Batavus

The Dutch may be the most prescient people on earth. After all, living below sea level does not allow one the luxury to react to problems once they happen. Instead, the Dutch have the uncanny ability to anticipate and answer problems well before they happen. This is especially true of their products, and most especially, their bikes.  There is simply no bike as durable, reliable, or fashion friendly as a Batavus bike.

The iconic Dutch bike is, of course, the Old Dutch. But to think of this as the quintessential Dutch bike is a mistake.  The typical Dutch bike these days is an aluminum frame, seven or eight speed hub, and drum brakes.   But the essence remains the same: a Batavus is a fully equipped bike, but it is fully equipped with some key elements, a full chaincase, a wheel-lock, and internal gears and brakes throughout. Plus, they’re pretty.

While most bike companies are only just begin to tackle problems like fashion friendly designs, a Batavus does far more than just keep your clothing clean. No North American bicycle company, for instance, has ever viewed seasonal outdoor storage as a problem worth solving. But, as any urbanite knows, there is no room inside to store the bike. And in Holland, where it rains perpetually and salt is used to clear icy streets, the need for a weatherproof bike is key. A Batavus is not only weatherproof, it is also built to withstand all the bumps and batters it receives outside in urban centers. It is not strange to see Batavus bikes that are over fifty years old riding around Holland. They last that long – seriously.

While high end road bike companies are always innovating their bikes to be optimized for speed and performance, the city cyclist in North America has largely been ignored. Batavus is the European leader in city bikes, and with a large export market to the icy streets of Scandinavia and the hilly regions of France and Germany, Batavus is building the most adaptable and evolved city bike in the world. With more innovation and safety awards than any other city bike company in Europe, Batavus is centuries ahead of their competition.