Copenhagen Cyclery's Brent Norsman

Manager Phil Marmet and owner Brent Norsman with a Long John

By John Greenfield

With its spacious layout and white walls adorned with beautiful bikes, Copenhagen Cyclery feels like an art gallery. The shop opened in May at 1375 N. Milwaukee in Wicker Park, the third of Chicago’s three European bike shops which opened in the past year, joining Dutch Bikes, 651 W. Armitage in Lincoln Park, and De Fietsfabriek, 1311 N. Wells in Old Town.

Vote With Your Feet recently chatted with owner Brent Norsman about how his work as an architect led him to open a bike shop downstairs from his firm; the selling points of his Danish, Dutch and Italian bikes; and intriguing urban planning proposals in Wicker Park-Bucktown.

Tell me about your background with cycling.

I’m pretty avid. I grew up cycling and had a short stint in road racing when I was a teenager, but not too serious. I transferred to mountain bikes in college. After I moved to Chicago my last mountain bike was stolen, probably ten or twelve years ago. At that point I transitioned into riding vintage three-speeds. I’ve got an old Raleigh and an old Brompton in the garage.

I didn’t come to this from the position of an extreme cyclist. Like a lot of people, when I matured into my forties I stepped away from cycling a little bit. This line of stuff that we’re carrying is kind of what got me excited again.

What kind of architecture work do you do?

I’ve had my own practice [Norsman Architects] for about six years. I do mostly urban work, residential and commercial, all of it sustainable to some degree. We like to challenge the boundaries of mainstream architecture a little bit. It’s a nice little collective that’s been operating for about six years.

So is there a connection between your work as an architect and the kind of bikes you sell? It seems like a lot of thought went into the design and appearance of these bikes.

Yeah, it’s definitely a thoughtful collection of well-designed products here. The specific connection is that the European product is a little more sustainable because it’s designed not for a few years but for generations. That in itself is sustainable, in addition to encouraging people to get out on their bike and to enjoy the city.


There seems to be a commonality between architecture and cycling as well. A lot of my employees over the years have been avid cyclists. My employees are responsible for getting me involved in a competition last summer, making the Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn a more bike-friendly environment.

We did a lot of research on existing bike utopias and came across Amsterdam and then found Copenhagen, which we knew had pretty good urbanism but we were pretty amazed at how fresh it was and how integrated into everyday life. So we were somewhat envious and incorporated that into our proposal for our design.

We also came across a lot of different brands of bicycles during that time. The impetus to open the shop came from an inquiry with the Velorbis line. I sent them an e-mail asking if they had a distributor in the Chicago area and they got back to me the same day. It was one of those Internet queries that you didn’t know where it was going to go, and it kind of lead to us opening the bike shop. That was a little over a year ago and it took us a while to get things going. We’ve been open for four or five months now.

Who’s involved with the shop?

The seed of the idea came from me. Phil [Marmet], my manager is considered a partner and he’s kind of the front man of the bike shop. He’s got years of bike shop experience and he’s the perfect fit. My architecture practice is right upstairs so we’re in pretty close proximity – I think that’s the only way I would have done it. And my wife Shawna [Hanson] became integrally involved as well, much to her surprise, and now she’s very excited about the shop. She’s doing marketing and communications for us.

How’s business?

Business is good. I think the word of mouth is pretty incredible. We are selling most of our bicycles to people in other parts of the country and our website [www.copenhagenbike.com, now live] is just getting officially launched this week. We’re getting traffic from our manufacturers’ website and blogs, which are really fun to follow.

You’ll be able make purchases from our website. Not that we expect a lot of sales from on-line shoppers because I think buying one of our bikes is a pretty personal thing. Our customers are searching for the perfect bike. They want to talk to us, they want to figure out what these bikes are all about.

(Image courtesy of the shop)

There are three European-style bike shops that opened up in Chicago in the last year or so. Why are these kind of bikes taking off now?

Interest has been building incrementally, but I think high gas prices have encouraged people to reevaluate how they’re approaching life and transportation in cities. When we were doing the Red Hook competition, definitely one of the motivating factors behind our work was coming up with sustainable alternatives.

So I think that had a lot to do with it. There’s a couple of blogs out there – copenhagenize.com, copenhagencyclechic.com – that are really getting the word out.

But I think quality of life is the main thing. This past year everyone has reassessed how they approach business, life, lifestyle. I certainly have with both my businesses and my home life. Sort of reevaluating what’s important.

And I think there’s obviously a slow growing, or actually a fast growing, cycling movement around the world. I heard some stat that bike commuters on Milwaukee Avenue have gone up 200 percent or something crazy in the last five years. In the six years my architecture firm has been located here we’ve had this intimate connection with Milwaukee. We’ve watched as the bike density has increased. The morning commute is kind of insane.

You guys are in a great location for a bike shop, on this “bike highway.”

Bikes by Velorbis

We’re definitely excited to be in this location. I actually bought the buildings with a partner of mine and I was excited because I’ve lived in the neighborhood for 14 years and I’ve kind of adopted Milwaukee Avenue. I’m very excited to be on it for both my practice and also the shop.

I’ve recently been appointed to Alderman [Manny] Flores’ planning committee overseeing both increased zoning issues and also improvements to the infrastructure of Milwaukee, which is pretty exciting.

