My Dutch Dream

Yesterday I bought myself a great bike! I’ve been looking for a while now for a bike and have been so far using a rental one that I obtained from Frederic Rent a Bike, on a week’s rental.

So I looked around and found several small independent bike shops and most of them sell exclusively new bikes (look around the streets and hardly any bikes are new at all!) which go for about €350 minimum. Perhaps the odd second hand bike if you’re lucky. Sure you can get yourself a €200 brand new bike made in China but ride on Prinsengracht a few times and you can expect it to fall apart in no time!

So I checked out the stickers on the rear mudguards of other bikes and saw “M. Costa” on a lot of bikes. A little internet work reveals there is a branch near me at Muiderpoort station. I checked it out and for starters there were hundreds of bikes simply there for repair. In the back, they had several hundred more bikes, about half new and half second-hand. Compared to all the other places I had so far seen there was infinitely more choice.

I really wanted to get myself a nice classic Dutch Batavus (stressed second syllable, it turns out), having rode one a couple of times on rental previously. But I prefer a smaller frame bike with a lower seat and these were few and far between generally. In the end, I got myself a nice Dutch bike (I think). I can see that it is a few years old but clearly a strong bike, it has a nice low seat and after giving it a test ride (hand over your passport when you borrow the bike) I fell in love with it. It rides even better than the Batavuses I have rode so far. I can really lean into the corners and can feel the advantage of the low centre of gravity. Bought myself a lock and a new set of bungees too. The bike itself was €190 but so long as I lock it up well, this baby should last me for a few years I hope. I could have bought for cheaper privately, but I need this bike now and I have confidence that this bike has been set up properly (private sales always need some work and I don’t even have a set of tools yet) and it comes with a 3 month guarantee.

I’m only a few minutes away from this part of town and the other thing I noticed about this place is that there is a huge market here! I’ve since noticed that the “Dappermarkt” is actually rated as one of the best open air markets not just in The Netherlands but also in the world! This market is bloody huge and you can get all sorts of things here from bikes to fish to textiles to clothes and more. Personally I think it is good but not great, but there is no doubt that this market and the surrounding shops are damn handy!

Anyway, here’s some pics. The first is my Batavus hire bike that I have now returned. A great ride. The second is my new Rivel bike, the third and fourth are the view from the top of the bike park at Central Station! The last is a rider’s view as I depart from home.