Zieleman

I have never rechromed a fork (yet). There,s a galvanizer around the corner, but it's just a tad bit too costly to do it.

On Steffen's Presto: looks like that fork had the socks indeed, with a chromed forkcrown. Very nice . I hope you're lucky enough that it's possible to paint it and keep the chrome that's on there now. How's that headbadge doing?

pullup

I was planning on stripping all of the paint of this fork myself first and then indeed I will consider how it looks and if a respray is safe and possible.
Probably have a talk to the Galvanizer Zieleman has mentioned about what he thinks. Thanks for the warning, it is something to consider.
From what I have seen everything is allright but most of the rust will be on the underside of the fork and the crown of course.

@ Mel: I have seen ypur golden Presto and it really is very elegant
@ Zieleman The badge itself is intact, the paint is faded or non existent. So either I restore it or use a decal like I did on the blue Presto. i would prefer to use the badge.

WilliamK1974

Been enjoying this thread, but like others, am just a little surprised at the lack of oma/opa type city bikes on here.

Hopefully this is an appropriate place to ask a few questions. If not, I will move and repost appropriately.

Not too long ago, I became interested in the idea of getting a city bike and visited a boutique-y bike shop that specializes in brands like Gazelle, Pashley, Pilen, Linus etc. The owner generously let me ride a Pilen, which was different than my typical, and had a new Gazelle opafiets in the shop that had just been sold. It was quite nice-looking. I like that type of bike aesthetic, and appreciate its functionality as a bike with an upright riding posture and capability to carry some weight besides the rider. I have a road bike with drop bars, but sometimes that is not the kind of riding I want to do. I also have a nice mountain bike and a set of road tires for it, but riding an MTB like that sometimes feels like a compromise. And so many of us here seem to have more than one or two bikes...

But $1400+ for a new Gazelle... That is not realistic for me even in the best of times. There is another brand called Dutchie, that with an 8-spd SA internal is $699=shipping. This is more realistic price-wise, but I know nothing about the company nor its products. What is the provenance of a Dutchie bike?

So, I thought about the idea of trying to bring a used opafiets over from the NL to the US. Not a used-up, worn-out and beaten-to-heck one, but one that may be old enough for a patina but received a nice standard of care. Getting it over here might cost more than actually purchasing the bike. Also, while an 8-spd opafiets might be commonly available over here, I would imagine that one which was bought new and used in the NL might just be a single-speed, which would not be very practical here in SE Tennessee.

Of course, this raises the thought that this idea may not be at all practical. The other options that I have seen are maybe called comfort bikes, like a Del Sol or its equivalent in the Trek line. Nice enough bikes, I guess, but they just do not turn me on. Has anyone here ever brought an opafiets to the US from the NL, and what are other options?

Thank you,
-William

kroozer 

I am, too, especially since the omafiets is the epitome of Dutch cycling, and they're just cool-looking bikes. But I think most of the members here are more interested in lightweights-- I know I am. I grew up during the 10-speed period, and apparently my brain has been forever imprinted. Also, most of the BF members are American, and I believe the number of Dutch city bikes imported to the US was pretty small. But even the Dutch members here are showing off their lightweight racers. Maybe you guys could show us your utility bikes for urban duties?

Italuminium

Sure, this is the place to ask!

Importing can be done, but shipping is a bear.

A better way is finding a Raleigh DL-1 and run with it.

the classic gazelles were made with raleigh tooling, to raleigh designs.

pullup

I spend the most time in the saddle on my city bike of course

Sometimes you forget just how nice these bikes look as they are literally everywhere.
My own city bike at the moment is a ladies 3-speed Fongers 'Majestic' bike from around 1970 in great condition, actually very untypical condition for a bike in Amsterdam as the risk of your bike getting stolen are very high so maintenance is usually not toppriority.

To me Fongers made the sturdiest examples around, really a nice brand.

A couple of year ago i learned that bikes in this condition could also be found cheaply on marktplaats and then mostly come from rural area's.



Much much better then the modern Oma bike offerings. I think the bikes from the bigger brands are still all right actually but I doubt they will be as bomb-proof as the Fongers.
But the cheap bikes, chinese Oma-fiets copies where the steel is mostly replaced by chicken-**** are to be avoided.



