Originally Posted by
BCRider
Real "dutch" bikes tend to be made using heavy parts that are cheap because the bikes are intended as very inexpensive transportation vehicles. I was just talking with a Dutch fellow a few months back about this style and he had nothing good to say about them other than that they were inexpensive and easily gotten. As a way to get places it was better than walking but not much fun as a bicycle. Please don't shoot me over this. I'm just passing on his observations....
That's the opposite of what I've heard - a lot of them are pretty expensive and built to last 50 years sitting outside with near zero maintenance. They're extremely utilitarian - when your bike is your only mode of transportation you don't tend to ride it for recreation. You might ride it to a park, or a sporting event or maybe a Sunday ride in the country like you'd do in a car but after you've been riding everywhere all week you're not likely to get suited up in a bunch of lycra and try to get a new best ride for 50 miles! So yeah, you can't call them particularly responsive or fun. A Dutch bike is more like a Toyota truck than a Ferrari. Gets you where you're going. That's about it. That's all it's designed for - fun doesn't come into the equation.They have to last with parking like this:
OTOH, you're still riding a bike and I have a blast when I go visit my Uncle - who's little family (wife, two kids) owns 4 bikes but no car.
I'd call the picture you posted more of an English style bike. That one would stand out in most Amsterdam bike parking lots as a pretty nice and racy bike! But going back to the car analogy, no more rare, nice or racy than, say, a 350Z. But 90% of the bikes you see in Holland look like this:
