I'm an American living in the Netherlands and really only got interested in biking after I moved here so my knowledge of how things work in the US is rather limited, I'm afraid.

I visited my daughter in the US last year and we talked a little about bikes and I stopped into just one bike shop (Ames, Iowa) just to have a look.

It seems, as a rule, at least over here, when you buy a bike it comes complete. Lights, suspension, mud flaps/guards ... even a shopping basket for some models, is part of that brand's particular model. I gathered from my daughter, that in the US you pretty much bought a basic model and added what you wanted. Is that, in fact, how it is in the US?

Here there are two very major brands (Batavus http://www.batavus.com/ and Gazelle http://www.gazelle.nl/ ). Every year they come out with new models, new colors, new feautures, but 99% of the bikes are essentially complete (and not discounted) ... no need for options, per se.

How are things different between the US and Holland? I thought this might be a good idea for a thread ... or not. DH