I like my Breezer a great deal. She's been a joy to ride and I'd heartily recommend one as a wonderful utility/commuting/transportation sort of bike. That said, had the LBS that sells Dutch bikes opened a year earlier, I would be riding an Azor Oma, Swan, or Secret Service. There's just something about the upright style that makes riding such a pleasure to me. I've also got a pinched nerve in my shoulder and that gives me problems periodically. While those of you who ride road-style bikes might laugh at this, my Breezer puts me in a more aggressive posture as compared to a Dutch-style bike. I end up with more pressure on my hands, arms, and upper back. That gives me trouble at times.

One of the LBS owners (who sometimes posts here) had mentioned an interest in experimenting with the "Dutchification" of my bike. He was thinking of getting my saddle further back via a seatpost with setback and handlebars with more sweep than what comes standard on the Breezer. I'd been thinking about it and finally decided to try it when Todd told me he had successfully transformed another Breezer. So I asked him to order the parts and stopped by the shop this afternoon to see about getting an appointment or something. To my delight, there was time today for it to be done. My handlebars were replaced with a set of Nitto North Roads. Sadly, I had to give up my lovely Thompson seatpost. There's not enough setback on any microadjust seatpost to be able to use one, so now I have a straight pipe-style seatpost with this gadget that gives lots of setback and will take my double rail B-67. I think it's a part used on Brompton folders. In the end, my stem also had to be replaced with one that is shorter.

Riding my bike home was so much fun. I'm sure I'll be tweaking it here and there over the next few weeks, but not having my shoulder so affected by my riding is simply heavenly. I'll post some before pictures and of course the after pictures so you can get an idea of the changes.

EDIT: I mixed up Brompton and Bike Friday. Fixed now.

Before:

After:













Tfahrner also took some "after" pictures of my bike, and I suspect they turned out better than mine. Perhaps he'll post them.

Very cool! Looks sweet!

By the way, after I graduate, if I don't wind up settling in Europe, Portland is looking better and better

That looks pretty comfy, nice. Do those Ergon Grips translate over well to those sweeping bars? I'd wondered about that before.

Donna -

That looks great and even more than looks, the fact that you will be more comfortable on your bike is really nice.

I always see bikes like this as being English as I associate internal gear hubs, fenders, and North Road bars with my beloved old 3 speeds although Dutchification is probably more apropos since they seem to be the ones carrying on the tradition of building fine roadsters.

I think you'll really like those bars. It's a shame you don't see northroad style bars more often. I like the seatpost widget too. I'll have to post a picture of an odd solution that came on a bike I bought used.

I like them, but I do a lot of computer and office work and that pinched nerve in my left (dominant) shoulder sometimes means my pinkie and ring fingers on my left hand get cold and a bit numb. The grips allot me to have a variety of hand positions. The main reason I decided to keep the little hook thingys on the grips is their usefulness in being able to hang bags from the handlebars. As I ride this setup more, I'll know more.

It's funny you should mention that. Todd calls this "Dutchification", but then we both thought what happened yesterday to my bike is more of an "Englishification" because he used North Roads. I'm going to ride this for a while. If I find myself wanting to be even more upright in my posture, we're going to try out the Dutch handlebars of the sort you find on the Azor Omas and Opas.

In talking with Todd, it seems getting maximum setback for achieving this sort of riding geometry is a bit of a problem these days. I liked my Thompson seatpost so much, I would have shelled out the money for another one if only their setback had been adequate. It sure would make an interesting thread topic in and of itself.

To make those North Roads even more comfortable please consider swapping out your handlebar
stem for a "Kalloy Adjustable Quill Stem" to allow you to very precisely dial in the exact angle for
your body's ultimate comfort.

I have both North roads and Kalloy on all three of my urban bikes and have no more pain in
my shoulders,arms, wrist & back. These stem run about $20 so it's a well worthwhile investment.

As an example place to buy.......
https://www.bicyclesupply.net/Product...spx?id=3572053

I might consider that, Tightwad. Right now, the very short stem I now have (that are used on Dutch bikes) seems promising. It's way, way shorter than the stock Breezer stem. Only time will tell.

Donna-- with a short stem, you also have the option of reversing the stem if you want the same effect as having handlebars with "more sweep". The downsides are that it doesn't give you as much adjustability as tightwad's solution, and that people who know bikes will think it looks kinda funky.

My girlfriend's old bike has too much seat-to-handlebars distance so I reversed the stem... which changed the riding position to "cruiser-ish" from "regular MTB".

Remember people, if you are about to overtake donnamb on the MUP to always pass the dutchie on the left hand side.

(sorry, I will leave now)

I didn't realize one could reverse a quill stem.

Reversed yes but funky ?

I'm not sold on that idea.

bad bad bad....... I wished I had thought of it......

fun! The water bottle is confusing me though. What is going on there? I've started looking at some way to get a fancy cupholder on my ride

Air Zounds.

Swank ride, Donna, nice.

And...

So how do you like it?

So far, so good. My mom would be proud of my posture.

Donna, the bike is looking great but I just can't get beyond those pink mittens, that's just too cute!

Very nice. I like the way you have two warning devices. One for 'Just letting you know I'm approaching' and the other for slightly more forceful communication. People might take it wrong if the Airhorn was used always. Plus a cycle bell is so much more pleasant a sound than an airhorn.

A big thumbs up, Donna, on your "dutchified" bike!

I like the updates. I would be interested to know where to obtain the part on the seat post that sets the seat position back.