So lovely
Posted 10 January 2006 | Filed under Bicycling, Car-free, Longtails, Parenting
Image by Bala Nallama
$2,139.00
$2,499.00
$99.00
$140.00
$120.00
$1,850.00
$1,315.00
908 SE Hawthorne Boulevard
Portland, Oregon 97214
Mo-Fr: 11-6; Sa-Su: 11-5
503.334.1560
Contact us · Map & detail
Portland, Oregon 97214
Mo-Fr: 11-6; Sa-Su: 11-5
503.334.1560
Contact us · Map & detail
January 12th, 2006 at 02:39
This can’t be taken in the U.S… none of the people on this fantastic bike have helmets on! Where DID this bike come from?
January 12th, 2006 at 15:03
it’s holland, of course! the filiduo: http://www.tmannetje.nl/winkel/nederlandstalig/detail_info/kindervervoer/filiduo.htm
helmets, yes, well. “take a walk on the mild side:” http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/321/7276/1582#SEC1
January 12th, 2006 at 16:52
I can’t take my eyes off that long chaincase. I am so over drivetrain maintenance.
January 13th, 2006 at 08:29
No Kidding Lexxa, but a this point, I’d take just about any full chaincase at this point. It’s amazing how long the sand hangs around on the streets in Wisconsin this time of year. X-P
January 13th, 2006 at 09:39
Okay, at this point, I have to work on my copyediting. But also, I forgot to ask, does anyone have a source for aftermarket chaincases in the US?
January 13th, 2006 at 10:07
Just think if only half of people/families moved around in the city this way, would it not be just about the neatest sight? I’d aqctually love to find a commuter bike of this sort and
and I would use it for sure. Dutch I assume, might be worth a trip there some day to do a bit of vacation and bit of vacation and to seek out one of these bikes.
January 13th, 2006 at 12:14
In enlarging the photo to examine what’s going on at the top of the fork (generator?), I also happened to notice the muscle development in the rider’s forearm. I would NOT want to arm wrestle her!
January 13th, 2006 at 21:37
Bill, that’s an integrated wheel lock, like this
To quote Wikipedia: “Also called an O-lock, this is a mechanism mounted on the frame that immobilises the rear [or front, apparently] wheel by moving a steel bolt through the spokes to prevent motion. It uses a straight or circular bolt which extends from the housing. This type of lock, found particularly on bicycles in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and China, prevents riding the bicycle but does not secure the bicycle to a stationary object.”
Yet another really cool item available almost anywhere in the world except the US. Anybody got a source for these?
Also, that sure looks like a purpose-built bike. One has to wonder whether such a thing would fit into a family budget or if the rider is some sort of childcare provider. Sure looks like it would be a plush ride with that loooong wheelbase.
January 13th, 2006 at 21:52
there’s detail here: /bike/euro/eurobike-Pages/Image7.html . has been hiding in plain sight in cleverchimp webspace for years (see “ogling amsterdam bikes“). the bikes are indeed purpose-built (see link above in response to lexxa) and start at ⬠1145 ($1360). probably rides a lot like an xtracycle…
January 13th, 2006 at 21:56
Oh, lookee, sure enough, it’s called a “moederfiets” or “motherbike.” As Todd pointed out, this particular one is called “De Filiduo”, and is advertised as being ideal for twins. It’s a 3-speed and has a rear drum brake, fender skirts and powder-coated frame. Love that center kickstand. It also has a generator–it’s just on the back wheel–probably that gadget right in front of that cute little white shoe.
I knew those Dutch classes would come in handy someday. Now, if only those tight, orange-clad, wooden shoe-wearing, tulip-sniffing cheeseheads would just let me emigrate to their country, everything would really fall into place for me.
January 13th, 2006 at 22:28
i made a half-serious attempt to emigrate to the netherlands with my family about 3 years ago. i don’t see how any halfway bikey person visiting amsterdam could do otherwise. it started at the airport, in the restroom. ultra-modern clean white urinals, and there where there’d be a cake here was a meticulous housefly etching fired into the glaze: comic relief amid the severe officialdom of the national airport. and the bikes, or rather the bicycling people — silver-haired ladies in curly lamb hauling groceries home through the sleety night on 50-lb bikes, and it’s so utterly normal. i couldn’t wipe the grin off my face the whole time. if you ever despair about the potential of bikes as the default option for everyday transportation in rich modern societies, amsterdam is balm for the soul.
January 14th, 2006 at 09:09
“where thereâd be a cake here was a meticulous housefly etching fired into the glaze”
That’s there for a purpose. It’s the ‘sweet spot’ for minimal splash-back. Most men will aim for it without thinkinh or needing a sign to tell them to do so.
