Your very attractive design appears to differ ergonomically from a classic Omafiets or similarly traditional model not in the adjustment range of the handlebars, but in the relatively steep seat tube angle. It appears to be, like nearly all “sport and fitness” bikes made today, in the neighborhood of 73 degrees, instead of in the 65-68 degree range characteristic of classic Dutch city/utility bikes.

This steep seat angle, paired with bars high and close, is what I call here the “comfort/cruiser” position, and criticize as sort of a disaster. It isn’t so much about where your arms are, but about the mean angle of torso and legs, which is too shallow to encourage effective use of the buttocks. People tend to lean or bob forward in partial compensation as they pedal such bikes with anything greater than walking intensity, such as into wind or uphill.

This lean, together with close hands, results in a praying-mantis bend of elbow and wrist also characteristic of little poodles sitting up and begging for a piece of bacon: “sit up and beg.” Steep seat angles tend to encourage either too low a saddle for proper leg extension, or else make it challenging to place a foot down for stability at stops while remaining in the saddle.

Traditional Dutch bikes, in contrast, have the pedals far enough forward of the pelvis that the buttocks get good use even while the rider remains completely upright. I think the various “foot forward” marketing concepts tend to take this basically sound idea just a little too far for the sake of clear storytelling.

The term “hybrid” only confuses things, because in north america it describes something like what is called “trekking” in europe: basically a rigid mountain bike with 622 wheels and city tires. In the simple meaning of “mixed” I’d say your bike is an uneasy mix of old classic/traditional city handlebar position and the newer orthodoxy of steep seat angle. We fit many of these setback pins to rectify this situation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleverchimp/1429704016/

I do like quick-adjust handlebars for just the reasons you cite. Quick-adjust seat angle: now that would be something!

“Cannondale enters city bike fray with Dutchess concept bike | Austin On Two Wheels Says: November 17th, 2009 at 13:14

[...] not all good. Cannondale kept the hybrid geometry that yields the sit up and beg riding position instead of the highly comfortable fully upright, arms at the side position of a true Dutch bike. [...]

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As the designer of the Cannondale Dutchess I can inform you this is not true. The Dutchess has adjustable handlebars that allow a riding position from The fully upright position all the way to a sportive MTB-like position.
If you ask me easy, fast adjustable handlebars (preferably operated while riding) is the ultimate solution. Especially for people that really use bicycles as their daily transport, those nasty country roads against the wind can be killing in an upright position. And at busy intersections a upright position that allows you the 360 degrees of sight is literally vital

I can relate to Todd’s description of the “initial wobbles” of riding a Dutch bike, as even after spending a year on the Electra Amsterdam (which is somewhere in-between the Townie and the typical Dutch geometry), the geometry of the Batavus was so different, it took me a few times before I was really comfortable mounting the bike (never fell over or anything, but it was tenuous). Both the Batavus and the Electra are 3 speeds, and I have ridden the Electra all over Portland, SE, NE, Downtown, NW, and the Batavus went all over SE and downtown, and I’ve never felt like I really needed more than 3 speeds. The only time the upright posture isn’t fantastic is when it’s really windy, other than that, I love riding that way. It offers so much flexibility, since your weight isn’t resting on your hands – it’s easy to ride with one hand for long distances, do other things while you’re riding, etc.

The Raleigh Sports is definitely much closer to the touring position, I’d say (and I think originally it was meant as a touring bike, primarily). It has many of the amenities mentioned about the Dutch bikes (internal gears, full chain case, dynamo hub, rear rack, etc), and has a 4-speed hub, which is supposedly geared the same as Sturmey Archer’s 3-speed AW hubs, with one lower gear. It’s an extremely solid bike, and is a bit more maneuverable than the Dutch Bikes, the slightly wider range in the hub is really nice, and it is a little better for climbing hills – but, as compared to the Dutch bikes, it puts much more pressure on your hands, and the smaller wheels and wheelbase make it definitely less-suited for carrying things. Still fine for a bag of groceries, cat food, that kind of thing, but you’re not going to carry your kid plus three days of groceries like you might on an Omafiets.

The Raleigh Roadster is a stepthrough that looks similar to the Omafiets, and has a more upright posture than the Sports, but is still not quite the totally upright position of the Dutch bikes. It has 28″ wheels, similar to the Dutch Bikes (and opposed to the 26″ on the Sports).

All four of these bikes have a very different feel to them, are very enjoyable to ride for different reasons, and have different advantages and dis-advantages (well, the main advantage of the Electra Amsterdam over any of them is the price, but quality suffers also – well-illustrating Todd’s point that the WorkCycles bikes they sell are not equivalent in functionality to a cheap Chinese bike, trust me). That all being said, if I was going to have just one bicycle for all of my trips, it would definitely be a Dutch bike, and a real Dutch bike (WorkCycles, Gazelle, Batavus, etc).

Some hills are a little slow going sometimes but commuting about 10 miles each way in NYC I can tell you there is still no hill I haven’t conquered.

I have a road bike, I have a MTB, and now with my dutch cruiser unless I plan on attempting a long distance tour or going off road, my road bike and MTB will only gather dust.

@George, concerning which riding position would be better or least harmful, I recommend you read this article from a while ago.