There have been two major master plans for the street and the neighborhood which are proposing a lot of these kind of wacky bike urbanism ideas which we were toying with last summer: dedicated bike lanes, widened medians at crosswalks. There are also proposals for street closings, widening the sidewalks, taking back the street, developing a more balanced realationship between, walking, cycling and the automobile.

One of the things that interested me the most about some of the urban planning theories we read for the Red Hook project is that in the European approach towards urban commuting it’s not an “us against them” attitude. It’s more about developing a more balanced relationship. It’s been very autocentric in the U.S. for many years and as the density of cyclists and pedestrians increases there’s increased consciousness of cyclists and pedestrians.

One theorist who’s pretty well-respected recommended no street signs at all, which is pretty radical. He says the presence of street signs gives people a false sense of security and gives automobiles an authority to drive a certain speed. If everyone on the street was encouraged to be conscious of each other, through a heightened sense of fear essentially, we’d all be more cautious of each other. There’s a lot of examples where that’s actually working successfully in Europe, which is pretty cool.

Alderman Flores is embracing a lot of these ideas. I went to him last January to propose on-street bike parking in front of our store here, and also propose the idea of separated bike lanes or more pronounced bike lanes along Milwaukee Avenue. He’s the one who told me about the Wicker Park – Bucktown Master Plan which is proposing all these things. It’s a very progressive plan and the alderman is very receptive to it.

Going back to the question of why the bike shop, we got excited about design, we got excited about these brands. I’ve enjoyed classic-styled bicycles as a civilized way of getting around town. So I was attracted to some of the brands we carry. Hopefully we’re going to attract some existing cyclists but I think we’re going to attract people aren’t currently cyclists and are excited by the brands we carry.

I think there’s a great community of activists in Chicago. But I think if we get some homeowners who are trying to drive their two kids in front and they realize it’s not safe then we may have another voice to push the city and our planners. So that’s kind of the ulterior motive of everything.

My wife Shawna is not really a cyclist and she’s pregnant right now so she hasn’t been riding lately, but last summer she had a ball the handful of times we were out on these bikes. She felt safer, she was upright, she felt pretty and we enjoyed our rides.

Would you like to show me around the shop and point out some of the features of the different models you sell?

Sure. One of the lines we specialize in is Velorbis, designed in Denmark and manufactured in Germany. The frames are hand-built, hand-lugged and hand-assembled. We have their classic black Churchill Classic [diamond-frame roadster] and Victoria Classic [step-through bike with basket] for $1795. They have the full Brooks leather accessory line [saddle, grips, under-seat bag]. They have internal drum brakes, front and rear, internal three, five or eight-speed gearing system and internal hub dynamos as well. So everything’s very low maintenance.

Velorbis kind of funks it up a little bit with their fat tire cruisers; they’re a little more contemporary with a bouncier ride. The Scrap Deluxe, is one of our top sellers because it’s kind of classic with a bit of a contemporary edge. That’s kind of my daily rider – it’s pretty fun.

They have a simpler bike, less expensive bike called their Studine, without the internal dynamos, for $1295.

The Velorbis Leikier

We have their classic cargo bike, the Long John, the Short John, which is a 70-year-old Swedish design. We also carry the Leikier, which almost looks like a hotrod of some sort, but it’s a completely upright riding position with this bar that runs through the handlebars. We just got in our three-wheeled Velorbis trikes which have a completely enclosed kid carrier in the front, with two wheels in the front. They’re a little more stable than two-wheeled kid carriers.


We also carry Abici which is this great Italian line of bicycles. The frames are hand-built in Italy and they’re lugged frames. It’s a young company, these three guys out of Italy who have a very good eye for design. They’ve updated classic designs – I think they’re the quintessential bike in a way. The Abici Amante is kind of their deluxe cruiser which has front and rear rod brakes and some other bells and whistles. The Gran Turismo has a single-speed rear coaster brake and a front caliper brake and it’s a great café bike. It’s actually a pretty lightweight bike as well, which is not necessarily something we’re pushing in this shop.

Abici Gran Turismo

Our only Dutch bike is the Batavus line. It’s a great company which has been building bikes for years. We’re carrying their classic line, which is a little bit more mass-produced so we can offer it at a lower price, starting at only $750 for the Old Dutch single-speed with a rear coaster brake. You can get a three-speed with front and rear drum brakes for $850. We also sell a five speed. If you want all the bells and whistles for a lower price it’s a great product.

Our most contemporary line of bikes is called Larry vs. Harry out of Denmark. It’s actually two guys named Lars and Hans with a super-great sense of humor. Their Bullitt is a front-loading two-wheeled cargo bike for $2,795. It’s kind of a new interpretation of the Long John. They’ve updated the bike with an aluminum frame. It weighs only as much as some of our normal commuter bikes. So it’s fast, and it’s high-performance, a great product for getting around.

[They also stock Basil bags and baskets, Bern helmets, Walz caps and accessories made from recycled inner tubes, like belts and business card holders, by Schlauch and Alchemy.]

Tell me about your customers. What are they doing with these bikes?

I think it’s about 50-50 avid cyclists versus new cyclists, or people who are thinking they want to be new cyclists. Some people have multiple bikes and they’ve been saving and waiting to buy a nice new bike. On the other hand we’ve got an older lady whose kids are out of the house and she wants to start riding a bike again. These people are excited to get on something that’s not necessarily about sport and more about getting around town, and a more enjoyable lifestyle. Most of our buyers are coming from across the country.

How are people from other places finding out about you?

