The ‘must’ of riding a bike is probably one of the most typical Dutch experiences for internationals.  

We like to share some of today’s trends in the Dutch Bike/’Fiets’ culture.

Most certainly the biggest trend at the moment is the ELECTRIC BIKE. Used by all ages, from teenagers cycling to school to senior couples using it for a nice ride with recreational purposes. One of the popular brands is the trendy Dutch “VanMoof”. Van Moof e-bikes are primarily designed for city rides. Price around € 2.200,- Even if you have a brand new one parked in the street, you can be pretty confident that it will NOT get stolen: there is an integrated motion detector combined with an alarm, a GPS chip and cellular connectivity. If you declare your bike stolen, the GPS and the cellular chips go live and you can track your bike in the Van Moof app. The company’s bikes are now also compatible with Apple’s Find My app. Retail stores and service hubs are opened in 50 cities around the world. Started in the Netherlands, the US is now the fastest-growing market for VanMoof.

The speed of the electric bikes goes from 25-45 km per hour. So please be aware that if you see one heading in your direction: it might have arrived before you know it!

Some other facts about the Dutch bike culture:
The Dutch usually do NOT wear helmets on their bikes
Kids start to ride bikes, not a certain age, but with a LENGTH of 92-98 cms. These are bikes with training wheels on the back wheel. At the age 4 to 5 kids will want to try to learn cycling without the training wheels.

But, before this phase, many Dutch will cycle their children around with their ‘BAKFIETS’. And of course, most of them are ELECTRIC too. A ‘bakfiets’ enables you to transport up to usually four children in one ride. The costs of an electric ‘bakfiets’ are around €5000-6000.

If you are not a fan of the ‘bakfiets’, you can install a BICYCLE CHILD SEAT on your bike. For the tiny ones on the front side, for the bigger one’s on the backside.

Especially men like to buy a TOURFIETS. They meet with some friends, wear professional sports outfits and cycle 30-40 kms on a beautiful Sunday morning through the Dutch country sight.

By the time they get home, they are re-energized and ready for a wonderful family Sunday!

Bikes are indeed a genuine part of Dutch culture. Information about this and other habits, values and beliefs are shared with our clients by our Relocation team. Both by the dedicated office Relocation Consultants as well as by our experienced Field Consultants who enjoy sharing many local needs and nice to knows about the new living environment.

Please feel free to contact us at relo@expatmanagementgroup.com for more information about our services or to request a free of charge Welcome call!