andrelam

I just got back from a trip to Holland. We spent two weeks in Egmond Aan Zee and rented Batavus Hollidays for myself, my parents and my sister. Here are the main specs:

Heavy duty frame (as are all "Dutch" bikes). I didn't have a scale, but guess it to be about 45 Lbs for an large size, adult male frame.

Shimano 7 speed drive trane
Roller Brakes
Shimano Generator hub with factory standard light front and rear that had auto on/off mode
Fully enclosed chain
Full Fenders
Schwable Marathon tires
Curved handle bar much like the Marry Bar with Ergo style hand rests
Sella San Marco Gel saddle
Heavy duty rack (switched out from the slightly lighter gauge unit that it normally comes with so that it would support a kids seat.
Mini bike pump is help in place in rear rack out of the way, but within easy reach.
The bike shop retails there for around 850 Euros

I never rode late enough at night to need the light, so I can't comment on how it works. At this time of the year it isn't completely dark till a little after 11:00 pm!

General comments on how it rides:

At first the bike was setup with the handlebars way above the seat hight. We were experiencing anywhere from a minimum of 15 to max of 40 MPH wind in the area for the two weeks I was there. Most of the time the wind was blowing around 20 to 25 MPH. My body felt like a giant sail catching the wind. I quickly lowered the handle bar and moved it a bit forward. I realy liked the ergo hand rests. Very comfortable when you had to lean forward to minimize some of the affects of the wind.

On one day I got to finally do for a long ride. I did about 60K in three hours that included a few quick stops to take some pictures or grab a quick snack or drink. I was amazed at how comfy the saddle was. It is firm, and not too wide, and hugs me in the right places. With the handle bars down a bit I had no problems riding at a nice brisk pace (aka flying past most folks out on their leasurely Sunday morning ride). The wind was pretty severe, but I started into the wind so that the return ride would be easier. The bike is rock solid. The bike paths through the Dunes Nature reserve are 12" square paved tiles and bricks. This can definitely cause quite a bit of vibration. Even through the bike is pretty stiff the ride was manageable. The only realy problem I had with the bike was the silly gear ratios. I have no idea what the front and rear strocket count were so I can't calculate gear inches. I did notice that you tend to ride around in 3rd or 4th gear most of the time on flat terrain without the wind. Once you do up an incline you have to go down the 1st gear pretty soon. With a little added wind I found that I had to seriously mash the pedal to go up even slight inclines. With a strong wind at my back and even going down hill I almost never managed to make it to 7th gear. The gearing is definitely desiged for very slow pedaling. Since I have trained myself to keep the cadence up a bit so as not to push hard on my knees I found the gearing to be anying. I am no Lance, but I do try to keep my cadence to 65 per minute at the low end, and try to keep it around 75 to 80 most of the time. There was plenty of gear range between 1st and 7th so if I were to ever use this type of hub I'd just have to get a larger sprocket in the rear. The only other negative were the roller brakes. They did work, but you have to squeeze with all you might. If I squeezed even half as hard on my hybrid at home I'd be over the bars.

An other thing I noticed is that virtually non of the bikes in Holland use Threadless forks. The steering tubes were long and appeared VERY beefy. The head sets were also beefy and most newer bikes appeared to be brushed stainless and all the never ones appeared to be smooth and tapered at the top. I have no idea how you would adjust them because there appeared to be no place to put a wrench.

So here is a short synopsis:
The good:
- Rock solid bike, well adapated to the wet Dutch climate
- Over all fit and finish is superb, these bikes will last a long time even when used year round for years on end.
- 7 gears is SO much better than the 3 speeds of my youth.

The bad:
- The roller brakes as mentioned did work, but needed herculean force if you wanted to stop quickly
- The gearing seemed silly. Why have the gearing to tall that I could barely use it going down hill with a tail wind, yet had to mash to get up even a mild incline?

Over all a very nice bikes.

I met up with a cousin of mine during a family get together. He and his 13 year old son rode nearly 50K on their Gazelle Orange bike to get to the gathering (his wife and younger son took the car). Even by Dutch standards that is a long ride. I noticed that their bikes looked nearly identical to my Batavus. The only major difference between the bikes was that the Gazelle has a built in Quick release mechanism on the Stem so that you could easily adjust it on the road without needing tools. The other difference with my counsin's bike was that his came with V brakes, his son had tranditional roller brakes. My cousin has always been the family "cyclists" in that he always rode much further than any other of my relatives. He never got serious into speed, but for years commuted 20K to 30K per day, which is considered far by most Dutch. My cousin is also one of the few Dutch adults that I know that always wears a helmet. He made his kids wear helmets when they were younger, but now that they are young teen agers he doens't insist.

Happy riding,
André