Mostly from the bike companies’ websites. For example, I think we’re the only Velorbis dealer in the U.S. right now.

So we have three European-style bike shops in town nowadays. There’s not much problem with brand overlap is there? Nobody else in town is selling Velorbis, nobody else is selling Abici.

Yeah, we all picked our own lines and they obviously compete but they each have their own benefits and strengths and the educated consumer is lucky to have three shops to shop around and choose from, as well other shops like Boulevard and Rapid Transit that stock city bikes. To have such a great variety in one town is pretty fortunate. We’ve actually had people fly here from out of town just because of the density of bike shops. They check out all the different shops, try a bunch of stuff and then pick one and leave.

So you think the three European shops in town compliment each other and it’s not a problem that you all opened up at the same time?

I don’t think it’s a problem. Competition breeds a better marketplace and we feed off of each other’s marketing. If there’s an article written about one of the other shops in a magazine or a blog we benefit from it as well.

Has opening the shop turned out to be a positive experience?

Yeah, it’s been a really good experience actually. My wife and other people were saying, why a bikeshop? I told them it’s better than a skateboard shop. For me, it’s an outgrowth of my interest in urban issues and architecture. But it’s also been a fantastic networking tool. I’ve met more people in the neighborhood the past summer than I have in the past twelve years of living here. So it’s a nice compliment to my architecture practice. The bike shop appealed to me because as a designer I kind of fetishize objects, maybe a little too much sometimes.

An S24O to Chain O’ Lakes State Park

By John Greenfield

Grant Petersen from Rivendell Bicycle Works has written about the “Sub-24 Hour Overnight” as a type of bicycle travel anyone can do. Even if work and domestic obligations keep you from taking off a large chunk of time to go on a long-distance bike journey, you can squeeze a S24O into your schedule.

You simply pack your bicycle with camping gear, leave in the afternoon or evening, ride a couple hours, camp, sleep and ride home. This kind of trip is not so much about getting tons of miles in, but rather the transformative power of leaving your daily routine to go spend the night outdoors. Even if it’s only for one night, it’s worth it.

Petersen recommends driving out of urban areas to get to green space if necessary, but here in Chicago we’re lucky to have Metra, an extensive commuter rail system that allows bikes on board. There are a bunch of state parks that allow camping which are only a short bicycle ride away from Metra stations: Illinois Beach, Rock Cut, Shabonna Lake, Kankakee River and Big Foot Beach. In southern Wisconsin, only 13.5 miles from Metra’s Antioch station, is Bong Recreation Area – put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Last Saturday, a few of my bike buddies did a fairly spontaneous camping trip to Chain O’ Lakes State Park in northwest Chicagoland, near the Cheddar Curtain. The Chain O’ Lakes area includes several good-sized lakes, some of them three or four miles long, popular with boaters and fisher-folk. For most of our crew this is truly a S24O – they catch the train in the afternoon northwest to the Fox Lake station and pedal a mere five miles to the campground, returning early the next afternoon.


My friend Kevin and I decide to get some more biking in by catching a different train west that morning to Elgin and pedaling up the Fox River and Prairie trails most of the way to the park, making it a 40-mile day. Arriving at this river town of about 100,000, we eat a hearty Thai lunch at the subterranean Bangkok House, 11-15 N. Douglas. Afterwards, Kevin grabs an espresso at nearby Domani Café, a tiny Italian coffeehouse at 109 E. Highland.


We pick up the paved Fox River Trail and start heading north past a small island in the river with a picnic pagoda, a small dam, then a Soviet-style sculpture or a pioneer family. What started out as chilly, drizzly day has turned lovely with fluffy clouds in the cobalt sky. As the trail continues out of town into wooded areas we thrill to the fall colors.

We stop in East Dundee, formerly home to the slightly creepy amusement park, Santa’s Village, to check out the trailside Bicycle Garage, 11 Jackson, an old-fashioned shop with a vintage J. C. Higgins on the sales floor. Nearby a farmers-and-flea market is shutting down but one booth still has a good selection of pumpkins and gourds.

Vintage Panasonic banner at the Bicycle Garge

In Algonquin the trail leaves the river and changes names. We stop at Prairie Trail Bike Shop, a more modern trailside store at 315 Railroad St. I duck in to check out the merchandise while Kevin remains outside. “You’ve obviously come a long way,” says the owner,” looking out the window at our camping gear. “And your friend’s even smoking a cigarette.”

Continuing past areas with tall grasses and fading wildflowers, we stop at a supermarket in McHenry to pick up groceries. As I’m waiting outside with the bikes an older woman comes outside and unlocks her mountain bike. She tells me she commutes 18 miles each way during the summer to her job in Barrington. “Biking is a good way to get around,” I say. “Yes,” she says. “It’s good for you, it saves gas and it’s good for the environment.” “And it’s fun,” I add.

When Kevin returns, he tells me he just had a run-in with a tough guy in the bakery section. My friend’s wearing an army jacket and a furry Elmer Fudd hat. The tough guy said, “I thought Halloween doesn’t come until next week.” Kevin answered, “Actually, it’s two weeks.” This story reminds me of Bob Segar’s song about touring with a band, “Turn the Page”: “Well you walk into a restaurant, strung out from the road / You can feel the eyes upon you as you try to shake the cold /You pretend it doesn’t bother you, but you just want to explode [saxophone wail].”

