Hi CptnObvious, welcome to the forum!

The bike has been a terrific commuter for me. It is decidedly low maintenance. The dynamo in the front hub powering front and rear lights works great and I don't have to give it a thought. The rear wheel removal is simple the rear of the chain guard, like the tail 4", is just a friction fit and slides straight off to the rear, that's all there is too it. The seatclamp is different, looks pretty cool, but is easy to operate by putting a 5MM hex wrench into the seat tube to loosen and tighten. That and all of the internal cable routing give the bike a really clean and uncluttered look to it.

Thanks @Short Cut!

I have a few other questions. I was looking at the front fender and it looks like the cutoff is a little high and stuff could get sprayed up onto the bottom of my pant legs. Have you ridden in wet weather? Should I plan on adding some sort of mud flap to the bottom of that fender?

Also, I had a dealer tell me that finding panniers that fit the large tubing of the rear rack is a challenge. Have you outfitted your bike with panniers, and did you have fitment issues?

How has the front basket worked out for you? Do you find it useful? I was thinking about buying that, and then putting a square mesh bungee around the outside of the basket to fill in the large gaps when I don't need to tie something down.

I really appreciate your comments. I'm excited about this bike.

I agree about the front fender, although in CA's drought I haven't ridden it in the wet, I'd prefer to see the trailing edge of the front fender terminate below the level of the front axle. Something like this would help.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=476514

I've put a zippered bag on the rack for small loose items and use the front basket for larger items.

This is the rack bag I've been using. I like it a lot and think it's a great value.
However the downside of this application is it obscures the rear light from view so I've used another rack mounted light and can also use the small flasher on my helmet.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o01_s00

Is there a way to hook your alternate rear light up to the existing wiring?

I'm sure it could be done, but it wouldn't be easy as the stock rear light is inside the top tube. It was certainly a trade off, but the rack bag is just so darn convenient and imo that's what a town bike is for. Before I put the new light on the rack I just hung a blinking LED from the back of the bag. These are so easy to attach almost anywhere. They're small, cheap and highly visible.

Amazon.com: Bike Bicycle Red LED Rear Light 3 modes Waterproof Tail Light Black: Kitchen & Dining

Hello,

I’ve just registered at the forum.
I’m thinking of buying a new bike. I mainly travel in the city (commute to work every day) and have recently come across Vanmoof bikes on the Internet. They seem interesting to me, but I’d like to get an opinion form people who have had a Vanmoof bike for a while before I decide anything. So could anyone who’s got a Vanmoof bike, preferably an S3 one, say something about their feelings regarding the bike? I mean its advantages and, I guess more importantly, disadvantages.

Thank you,
T

There are a couple VanMoofs that are semi-regulars in the shop where I work as a mechanic, and they're a pain to work on, especially when anything goes wrong with the proprietary stuff. One of the bikes had its internal seatpost clamp crack at some point, and the clamp bolt actually punched a hole through the other side of the top tube just from being tightened (to account for the crack). The wiring for the taillight was also damaged when this happened. Replacing that clamp wasn't much fun. That bike actually had so many issues that they ended up getting a replacement under warranty recently, and it had a different style seatpost than I've ever seen before. It gave the bike's owner a very difficult time swapping out the included saddle for his preferred one.

Vanmoof have had a bit of an up and down and up reputation. It was really good for a while but recently seemed to have become more problematic. A local bikeshare group who have a few hundred aren't as happy as they could be with them at the moment. There are rumors that they're working hard to improve things.

A better option for comfort, reliability, and pedal efficiency might be something from Workcycles: City Bikes | LocalMile

Search the net, you can read about the chain guard... # 16, appears , its a Hebie chain glider.




'/,

Share.. what problems? did the Frame Break?

If that's directed at the bike I've dealt with - the biggest one was the seatpost clamp cracking and causing an extra hole to get punched through the top tube, and the difficulties with replacing it. He did have a problem with the 3-speed hub, but that's not directly VanMoof's fault. Mostly it was just the number of issues he had with the bike as a whole, I don't remember any other specific ones beyond what I've stated - although I've heard that other shops have had difficulties figuring out how to remove the wheel to fix flats for him before

I haven't owned one, I like the looks of the mixte very much. But I see a lot of them around and first ones are almost 10 years old and to be honest, those don't look like a 10 year old sturdy durable Dutch bike, but more like 30 year old one. Maybe they have improved, but I understood their mission was to produce a trouble free city bike and to me that includes little rust over decades and easy to fix.

I guess if you want a truly trouble free bike you'd better take a look at Workcycles or Azor.

The S3 is an awesome bike ..I have had mine for 2 years and I love it...get one...u won't regret it..

I ended up getting the 8 speed Alfine model in 2015. At the time that model was the step up from the models with roller brakes and when riding the two back to back the discs were just so much better. Looks like it's not that big of a bump in price to go from the 3 to 8 speed. Although the town where I use mine is primarily flat the 8 gears are still nice have. I've been riding mine pretty regularly for couple of years and it's been a great bike for commuting or farmers market or grocery shopping.