Belgian cyclists

[mike killay]

At the moment I am on holiday at Ypres in Belgium. As the area is very flat there a lot of bikes about, so naturally I have been taking notice of them.
The Belgians at Ypres use their bikes almost solely as transport, of the hundreds that I have seen in the past 3 days, only 4 had dropped handlebars, and of those only 3 men were wearing Lycra.
I have not seen any e-bikes, but I did see a trike that seemed to have electric motor on the front wheel. So far, I have not seen any recumbent.
Virtually all the bikes are what we would describe as Dutch roadsters, although they have modern short wheel bases and the frames could easily convert into hybrid etc.
All bikes here have two brake levers; the brakes themselves are various types of side, centre or cantilever pull. I did see one bike with what appeared to be some sort of band hub brake, but have not seen any disc brakes at all.
All the handlebars are either North Road or All Rounders. The handlebar stems are quite high compared to those seen in the UK. This is because about 80% of riders favour a bolt upright position rather than hunched over the bars.
All saddles are wide, apparently gel filled and well sprung. Many of the roads are cobbled and quite bumpy to ride. Sadly, the Cro-Mo rails of my Rido saddle of which I have been very proud fractured. Inspection showed that they are not solid but hollow tubes, crystalline metal fatigue was evident at the fracture site.
Perhaps we have a lot to learn from these people. I think though that they have a different mindset to us when riding. Most are content to amble along at 8mph, freewheeling a lot, some of the older people only go at 5mph. Every time you pass a house with its garage door open, you can see bikes inside. All their roads cater for bikes, and the car drivers are fantastically considerate.
It’s a very nice place to ride, come here if you have the chance

 

[jerrysimon]

Sounds wonderfull, thanks for the report.

Living in Cambridge a lot of the women ride upright traditional bikes in the Pashley Princess style.

I just purchased one for my wife to celebrate her 50th Birthday. She only cycles a few miles at most (commutes about a mile to work and back every day on it) so is not interested in an electric conversion. Her's is 5 speed and my daughter has a three speed. Fine for flat Cambridge but for hilly areas I doubt these traditional upright bikes, would be much fun. When I am out with my wife I doubt she cycles more than 8-10mph.

I myself prefer a more upright riding position.

Regards

Jerry

 

[indalo]

What you have described Mike, fits perfectly with my experience of Holland, Denmark and Germany. I can't speak for other countries in northern Europe but cyclists, in my view, seem to enjoy greater consideration from drivers in those places than in many parts of the UK. I ride quite a bit in Spain but I find it a dreadful place for cycling as the driving standard is appallingly low yet, I'm given to understand that their driving test is possibly one of the most rigorous in Europe?

I think it must be something in the national psyche which provides for the apparent, (well, to me it is!) difference in attitude between one country and another. To improve matters in the UK would require a major cultural change as we abandoned cycling in a major way a long, long time ago and we have produced generations of non-cyclists who believe cars and speed are important above all else, witness "Top Gear."

When I was a kid, where I lived had cobbled streets everywhere with tram lines on all the major routes yet thousands cycled every day to and from the various factories. Traffic speed was fairly slow at peak times and drivers had to look out for cyclists as there were simply so many around. Today, motor vehicles are far more powerful and much faster than back then yet city traffic speed is, if anything, slower in many places than it was back then. That should tell us something.

Unfortunately, it seems we all must have our own personal heated and air-conditioned bubble in which to exist while sitting in the interminable traffic jams which might not even occur if only we were prepared to pedal from A to B. Like him or not, the biggest change in traffic management policy I have witnessed in recent times was Livingstone's congestion charge. It certainly improved the flow of traffic right across central london and illustrated just how many non-essential car journeys were made each day prior to its inception.

The most stupid change in traffic management will be if the government decide to raise the motorway speed limit, should that come about. There's plenty of evidence to demonstrate that lowering maximum permissible speeds is very effective at both lowering accident rates and improving journey times so I cannot understand this obsession with speed.

I'm not convinced the government will make the right decision as their DOE experts got it completely wrong with their predictions of traffic flow on the M25 and the same department thought it was a great idea to create a bus lane on the M4 and Heathrow spur........I shall now remove my Victor Meldrew hat, take one of my pills and have a lie down!

Indalo

 

[indalo]

ps just seen Jerry's pic of a Pashley. Beautiful machine although I agree entirely about its usefulness anywhere with hills.