We leave the trail and head past Johnsburg, Illinois. Singer Tom Waits’ wife grew up on a farm here, so he wrote her a love song with the town’s name as its title. The terrain is getting surprisingly hilly for Chicagoland – at times I’m actually getting down in my drops and whizzing down the hillsides.


Soon we’re at a back entrance to the state park and before heading to our friends’ campsite we make our way to a boat launch to check out Grass Lake before the sun sets. A group of kayakers is heading back to shore. On another camping trip here a few years ago a friend and I rented a canoe and paddled out to Blarney Island, a floating Jimmy Buffet bar in the middle of the lake, but unfortunately it’s closed for the season.

We find our friends Corey, Mario and Mr. Bike at their nicely wooded non-electric site, and the fellows are already in good spirits. As darkness falls the temperature drops and I keep needing to add layers of clothing to stay warm.

We light a roaring fire and prepare a feast: bread and brie with homemade pesto; tostadas with black beans, cheddar, tomatoes and salsa; fresh steamed vegetables; and a Tofurkey, a soy-based turkey substitute that looks like a large softball. I cut the orb into thick slices and sauté it in butter and it’s not too bad. Afterwards we stay warm around the fire with whisky and fat White Owl “New Yorker” cigars. Mr. Bike and I exchange terrible puns.


Sleepy, I snuggle fully clothed into my medium-weight sleeping bag on a thick inflatable ground pad inside my tiny one-man tent and stay roasty-toasty all night, despite the sub-freezing temperatures. In the morning all of our gear is covered with a thin layer of frost.


After a quick breakfast of instant coffee and pop tarts, Kevin and I pack up and pedal to the town of Fox Lake. With time to kill we grab a second meal at the cozy trackside Whistle Stop diner. I scarf down a warming, calorie-dense Cowboy Skillet: eggs, potatoes, cheese, diced sausage and gravy, served with a biscuit.


Soon we’re onboard the train that will take us back to the city, only slightly late for my noon shift at the bike shop where I work. At the Libertyville stop, for some reason a group of well-dressed professionals is standing outside holding picket signs reading “Free Hugs” for “Global Free Hugs Day.” I say, “Gee, I didn’t even know Hugs was in prison.”

Wisconsin wanderings on two wheels

By John Greenfield

Last week I tried to squeeze the last juice out of the summer with a spontaneous bicycle camping trip around southeast Wisconsin. Each year my co-workers from Boulevard Bikes head up to Waterford, WI, home of Waterford Bikes, about 20 miles west of Racine, for the NAMI charity ride organized by our friend Peter, a former chef at the Handlebar. I decide to bring along camping gear and use this as a jumping-off point for my short tour.

Early Sunday morning eight of us drive up from Chicago with our bicycles to the Waterford high school. The ride is a benefit for adults fighting mental illness, and signs are posted outside the school with the names of famous people who battled depression and other challenges: Tchaikovsky, Darryl Strawberry, Buzz Aldrin, even Dolly Parton.

Photo by Ezra Hozinsky

We ride a 60-mile circular route that takes us on lovely back roads under the brilliant blue, smoke-free Wisconsin sky. We stumble into a parade in the tiny town of Lyons. An old farmer is driving a tractor pulling his nine grandchildren in brightly-colored cars made from oil cans. Clowns cruise by on dazzle-painted bicycles and scooters and a man in rolling along, soaking in a bathtub-mobile powered by a lawnmower engine.


In East Troy we savor roasted corn and root beer while brats sizzle on the grill at a bluegrass festival. On stage a band is playing gospel tunes while elsewhere on the grounds people are jamming secular tunes in song circles. Two parakeets are perched on the handlebars of someone’s mountain bike.


After the ride we enjoy Sprecher beers and a cheddar plate (the first of many samples of local cheese I will enjoy on this trip) at Peter’s parents’ house in Waterford while his brother Tim entertains us with acoustic blues songs on guitar. Then I take off solo 20 more miles west to the southern unit of Kettle Moraine state Forest, a popular mountain biking destination.

I’m using the Bike Federation of Wisconsin’s state bike map and I aim for a teepee icon on the map that suggests a campsite, but when I arrive at sundown, I find the location is only a trailhead. But there are picnic tables and a bathroom, which is all I need for comfortable camping, so I crash there anyway. Two college students from Morengo, IL, are returning to their truck from a bike ride and offer me a Heineken. They’re punk fans, so I try to impress them by mentioning I used to messenger and play shows with guys from the Alkaline Trio.

The next day I head northeast, since I eventually want to make it to Kohler-Andrae State Park, just South of Sheboygan on Lake Michigan. I pass through Wales, a village that was founded by Welsh setters in 1840, where the country’s dragon flag still flies.


I eat a lunch of landjaeger (a dry German sausage), cheese, crackers and apples alongside placid Lake Pewaukee and wind up camping a Pike Lake State Park, making it a leisurely 50-mile day. At the lake’s beach I enjoy that pleasantly existential feeling I get watching the sun go down over water after a day of solo riding.

In the morning, after re-stocking with horseradish cheddar, garlic sausage, stone-ground mustard and cashew brittle at the nearby Cheese Hut, I continue 60 miles northeast towers Kohler-Andrae along back roads. I stop to drink coffee and sun-dry my laundry in Kewaskum, a pleasant enough small town that a friend who grew up nearby calls “Scum Town.” It’s challenging, hilly riding for much of the rest of the trip to the coast, and after I reach the state park and take a quick dip in lake Michigan, I’m happy to lay out my ground pad on the quiet beach and relax.


