Originally Posted by
inkblot
One of the things that puzzled me while I was talking to dealers was their refusal to tell me how much their bikes weighed. They told me weight didn't matter. When I'm lugging my Oma up even two or three steps I feel how wrong they were to have said this--the thing weighs an absolute ton. There's no way on earth I could ever get it up an a car roof rack; it would need a crane. But when I am actually riding it's a whole different story: it feels not massive but smooth. The first time I took it out I had the very strange sensation of riding always down an otherwise imperceptible hill. The bicycle seemed to glide along of its own volition.
i got the same impression test riding several dutch bikes, but in the end, the weight ended up being a big problem for me. i have a low-end dutch brand, a cortina. it has massive oversized steel tubing and weighs even more than a velorbis or azor by a few pounds. on level ground, it feels great-- smooth and solid, not even the slight bit strained. plus, i don't even notice when i have 50 lbs of stuff on my back rack... the dutch bikes feel like they were made to take a lot of weight. however, going up hills is torture. i gave up commuting with my cortina because the hill i live on was killing me. my cortina has the same sturmey archer gearing ratios as my vintage raleigh, which weighs 20 lbs less. my raleigh takes hills *much* more easily than the cortina. weight isn't much of a problem on level ground, but you can't ignore it going up hills. extra low gearing (such as found in a 7- or 8-speed hub) helps mitigate the weight effect, but weight is weight. there is a reason that heavy bikes evolved in holland-- holland is essentially flat. and i suspect that's the reason these bikes never sold very well outside of holland. holland is like the galapagos islands for bike evolution.
also keep in mind that much of the weight of a typical dutch bike is contributed by heavy accessory components, not just the frame. dutch seats are heavier than brooks seats. dutch racks are heavier than most aftermarket racks. and most dutch bikes come with either steel or stainless steel rims... aluminum rims and rack alone might reduce the weight of a dutch bike by 10 lbs.
that said, i still like my cortina with its massive frame and stainless steel rims, despite its weight. it's a better work bike than most bikes. i also have a couple of vintage dutch city bikes (both unions) which aren't quite as heavy as the cortina/azor/velorbis variety, but they aren't nearly as utilitarian.
as for the azor brand. the distributor for them here in the boston area is dutchbikes.us. according to the owner, azors have given him headaches. quality is spotty in places, and azor doesn't like to honor warranty claims. so, he has to pay for his customers' warranty repairs out of pocket. he's switched his main brand to velorbis, which he claims has been a wonderful company to work with, and he has very few quality problems with them.
i've heard nothing but great things about a relatively new brand in holland-- fietsfabriek. supposedly very well made bikes. but as far as i know, there is no north american distributor.