Indalo

 

[RoadieRoger]

That is a very nice bike Jerry . Are they still all manufactured in the UK ? Hope you get better luck with that present than I did with my Wife`s 70th birthday present .She won`t ride the Batribike Quartz SE folder which I bought for her .Luckily I put 700 miles on it before some of the warranty ran out !

 

[jerrysimon]

Yes Roger, Pashley are up and running and still producing bikes in Stratford upon Avon.Well definatley the frames

Them AM and Brompton are the last British manufactures of bikes I think.

Pashley of course also produce the Moulton TSR under licences from Alex Moulton and I have one of those too.

My wife loves her Pashley. She went on and on about them after I brought her a Halfords copy a couple of years ago, so I got one for her and passed the other one down to my daughter who has recently qualified as a teacher and now rides that to school ever day.

My job of course is to maintian the bikes and keep them in tip top condition

Regards

Jerry

 

[lemmy]

fits perfectly with my experience of Holland, Denmark and Germany. I can't speak for other countries in northern Europe but cyclists, in my view, seem to enjoy greater consideration from drivers in those places than in many parts of the UK

I agree and I'd add France to the 'good places' list having lived and cycled there for some years. I'm surprised about Spain - as you say, something in the national psyche that is different.

My son, who lives in Hackney, tells me that having become fashionable, the vintage 'sit up and beg' bikes are selling like hot cakes in the area .

Funny to think that we have to have all these wide ranging gears now, 8 and 11 speed hubs, 21 and up speed derailleurs. The most gears I had as a kid were 5 cog derailleurs (unreliable, dirty and the changer mounted on the frame) or a 3 speed hub. I preferred the hubs and used to cycle up andover the south Downs with them.

At the time, any gears at all over 1 were seen as a luxury and a bike deemed unsuitable for hills - ie only 3 gears - now was no obstacle then. Nor would it be now if all the hi-tech stuff wasn't available.

 

[hihihi]

Sitting comfortably like the Dutch is my thing too. And Pashleys, well, they are real cycling eye-candy. Vaguely similar to the above beauty AND a pedelec is the Duchess from Kudos.

 

[catsnapper]

Italy sometimes gets in on the act...Copenhagenize.com - Building Better Bicycle Cultures: Ferrara's Vintage Bicycle Fleet
My stepson recently spent 6 weeks at the university in Ferrara - they gave him accommodation 10km away and a bike! As he lives in Barcelona and cycles all the time he was fine with it, but I'm not sure the Brits that were there felt the same

As an Anglo-Dane that spent a lot of time working in Holland and Germany, I certainly agree about the culture differences. In many parts of the Netherlands children cycle quite long distances to school, even in winter. The car is a last resort.

The laws regarding liability in accidents between cars and bikes are different from the UK in at least some of those countries. Blame almost always goes on the motorist, leading to a higher level of care when bikes are around - most of the time.
Bike awareness is also part of the driving test in Denmark and Holland, maybe in the other countries as well.

As for Spain.....I'm married to a madrileño lady, and she fully agrees Spain is 'different', which is why she much prefers living in the UK


Alan

 

[lemmy]

dt003a4370@blueyonder.co.uk

I'd always thought that counties big on the Tour de France and cycle sport generally were kinder to cyclists but the comments on Spain shoot that theory down in flames!

Incidentally my Tasman is very much in the continental/ Pashley style. The upright cycling stance is very well suited to e-bikes.

 

[funkylyn]

You are right Indalo about cycling in Spain.....I am out in the country, but I only dare ride my bike early sunday mornings usually.....the standard of driving is atrocious, though not, I might add, as bad as in Portugal.
My youngest son took his driving test in Spain.....it is a long drawn out expensive experience....but thorough......they go through with it just to get their licences...after that its every man for himself on the roads, with drink driving rife.
The only cyclists they give consideration to are the ubiquitous groups of lycra clads out EVERY sunday...and then only because they have to...seeing as they are usually always cycling at least four abreast in groups of 20 or 30 at a time.

Lynda

 

[bode]

The laws regarding liability in accidents between cars and bikes are different from the UK in at least some of those countries. Blame almost always goes on the motorist, leading to a higher level of care when bikes are around - most of the time.

Judging by my recent experience in Amsterdam, it is the pedestrian who has the most to fear from the cyclists. Whenever you are on a pavement, thinking it is just a footpath, you will find a bike (or, more scarily, a motor-scooter) bearing down on you from a seemingly random direction.