Kohler-Andrae is a beautiful little park, with similar geography to the Indiana Dunes, but it seems to be a bit tranquil. The next day I take a stroll along the park’s miles of undulating boardwalk to the sound of cawing crows and lapping waves, then get back on my bike and head south along the lakefront. I pass through more European themed towns: Cedar Grove, where I get coffee at the Broken [wooden] Shoe, across the street from a windmill; and Belgium, which doesn’t seem to have a particularly Flemish vibe.


I roll a few more miles along the pleasant Ozaukee Interurban Trail into Port Washington, a delightful little lakeside town that’s the first freestanding city along the lake north of the Milwaukee suburbs. I pick up additional cheese and sausage, this time homemade garlic salami, from Bernie’s Fine Meats, a great old-fashioned butcher shop, as well as smoked trout at Ewig’s Smoked Fish and have another tasty lakeside picnic.

From there I make my way down Lakeshore Road, a popular bike route into Milwaukee where I encounter many folks in spandex on training rides. My friend Dave Schlabowske, the bike and pedestrian coordinator for the City of Milwaukee meets me on the north side of town. He’s coming from a rally on the south side of town where he’d dressed up in a chicken costume and crossed a road multiple times to remind drivers they need to stop for peds in the crosswalk. He’s done this a few times, once dressed like Evel Knievel, bearing a sign saying, “You shouldn’t have to be a daredevil to cross the street,” another time wearing a 12-foot-tall chorizo costume borrowed from the Klements Sausage Company.

Dave escorts me by bike to the Trocadero, a French café where we meet his wife for mussels and frites. I’d been intending to camp at Cliffside Park, 20 miles south of downtown Milwaukee but as the sun sinks and I sip a 9% Belgian beer, the Schlabowskes persuade me to sleep on their couch instead.

I tell them about a new theory I developed on this trip. Is it possible that I consider Wisconsin to be so much fun, that I get so stoked about the scenery and culture and food, because I’m only visiting? Would the excitement wear off if I actually lived here. Liz and Dave look at each other. “Nope,” says Dave dryly in his moderately heavy Badger accent. “Drinking beer and grilling brats – life is pretty good here.”

Schlabowske at sunrise

I need to get back to work at 3 pm the next day so I leave before sunrise with Dave, who always heads to work at an ungodly hour, and then I ride south along the familiar route towards Chicago. I need to get to Waukegan, IL, around noon to catch Metra commuter rail home, so I only stop once in Racine to pick up a kringle, a large ring-shaped Danish pastry that’s a local specialty, for the boys back at Boulevard. Due to a sweet tailwind I make it to Waukegan with enough time to have one last picnic by the marina before hopping the train back to the hustle-bustle of the big city.

Interview with Jon Lind from De Fietsfabriek

Jon Lind on a covered bakfiets

by John Greenfield

De Fietsfabriek (“The Bicycle Factory”) opened its storefront at 1311 N. Wells in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood this spring, selling eye-catching Dutch-style city bikes and bakfiets (“box bikes”) cargo bicycles. Vote with Your Feet recently visited owner Jon Lind to talk about how Lind got into the business, the features of the unique vehicles he sells, and why he thinks the time is right for European-style bikes in the U.S.

This is the second of a series of interviews with the owners of Chicago's three new European bike shops, including Copenhagen Cycles, 1375 N. Milwaukee in Wicker Park, and Dutch Bikes, 651 W. Armitage in Lincoln Park.

By John Greenfield

Tell me about your background with cycling.

I grew up in Oak Park and remember as a kid getting my first bike, a Schwinn Stingray, and the freedom that went along with that – the first time my parents would allow me to cross certain borders and boundaries. It was the bike that did that.

I’m 32 now and I’ve yet to own a car, I’m proud to say. I’m not exactly anti-car. I think they serve a certain purpose in the world and they’re not all bad. I went to school down at Champaign-Urbana, a very bike-friendly community and rode my bike all during college.

I’ve lived here in Old Town, Chicago, pretty much since college, with the exception of the time I got to live in Amsterdam. A lot of that’s because Old Town’s an easy place to live a car-free lifestyle, because of its proximity to the Loop and public transportation, and other amenities. I was an eight-month bike commuter, not a year-round commuter, to work in Streeterville for a number of years.

It wasn’t until after Holland, where everything you do is done by bike, that I really got hooked on the lifestyle. After that it was like, OK, I’m going grocery shopping, I’m going to meet my friends. I started looking at the bicycle as more than A to B for work commuting and some recreation. It became A to Z, the whole gamut.

What were you doing in Holland?

In 2006 the consulting company I worked for sent me to Amsterdam. I was in an accounting and finance position. It had been a goal of mine since college to get an expat assignment overseas and I had the time of my life.

How did you get involved with De Fietsfabriek?

I’d been in the Netherlands for 18 months and I was just about to return. I was hanging out with some of my Dutch buddies in the Pijp neighborhood. It’s where the Heineken brewery is and it’s kind of the Wicker Park-Bucktown. We were at my favorite pizza place and this guy rolls up on this tremendous orange bike, very unusual. He throws his kickstand down and walks into the pizza place.

My friends said, “That’s the De Fietsfabriek guy,” and started questioning him about the bike and he offered to let us test ride his bike. It had a 400-watt electrical assist battery, which turns out to be illegal in Amsterdam, and a front disc brake.

