Comments on: Who rides a WorkCycles city bike?

By: William Bendsen

William Bendsen — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:26:25 +0000

I’m so happy to see that the basket on the Oma in the first image is fixed to the frame. It makes an incredible difference, and if the weld (and the basket) is up to it, then you can carry more than 200 pounds quite comfortably in that position. It’s amazing!

By: Caroline

Caroline — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:52:14 +0000

And they are so cute, too!

We just did a piece on how car culture affects health. Patti offers a european perspective, including the integration of bicycles into a daily routine. check it out: http://speakhealth.org/can-you-stay-fit-in-a-car-culture/

love to hear what american bikers think.
~c

By: David Cox

David Cox — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:44:41 +0000

“I like my bikes big and heavy : )”

I do too. I get around on my Fr8 and it is heavy, very big and I love it. I enjoy the comfort, stability and utility. The ride is always plush– going up hills, down or scooting along on the flats, it’s always comfortable.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:17:28 +0000

Gotta get it how you live :)

By: Adrienne Johnson

Adrienne Johnson — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:44:17 +0000

If my wonderful Batavus ever gets folded or spindled or stolen this will be my next bike. I like my bikes big and heavy : )

By: Mark Stosberg

Mark Stosberg — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:50:41 +0000

I love the pop-up slideshows. This is a great use of the FancyBox jQuery plugin.

By: Shane

Shane — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:25:46 +0000

Wow, that was fascinating and interesting trivia Todd, thanks!
Almost as good as the article which was also great!

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:50:08 +0000

What about handle-bar grips? :D

By: Todd (admin)

Todd (admin) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:22:54 +0000

I might as well work in some trivia here for the record. There’s a fair amount of confusion on this continent about how WorkCycles bikes differ from Azors, or from the now defunct Jorg & Olif.

So. There’s a factory in Hoogeveen, Netherlands, that makes traditional Dutch bikes as well as more modern ones like the Bakfiets Cargobike. This company is called Azor. They make bikes sold under their own name, but also sold under other names. The Azor name or brand doesn’t have a terribly long history, so there are no Azors from the 20s or whatever, the way there are Gazelles and Batavuses and so on. Branding and corporate history aside, in important respects, Azor is as “old school” as it gets, being among the last manufacturers still turning out bikes with this clarity of purpose, design and material character in the Netherlands. You don’t have to pick between high tradition/low performance and high performance/low tradition as with some other Dutch bike makers!

WorkCycles purchases bikes from Azor, built to WorkCycles specs, and exports them to us. We tend to import only the premium-spec flavors, eschewing the available coaster-braked, 3-speeded, vinyl saddled variants that would knock only 20% or so off the price. We used to get them still branded Azor, but now they come WorkCycles. WorkCycles also makes some bikes of their own, not Azor-sourced.

Jorg & Olif was a Canadian outfit that launched a pretty brilliant marketing campaign around Dutch bikes (and slowness, and wine, and authenticity) in 2006. The first generation of J&O-branded bikes were built by Azor, to specs I would describe as charm or nostalgia-driven more than service-oriented. ISO 635 steel rims, chromed handlebars brazed in to the stems preventing adjustment, tire-roller generators, those narrow-stance kickstands that fold up behind the rear wheel… all at premium prices. Classic, sure, and very pretty. They switched to at least 2 other manufacturers, simpler and cheaper (COASTER BRAKES?!), before succumbing to debt in 2008. The brand was bought, though, and some kind of relaunch is apparently in the works.

So you see, when people ask us whether J&O or WorkCycles or Azor have better pedals, it’s complicated.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:44:10 +0000

Yeah, I have a feeling I’m going to be holding onto the Raleigh as long as it’s functional. It’s a beautiful bike, and really fun to ride.

Still, I would love to replace the Electra Amsterdam with a WorkCycles Omafiets. It’s really nice having a bike with some more carrying power, the more upright posture (as compared to the Raleigh), and while the Amsterdam really has been a good and mostly reliable bike, both the frame geometry and the sturdiness leave something to be desired for me. But for now it’s a “make do with what you’ve got” scenario there :)