January 14th, 2006 at 12:51
yes mike, marvels of pissoir engineering they’ve got. somehow in the same vein is the inscription on the leidseplein, in severe classical gravitas, “HOMO SAPIENS NON URINAT IN VENTUM“
January 17th, 2006 at 08:52
How about a Cleverchimp group trip to Amsterdam? There is that cool guy who makes the conference bicycle we could visit, plus we could probably line up some visits to bike makers… we could also get a group rate for bike rents, since we might not be able to bring our bikes!
Mauricio: The locks you like so much are actually really easy to crack – I had one on my German bike for ages, but they might have gotten better over the years.
Bill: Yupp that lady has some got muscles there — just imagine riding that tire width on copple stone…
January 17th, 2006 at 09:04
Hey Martina, They are, but they’re really just made to deter the impulse theft. Not good for much more than a quick run into the post office or the store, but hey, if you’re doing a lot of that they’re great.
Love the idea of a field trip…
January 20th, 2006 at 10:09
i’d go on that field trip, and i am not much of a traveller, so that says something, I guess.
Mauricio, those O-locks you’re interested in come stock on the Breezer city bikes, and also on some Treks. I’ve seen them on eBay now and then, in cases where a user removes it from her bike and puts it up for sale. You’ve got to drill and tap two special holes in your frame to install it, though. Probably not a big deal for this crowd!
When I rented a Breezer last spring I found the lock very handy. It negates the need to carry a cable to loop through the rear wheel.
February 2nd, 2006 at 12:42
Re: biking in Nederlands
I worked in Eindhoven in southern Holland for two summers and biked to work every day. It is a wonderful place to bike, even better than Amsterdam in my opinion. The “fietspads” are separate from the roads and go to many places where the roads don’t go. The lack of suburban sprawl also means the bike trips between towns are especially pleasant. The flat terrain also helps; I hardly ever shifted into the third gear of the three-speed I always rode.
I brought my parents over for a bike-vacation and we loved it! We saw some dancing ostriches just off the pad between town. And there was always a pub nearby where we could stop for some refreshing appeltart or pannekuchen.
The Dutch grow up with their bikes, using them for most basic transportation. It was especially heartwarming to see young couples around town, the beaux pedalling away with the belle perched demurely side-saddle on the rear rack. (I tried this and it is quite difficult without practice!)
sigh Good times… I probably wouldn’t be biking to work now without that great experience.
About the integrated locks: it is an insurance requirement that you have these on your bike. They won’t pay up if your bike is stolen unless you have the key in your possession. (The key locks into the lock when open.)
April 5th, 2006 at 21:18
The bicycle looks like a Fietsfabriek bicycle http://www.fietsfabriek.nl/pages/pmduo.htm the Packmax duo.
There are two of the short wheelbase models in Portland, I saw them at northwest bicycles being given final assembly in the fall. Haven’t seen them since. One was black the other olive green. I just about had a spasm when I saw the fiets.
I just got my Axa wheel lock from velorution.org for a future project – the love child of a Gazelle and an Alex Singer Porteur left for adoption in japan.
The pashley importer, North Road cycles in Raleigh, NC might have some wheellocks in stock, CYCLESTORE@aol.com As Pashley are the only “dutch” bicycles sold in north america, he’s just about the only source of chaincases and the like, but only the stuff used on pashley.
And I just remembered, I got an email from a new bicycle company in Vancouver, http://www.jorgandolif.com/
They sell dutch roadsters and frontloaders under their own Brand, built for them by an unnamed company in Holland, a common practice, boutiquey dutch oriented bike shops outside of Holland often have house branded models. These are the standard high-tensile roadsters, unfortunately available only with 28″ wheels and no 590/650As for some reason. I’d prefer to see someone sell a newer design lugged chromoly frame roadster, but this is at least something. Apparently Jorg and Olif also have dutch vinyl panniers and racks for sale.
April 8th, 2006 at 16:22
The Axa wheel locks/O locks, the type typically use on dutch bikes don’t require any holes drilled into the seat stays, you use a hook that holds onto the stays which bolts onto the lock. I don’t know about the locks breezer uses. Or you can use zip ties, I saw a Batavus today downtown that had a zip tied Axa lock.
April 9th, 2006 at 18:57
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaeljacobs/tags/bicycle/page4/
Perhaps this should be posted on another blog, but someone on this blog or a related blog posted one of Uruandimi’s photos, of a fietsen hauling a wheelbarrow seeking to find the photographer’s site. So there is it. A virtual catalogue of ordinary people doing ordinary everyday things of bicycles.
June 4th, 2006 at 22:48
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June 5th, 2006 at 09:03
I’ve seen an o-lock with an extendable wire, so you can lock the bike to a lamp post or something. When you unlock it, the wire rolls back like the cord of a vacuum cleaner. Very convenient, but maybe not as robust as some of the heftier locks.
One of my wire locks is getting old and rusty, so maybe I need one of these now :-)