His name is Yalçin Cihangir and he’s one of the founders of the company. He’s originally from Turkey and he didn’t speak English, only Turkish and Dutch. As my friends were speaking to him in Dutch I overheard the word “burgemeester” which is the Dutch word for mayor.

At the time Daley was taking a trip to Paris to check out their bike rental program and Yalçin had read something about Daley and how cycle-friendly Chicago is. When he heard I was from Chicago he literally said, “You sell my bikes in Chicago.”


I went to his shop and met his partner Dave Deutsch, got a feel for what they had cooking and felt their passion for what they were doing. Right away I felt like there was something there. When I came home I racked my brain for three or four months wondering if this could work in Chicago.

I looked at “proof of concept,” what’s happening in Vancouver with Rain City Bikes and Dutch Bikes in Seattle and Clever Cycles in Portland. The people at Clever Cycles were super nice and friendly. I talked my friends ears off about what I wanted to do and how I was going to do it. They finally told me to shut up and do something.

So in January of ‘08 I finally went back to Amsterdam with a business plan and made it happen. I flew home with two sample bikes, a gentleman’s city bike and a two-wheeled “bakfiets” (“box bike”) cargo bicycle. That was a harrowing experience – I flew home with the bikes as checked luggage, which definitely tested the patience of the over-sized cargo people.

When did the store open?

The retail location opened on April 1st of this year. I operated for almost a year and a half using public storage as my headquarters. The streets of Chicago were my showroom. It was all word-of-mouth, generating interest and as much direct sales as possible.

Kevin Womac [the owner of Boulevard Bikes, where John Greenfield works] was my first official sale. The amount of confidence that gave me when I was able to sell to a bike shop owner was all I needed to go forward and take the risk of ordering my first container.

Kevin Womac's bakfiets with daughter Hazel and her friend Miguel

Now we have three European-style bike shops in Chicago and new shops are opening all over North America. Why is the time right for Euro-style bike shops here?

As far as adopting the lifestyle of Amsterdam and Copenhagen and other European cities where cycling is in the blood, towns like Chicago are laid out perfectly for it. It’s flat here and there’s a movement towards sustainability. You can get 70% of your needs within a three to five mile bike trip and the weather three-quarters of the year is ideal for biking.

But in order for that culture to take you need to have the right tools. By that I mean a bike that comes standard with the kind of features these bikes come with, that being fenders, a chain case, skirt guard, a lighting system, a rack to carry your things.

And there’s a battle between the U.S. biking mindset which says lighter is better and performance is better. But for commuting comfort is better than speed, especially when you’re talking about shorter distances, which is what these bikes are ideal for, getting to or from your job or going out with your friends, all within your local community.

Even in Holland the Bakfiets concept is less than ten years old, so it’s still fairly new.

What’s the price range for your bikes?


I this last shipment I got a hold of what we call a “Simple City Bike.” They’re single-speed with battery-powered lights and a rear rack. [Most of the store’s more expensive models built-in cantilever racks.] Those retail for $799 for the “Oma” [step-through] style and $899 for the male style. Our main line of city bikes go from $1600 up to about $2,000. Our cargo bikes range from about $2,000 up to around $4,000. The one Kevin bought was about $3,000.

What would you say to someone who has sticker shock and says, “Well, I could get a reasonable used car for $3,000.” What selling points would you use to get someone to buy a premium cargo bike instead?

One, it’s quality that lasts. You’re investing in the car-free lifestyle and the mobility that a bicycle like this can offer. These are hand-made, not mass-produced. There’s no planned or perceived obsolescence. They really are built for the long haul and they maintain resale value.

Any bike is basically an up-front investment and not something that has continual costs such as monthly insurance bills and maintenance and gasoline, parking tickets and getting towed and things like that. If used properly, these bikes pay for themselves.

Why don’t you walk me around the store and give me your sales spiel about the different models.

The BF18 is one of our most popular models. It is a three-wheeled cargo bike with two wheels in the front. It can carry 265 pounds of cargo. It can be set up with two benches and it has the capability to carry four children. The benches fold up so it’s very versatile if you’re just moving a larger cargo item. We have rain canopy covers which are wonderful features not just for rainy days but for wind-chill purposes, to keep your child’s body heat inside the bicycle.

It’s set up with internal drum brakes on the front two wheels, nicely sealed and good for all-weather riding. When the parking brake is set it effectively acts as your kickstand so the bicycle does not roll whenever you’re stopped, loading or unloading your children or cargo. Your true stopping power comes from a coaster brake in the rear wheel.

Just like all of our bicycles you have a full chain case. You have an internally geared rear hub, sealed and protected from the elements, very low maintenance. For the wheels and tires we use nothing but the best. We put Schwalbe tires on all our bikes – they’re generally noted as the most flat-resistant on the market. Spokes are extremely sturdy 12-guage spokes. Most of our bikes have skirt guards to protect loose children, or if you have a child seat it makes sure that your child’s feet don’t get caught in the spokes.


So the gear shifter is down on the seat tube?

Yes, We have three different versions, essentially stock versions, of three-wheel cargo bikes. This model, the BF18, is set up so the front cargo box is its own separate entity that pivots at one point. The handlebars are more like your ice cream man on the lakefront, as opposed to your traditional handlebars. If the shifter was on the handlebars there’d be too much distance for the cable to go. So what we’ve done in a clever, somewhat unorthodox design where the shifter is on the top of the seat tube, which gives you a very short distance for the cable to get to the internally geared hub.

