their watches running, precisely because Pebbles are not modern, in all the best ways.

“It goes out of its way to get out of my way,” said Joshua Wise, one of Rebble’s primary developers. “The Apple Watch … and Android Wear wanted you to interact with them, to make them the center of your life. The Pebble wants to not at all be part of your life, up until it does something useful for you, and then it lets you go back to your life.”

Rebble is saving thousands of gadgets from the bin and building a real community around dogged longevity

Rebble is an inspiring repair story, and the way Pebble enabled this second life is a path that every gadget manufacturer should strive to emulate. Pebble created an open (and open-source) environment for developers and enthusiasts. As a direct result, Rebble is saving thousands of gadgets from the bin and building a real community around dogged longevity. Keeping Pebbles running, in the face of much fancier options, knitted the community together.

From Grandpa Bike to Next Steve Jobs

Eric Migicovsky was studying abroad at the University of Delft, Netherlands in 2008. He fit in with his sturdy, reliable cruiser bike (known to locals as an opafiets, or sometimes “Grandpa bike”), but he knew he would crash if he kept checking his text messages while riding. In his dorm room, he patched together an Arduino controller, a few buttons, a battery, and the screen from a disassembled Nokia 3310. His first idea was a bike computer, but “someone was like, you should probably just make it a watch,” he later said....

[sircrashalotfpv]

Had to do a quick test after repair, packed light. 6 lipos, Taranis with crossfire, HDO with 18650 battery, prop tool and some spare props. All inside Quad Pitstop bag from @torvolofficial , quad on top. Cruising on my Sparta opafiets XD #droneshop #droneshopnl #immersionrc #gemfan #torvol #torvolfpv #demonrc #foxeer #northaero #actuna #fpv #fpvracing #droneracing #iflight #xing #airbot #furling32 #fpvdrone https://www.instagram.com/p/B00xTjynwEn/?igshid=z9tms2ikecnu

[xuisxa-geertu]

Omabike Opafiets dutch bike BATAVUS - 7 speed Shimano NEXUS, size 24in - Welcome http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?ff3=2&toolid=10044&campid=5337478835&customid=&lgeo=1&vectorid=229508&item=332437376164

[sophiawillcoxkabk]

ORANGE BIKE on a SUNDAY 

It didn’t take me long to realise that a bike is an essential part of Dutch living. And with the help of my flat mate I found a second hand, orange beauty, for sale in Delft (the nearby city).

It’s called an ‘Opafiets’ which translates as ‘Grandpa’s Bike’ as it has no gears, and backwards pedal breaks. But for the flat Dutch terrain and wide cycle paths it fits perfectly.

I cycled 40mins back to the Hague, and met with my flatmates brother. We bought pastries from the next door Turkish Bakery and cycled to the beach.

[used-bikes-amsterdam]

#Gazelle #opafiets #male_bicycle #made_in_Holland #city_bicycle #vintage_bicycle #amsterdam_bicycles #dutch_bicycle #antique_bicycle

[m-acton]

Gotta love the light and colour of sun on the canals.

[sonja-and-leif]

Transportfiets #transportfiets #opafiets #achielle @achielle #hollandrad #amsterdam #kaizergracht

[stephaniesanz-blog]

I bought a vintage bicycle a couple months ago and I called it Queen Beatrix, which means "traveller or voyager." I really enjoyed my time cycling around the neighborhood with Queen B. 👑🚲 “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller #vsco #vscocam #vintage #travel #ontel #onthel #bicycle #opafiets #QueenBeatrix #yogyakarta #kotagede #quote

[achielle]

𝔸𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕢𝕦𝕖 ℝ𝕠𝕤𝕖' On paper this model is a Craighton Pure Opafiets, but it has that much options from other models that it's difficult to say what model it actually is. Combining the Antique Rosé color with the Glossy Black gives the bicycle a very unique look. * * * #sam #achielle #velo #fiets #bicycle #bicyclette #fahrrad #artisans #artisan #handmadeinbelgium #bikeporn #bicycleporn #brooksengland #brooks #caferacer #pathracer #fixie #fixed #fixedgear #sturmeyarcher #steelisreal#erkendambacht #zertifizierteshandwerk #certifiedcraft #ihavethisthingwithbikes * * * @brooksengland @ergotec_bikeparts @rideshimano @shimanobenelux @schwalbetires @spanningalights https://ift.tt/33yL9CA

[cyclop-bikes-blog]

A mini version of the traditional #Opafiets bike for little boys. This perfect first bike comes with removable stabilisers, rear coaster brakes and front V-breaks, leather-looking comfort saddle and handlebar grips, rear carrier and of course the trademark front trunk. . . . . #jongensfiets #opafiets #transportfiets #kidsbike #boysbike #firstbike #firstbicycle #bicycle #bike #rower #rowerek #velo #bici #fiets #cykler #dutchbike #dutchkidsbike #urbancycling #cyclingchic #startthemyoung #cyclopbikes (at Cyclop Bikes)