Thursday, August 6, 2009

My Bike Overbuilt??? Naw, Just Room to Grow


Since buying my Dutch Azor Transport bike, last weekend, down in Chicago, I haven't had much time to get in blog about it's performance. Looking back on my week, my lack of time might be related to the amount of time I spent answering questions about my new bike. It seems that every time I park it somewhere, somebody's going to comment or ask a question about it. Add all that time up and I could have done a few blogs. Not that I'm complaining. It is fun to have a bike that stands out.

One questioner was waiting next to my bike, when I left the grocery store. He said that it was an interesting bike. I gave him the spiel. Dutch, lights, internal hub, internal chain, built in lock, motorcycle kickstand, it is heavy. He looks at the double top bar and says it looks overbuilt. I said it depends on what you want to do with your bike. But it did get me thinking. After riding it 30 miles a day for a week, it doesn't feel overbuilt to me. The hills are a challenge, but they aren't impossible. I'm learning how to do them. This bike also handles some of the worst potholes on my commute with ease.


What this bike is doing, is forcing me to change how I ride. You just can't be in as much of a rush on this type of bike. First, it's to heavy to sprint and second, the upright position doesn't allow me to get in the speed demon mindframe. Dirty Harry said "A man has got to know his limitations" and his bikes, too! I think that's just what I needed. A bike that slows me down, allowing me to enjoy the ride.

Headed home

9 comments:

Trisha said...

New bike looks great! My experience with Dottie's Azor was exactly the same: I only rode it for a weekend and 5 people must have asked me about it. It does make you slow down, too.

Dottie said...

Great pictures!

Most bikes are way underbuilt for how people use them. I would be so annoyed if someone came up and said that to me.

Enjoy the attention! I look forward to hearing and seeing more of the Transport.

anna said...

Well, certainly, that bike is not for speeding, but surely great for transporting stuff and a lovely steady ride. Hope to hear more.

MELI. said...

congrats for the new ride!! must be pretty comfy ;) and panda shots yay!!

great to see you all hang out. lets go ride a bike and drink chai edition <3
from SF with luv .xo.meli.

Amsterdamize said...

You've chosen wisely :-p and glad to read you get the gist of it. True about the potholes and such, that's why we love our Dutch bikes so much, they last a life time (and beyond). ;)

3 cheers from Amsterdam

Lovely Bicycle! said...

Wonderful! That front rack looks like it has lots of room for chai! We get constant comments on our Pashleys as well, which does get overwhelming at times.

Adrienne Johnson said...

I heard, once, that the average American bike is designed for a 150 lb rider. I don't know about you, but I have not seen 150 lbs since my first year of college, so "overbuilt" works for me. I need the sturdy dutch bike to carry me and my son and all of our stuff, over hill, over dale...

spiderleggreen said...

aj~ Funny! When I was 17 and had less than 5% body fat, I weighed 195. I'm very happy if I can get down to 200. Heck, 205.

'Xander Labayen said...

bike looks great, overbuilt is a great thing... my next bike is a batavus personal bike..