[Points to a large chrome canister attached to the frame.] This is a very clever feature. People always ask if it’s used for champagne or flowers. There’s nothing to stop you from doing that but it’s actually designed to store your chain lock, because you’re going to want a nice heavy-duty lock for this type of bike. Of course you could just carry it in the cargo box but it would rattle and make noise and this really doesn’t.

Besides making bikes that are super high-quality and ultra-durable, the form is very important to us. We consider these bikes to be works of art. For example [points to wheel], this arch piece here with the FF logo. Sure it does have a function – it could help keep a child’s hands out of the spokes – but in reality it’s just for pure beauty.

We focus on being as low-tech and low-maintenance as possible, simple machines that last. We’re not trying to have the latest and the greatest in technology. Not saying that technology is bad but it requires more maintenance. Separate from the internally-geared hub, which is an almost 100-year-old technology and is a fairly intricate piece but is internally sealed, these bikes are designed to be as simple as can be.

Do you do maintenance on these bikes?

I do. We do a 30-day check-up: we check the chain tension and tire pressure, tighten down all moving parts and check for wheel truing. After that we recommend you bring in your bike once a year for a tune-up.

You guys manufacture the bikes yourself, right?

Yes. We have our very own factory where we make everything from the frames, the chain cases, the fenders, the forks, the racks. The factory where the parts are fabricated is in Yalçin’s hometown in Turkey and then the bikes are assembled in Holland.

A good 60 to 80 percent of our bikes are made-to-order. You have a choice of thirty different colors, you can put your name in the frame quite easily. The classic matte black is the most popular color choice, but if somebody wants to do a bike where the frame is in pink and the chain case and rack are a rose color, we can do that and make a one-of-a-kind bike.


Are any of your customers doing interesting things with their bikes?

Absolutely. One of my first customers uses the bike for her daycare center. She has about eight kids in her daycare. She brings them on two cycles from school which is within a mile and a half from the daycare center.

Another bike was shipped down to New Orleans this past June. A customer there saw someone riding around her neighborhood on a Fietsfabriek. She tracked us down on the Internet. Her husband called me and said, “We want this bike. It’s something we covet dearly.” Unfortunately it was something they were going to have to save up for before they could get it.

Very dear friends of theirs who happened to live a block away from here in Old Town contacted me and said, “Do not sell a bike to them.” I said, “Hmmm… What do you mean?” They said, “We want to buy it for them. It’s going to be surprise.” They were able to raise money from family and friends in about a month and were able to pull off a tremendous surprise. Kind of a heartwarming story.

Opening the shop was a big career change for you. You took a real leap, trying to sell these type of bikes in Chicago. Are you happy with your career choice?


Couldn’t be happier. From a very young age I always had it in mind to find something I could be passionate about, to make this kind of sacrifice and leave the security blanket of a 9 to 5 job. When this opportunity presented itself as something I could put 100 percent of my passion behind, that was tremendous.

It’s been more work than I could ever have expected and more sacrifice and risk. But I feel fortunate. Certain things find you, you find things some times. In this case it was a little bit of both. I’m tremendously happy.

A Car-Free Exodus to Zion

Cult history, Cajun food and a golden pyramid await you on this car-free camping trip

By John Greenfield

[This piece also runs this week in New City magazine: www.newcity.com.]

There’s a bunch of state parks near Chicago accessible by commuter rail and/or bicycle including Indiana Dunes, Chain O’ Lakes and Kettle Moraine. But the easiest, oddest camping trip you can take without a car is a weekend excursion to Illinois Beach State Park in Zion, hometown of the band Local H, near the northeast corner of the state.

Strap your gear to your bike and catch Metra from the Ogilvie Center, 500 W. Madison, or points north (metrarail.com.) Alternately, you could bring a backpack and hike two miles from the Zion station to the campground, but a set of wheels is useful for sightseeing.


From the station, head 1.5 miles south for lunch at Captain Porky’s, 39210 Sheridan Rd. This seafood and BBQ shack, decorated with a piggybank collection, plastic sharks and a taxidermied alligator head, specializes in cheap and yummy New Orleans-style grub like shrimp po’ boys, crawfish and jambalaya. “Eat here once and you’ll be back again,” says owner Dino Kallianis. Around the corner, Al’s Tap and Package Liquors, with it’s old-school neon sign, looks like good place to tie one on.


If you bicycled, head west from the Captain’s on Wadsworth Rd. six miles and a bit south to the Gold Pyramid House, 37921 Dilley’s Rd. in Wadsworth. Years ago, local construction mogul James Onan built this six-story home, a 1/100 model of the Great Pyramid of Egypt surrounded by a moat filled with sharks and jellyfish. It’s supposed to be the world largest 24-karat-gold-plated structure. A 200-ton, 40-foot statue of Ramses stands guard in front and the gates are decorated with busts of King Tut, hieroglyphics, sphinxes and sarcophagi.


Backtracking a mile east on Wadsworth takes you to a trailhead for the Des Plaines River bike path, which runs north/south through serene wetlands where you might spy a blue heron. Returning to Sheridan and Wadsworth, you’re at the entrance to the state park, so pitch your tent under a canopy of evergreens and take a walk on the shore. Though it’s a far cry from the splendor of the Indiana Dunes, Illinois Beach’s pebbly lakefront does offer plenty of flat rocks for skimming, creepy, boarded-up, ‘50s-era beach houses and a view of the defunct Zion Nuclear Power Plant.


