Took delivery of the Batavus today. While not exactly ride ready, I was able to take it for a short ride - and I am pleased! It's lightweight, responsive, and it feels like it just wants to go! It's my first "high end" bike, if you consider this high end, and I can certainly feel a difference.

I'll be contacting Batavus to see if they have any information on the bike. For the record, the SN is 4-8-0724, stamped on the bottom bracket. Also, I found that the headset is a Tange Levin, not a Campagnolo. This really leaves me wondering about the original specs.

One concern I have is the positioning of the rear derailleur. The cage appears to run parallel to the wheel spokes rather than parallel to the rear cogs - dangerously close to the spokes (see pic below). Is this normal on this model (Kurt has identified it as a 990)? Or is there an adjustment to make? There was no performance loss - even with the chain and jockey wheels all gummed up, it was shifting very crisply. It doesn't appear the hanger is bent.

The seller did a horrible job of packaging the bike. The wheel axle ends tore large holes in each side of the box, so I am wondering if the derailleur was bent in some way. I'll give him credit for turn around time, as he shipped it merely hours after I had paid. But I thought the thing had been pre-packaged...