I would not know how much importing these kind of bikes would cost you but perhaps someone has done it and can provide the numbers.

non-fixie 

Let's get something cleared up: an omafiets is not cool. Unless it's pink, made in China, has a milk crate bolted to it and you're a thirteen year old girl. Or it's black, pre-war and you're actually a 90-year old grandmother.

Having gotten that out of the way: if you want a really nice, high quality Dutch bike, get a "sportfiets", like pullup's example, from a decent manufacturer like Fongers, Simplex, Locomotief, Gazelle or Batavus from the 1950 - 1970 period, preferably with drum brakes and an SA three-speed hub. Huge difference in geometry, and much nicer to ride. To see some examples, click here.

Zieleman

That Fongers is lovey and in a remarkably great condition! Are you sure it's a good idea to put that lock around the seatcluster? Would be a pitty to ruin the paint after being well conserved the past 43 years

pullup

Force of habit i guess but you can see I was sort of having the same idea and even took some precaution by putting the lock itself on the back where it can do least harm. It really is a change to the mongrel Amsterdam city bikes I was used to ride.

This bike even has the original pump, bell, tires, skimpy 70's lock and even the shields to protect your coat seem to be the ones original to the bike.

i know from when I had a flat tire that it is practically impossible to find any bike with a pump mounted to it in Amsterdam these days so I will remove i and keep it at home to save it. I just don't want to perform the experiment to see how long it will last on the bike here.

Zieleman

I did notice your precaution and the fact that it wasn't locked

I got an old Zefal pump laying aroung somewhere for that experiment and you won't have to carry a co2 inflator when you take it for a spin.

Are the lights still working btw? And that forkcrown is something else!

Woutervanwijk

i am actually really fond of the old dutch transport bikes. These were the kind of heavy duty bikes the baker boys used to ride while delivering orders at the home adresses of their clients. Same story for the bikes which used to carry milkcans.
But old Fongers are reallly cool too. Actually quite funnny that they still have a huge fanbase in our old colonies https://www.vogelvrijefietser.nl/hetb...indonesi%C3%AB
And off course old Gazelle have the most amazing front sprockets. My old omafiets used to have one. And in contrary to non-fixie i really like old omafietsen cause they are so damn sturdy and handy. I dont want anything else than my old gazelle omafiets while riding around Amsterdam with 10 bags of Albert Cuyp groceries and a bunch of flowers.

non-fixie 

Transport bikes are an entirely different matter. They were the delivery boys' racing machines back in the day. Like the porteurs of the Parisian newspaper men:

Woutervanwijk

picked up a nice CERA 58ct. Panto one the seatlug. Nice front fork. Campa SR group on it besides Tange nova headset, Campa Aero seatpost and Campa victory (i guess) pedals. Rides OK. Tires are bit stiff Continentals and the middle rear sproket is a little bit worn out. But i am not complaining for 90 euros

Italuminium

What, 90€ for a full SR Cera? Lucky you! Beautiful bike, wouter.

pullup

That is a great score indeed.
I wonder why the usual horde of traders didn't pick up on this one because it looks in to be in great shape.

Woutervanwijk

thats because there wasnt a pic of the drivetrain side. i recognised the drilled SR calipers on the third picture

Zieleman

That's a really cool find Wouter! What kind of wheels are those?

Woutervanwijk

Campa Record with Mavic G40. straight as an arrow

Zieleman

I say keep it. At least the gruppo and wheels if you decide to get a different frame

Italuminium

If that springfield had been my size I'd been making some very stupid phone calls.

pullup

I was thinking more or less the same thing. It is offered on marktplaats for a couple of weeks though and I am convinced it had gotten better offers initially then it is listed for at the moment.

Woutervanwijk

actually perhaps a great idea Don. Springfield. i was born in Haarlem. the stupid thing is that this bike was build up with the same SR group. I think legacy bikes sold it as a complete bike to the guy from Amstelveen

BG2

Finally ready to be shown this late ? 60s locomotief.

pullup

You finished it, way to go and looking good I might add

Those waterbottles are cool.

Woutervanwijk

Really Nice.