non-fixie 

Maybe an opportunity for a Benelux meet-up?

The location is the former Hofplein train station in Rotterdam, and it's open from 10.00 to 16.00.

Italuminium

nice! I might make that work.

paulkal

I will probably go. It is not far from Gouda.

juvela

what machine(s) will non-fixie be bringing?

Zieleman

Sounds like a great opportunity to brutally annihilate my December budget for presents. I'm in.

non-fixie 

non-fixie will not be showing, let alone selling, anything .

As a matter of fact, I have a number of projects that I need parts for (the 1940 mixte, the chrome Falcon/Carlton/Sun/Coventry Eagle/whatever, the Zieleman Gitane, the Toortelboom) I hope to find a lot of interesting parts.

Italuminium

I might get away with just buying a handlebar for my SOMEC, the one I have now is too big. I'm going by bike to limit the amount of loot I'm able to carry

non-fixie 

@Italuminium, @paulkal, @Zieleman, looking forward to seeing you there!

Zieleman

I do not know yet what, but I definitely need something

How about @pullup @Woutervanwijk and @Elev12k? I'm scared to represent Noord Holland on my own in downtown Rotterdam...

Italuminium

Let alone Amsterdam Looking forward to meet you again!

Zieleman

Sshh not so loud.. I may have to bring a Herman Braun bike just to not draw too much attention

Italuminium

Yes, you better not roll up on one of those Zielemans… the XXX will give you away!

pullup

I would have loved to come but i will be busy in Groningen

paulkal

Yesterday my wife told, we already had an appointment the 23rd, so i will not be able to come.
Myabe next year in Neerkant, 22nd of March.

Dizono

I'm going to try to be there as well. It's not far from Delft. As a matter of fact, I just went there for a bike ride (to the Van Brienenoordbrug)

non-fixie 

I suppose you know that the "Hell of the North" has a different meaning on this forum?

juvela

inquiring minds will expect a full report as to just how many carloads of cycle fittings non-fixie came home with after the event.

and maybe a few new "projects" too...

non-fixie 

Alright.

It was a very friendly and interesting event. Very laid back atmosphere, nice bikes and great people. I met some old acquaintances, and also made some new friends. I only had my phone with me, so the picture quality is variable at best.

The old Rotterdam Hofplein station made for a nice background:




Some of the great bike names from the Rotterdam area were there. The blue jacket belongs to Manus Brinkman, and the man in the light blue pullover is Wout Verhoeven. I managed to have a talk with Wout later today and it seems his role in the the Dutch bicycle industry was bigger than I suspected. He imported a lot of Belgian frames for other big names in Holland, like Jan Groot (of Vittorio fame - I now know who built my Vittorio Populair) and Teun Visser (Visser Vainqueur), who sold them as cheaper alternatives alongside their own hand-built machines.




This was a particularly nice Manus Brinkman, and in my size too. It took one of my newly-made friends to persuade me not to buy it by telling me that the asking price was really way too high. * sigh *




Interesting and rare, a Steyr-Daimler-Puch Vent Noir, in red:




This Regina box was cool:




I did buy some nice stuff, though. The nicest being a Simplex derailleur set I'd been looking for. It was actually NIB, but when I said I had no interest in the box I got a nice discount:




Another nice find were these Legnano condorino bars:







And a mystery derailleur, but I'll dedicate a separate thread to that.