We got bikes!

This was a very interesting experience. We wanted to get used, inexpensive bikes for getting around while we are here, which is only about three more months now. We have been looking around, walking a couple miles to different stores, only to find a limited selection for close to 200 Euro per bike. We were told used bikes go fast and they are expensive, because of the quality. Turns out Dutch bikes, even the simple looking “transportation bikes” have internal gear shifting, compared to the ones we are used to from US, which are external, and are frowned upon here. The internal gear system is not supposed to need any maintenance and is more durable, but is much more expensive.

200 Euro might not be too much for a bike, but since we need four, it adds up, so we kept looking Well, we were lucky to stop at this little repair shop, where a very helpful guy pointed us toward a different kind of bike store, he said they fix bikes for fun and we can get a bike they fixed for a good price. It was the same place a student from Karel’s department recommended earlier, but I could not find much about and did not follow up on. Turned out, we should have gone there first. This place, called Slappe Band (Flat Tire), is just behind the corner from us (really only about 400 feet) and is amazing. It is a sanctioned workplace, as the manager explained, it is work therapy or a place of work for people who might not be able to work in a traditional job. You can tell they have fun doing what they do and take pride in their work.

They get bikes that were left over around town, or people bring over their old broken bikes, they fix them and sell them. They had a huge yard of bikes waiting to be fixed and a good selection of finished ones for very reasonable prices, but only adult ones, so we thought at least Timmy was out of luck. The manager told us they did have kids bikes, but they don’t fix them, because people usually don’t come to them for kids bikes. Well, he said, if we find one that might work and does not need much attention, they get it ready for us. So we did. It mostly needed to pump tires, change the pipe under the seat and it was fine. The biggest problem was to cut the lock. Apparently they get a lot of bikes with locks, if they were left somewhere for too long.  The locks are robust and require a special saw to cut. They had it, but on the small bike it was almost impossible to get to it. At the end they did. And we all got to help with fixing the bike!

Bike for me was no problem, it took a little bit to find a smaller adult one for Phillip, but we did too. So me, Phillip and Timmy are set, Karel’s won’t be a problem once he returns from his US trip, and we just need to get a seat for Sylvia. The three bikes only cost us 150 Euro, which would barely be enough for one bike elsewhere. And the experience of seeing the place and meeting the people was priceless.

I did not take many pictures to protect their privacy, the only person other than us is the manager, who went out of his way to help us, and who agreed to be in the picture. But you can certainly see our new bikes, including Sylvia riding Dutch style for now, until we get the seat. More on that later, but safety is not taken to the same level here as in US, we were told that they can tell who is a foreigner by the fact that they wear a helmet:-)