In the morning, take a stroll or a spin along the park’s many rustic paths, where you’re likely to encounter extremely tame deer. At the north end of the park the North Point Marina, Illinois’ largest, is a good spot for a picnic.

Afterwards, stop by the Zion Historical Society at Shiloh House, 1300 Shiloh Blvd., 847-746-2427, for a tour of the lovely Victorian home of John Alexander Dowie who founded the city in 1901 as a headquarters for his sect, the Christian Catholic Church. The town’s origins as a theocracy are still evident from north-south streets with biblical names like Sheba, Horeb and Gideon.


The Santa Claus-like Dowie was a benign dictator, but his successor Wilbur Glenn Voliva was a harsh ruler, banning pork, shellfish, smoking, alcohol, movies, opera, doctors, tan shoes, high heels and globes, since he believed the earth is flat. When he died in 1942 the sect faded into obscurity, although its house of worship, now called Christ Community Church, is still located in the center of Shiloh Park, and some Zion old-timers still avoid pig.


Before you catch the train home, stop for Sunday dinner at the friendly Star Lite diner, 2325 N. Sheridan, a few blocks north of the station, to break bread with a cross-section of Zionites. The huge meatloaf platter is recommended, but Reverend Voliva is long gone so don’t be afraid to order the pork chops.

Interview with Jairo Naranjo, CTA bus driver

by John Greenfield

Jairo Naranjo’s piloted CTA buses for a decade, currently driving the #80 Irving Park Express from Harlem Avenue to the lake. He recently won first place in the Customer Service Challenge at the international Bus Roadeo and he’s got tips for how to become a black belt in using the CTA effectively.

What does customer service mean to you?

Respect. Dealing with the general public you’re getting different attitudes at all times. Some people are not going to be nice and some of them are going to be really nice. It means keeping a clear mind and making sure you’re always smiling, always saying hello. The minute I open my doors, the first thing I do is acknowledge my customers. It’s like, “Welcome aboard to my bus.”

We as operators get a bad rap for being mean. We’re not mean. We enjoy what we do. Traffic can make things a little hectic for us some times and safety is always our first priority but we always try to acknowledge the customer as a person.

What do you do if someone tries to get on without paying, like sneaking in through the back door?

First stop that passenger and let them know the entrance is through the front door. Then you request the fare. We’re required to ask for payment three times. If they still refuse to pay, our procedure is to notify our control center and go from there. They might call the police to the scene, or they just might let it go.

It can get kind of scary sometimes because customers can get irate and out of hand. You want to request the fare but you want to do it kindly and not just demand it. You don’t want to say, “Hey! You need to come over here and pay your fare.” You need to say, “Sir or ma’am, the fare’s $2.25.” If you treat ‘em with respect you’re going to get the respect right back.

What are some of the highlights of the Irving Park route?

What I like best about Irving Park is it’s a double-lane street so the traffic moves very well. If there’s a little bit of congestion you can kind of get out of it. Not at all times – when you get Cubs traffic you’re pretty much stuck.

Do you ever get rowdy or drunk Cubs fans on your bus?

You can get rowdy people on your bus some times and it’s your job as the driver to try to maintain control. But we’re good at maintaining control of our buses – we have a little bit of an edge at crowd control. After ten years as a bus driver you can identify the people who are going to get on and be a little rowdy, and there’s ways of handling it.

What’s the best way to become a more effective CTA customer?

The best new tool is the bus tracker, which you can get through the CTA website. It’s the most efficient way to get from point A to point B. For us, as operators, we appreciate it when people have their fares ready when they board the bus – it makes things run more efficiently. The Chicago Card Plus is a quick way to pay - you can have it linked up to your credit card so it’s easy to keep it loaded.”

Do you ever have problems with customers talking your ear off when you’re trying to drive the bus?

There’s nothing wrong with having a small conversation with a bus driver. But you have to remember that safety’s our biggest concern. If you’re talking to an operator you’re distracting them. So, for instance if you want to ask the driver a question, it’s a good idea to wait until the bus is stopped at a light.

Do you have any interesting characters who ride your bus?

I get this one customer all the time. He’s an elderly gentleman named Stanley. He’s always talking and he’s always complaining about his meals and his nursing home, stuff like that. But he knows my name and he’s always a friendly face. Every time I see him I start to chuckle cause I already know he’s gonna talk my ear off to the end of the line.

Where’s he going on the bus?

I always pick him up at Kimball and he gets off at Clark at that nursing home near Graceland Cemetery. He takes his meals over at Kimball. It’s the weirdest thing – he always catches my bus, no matter what my schedule is. It’s like he knows my schedule – he’ll be there at that certain time.

Driving a route for so many years, these passengers get to know you on a first-name basis and I know a lot of my customers’ names as well. It becomes a relationship. It’s a good thing because if you get to a stop and that person’s not there you kind of look to the side and they might be running for the bus. You stop and wait for them and they appreciate that common courtesy.

So if you become a regular on a CTA bus the driver may pick up on your habits. The driver can’t delay the bus or make unofficial stops, but they can nudge the timing a little bit to make sure regulars don’t miss the bus?

Sure, any time we see anybody running for the bus we try to accommodate them. We don’t want anybody to miss the bus and be late for work. There are times we might not see someone and we might drive away, and that might be reported as a “pass-up” [deliberately not picking up a passenger]. But that’s not a pass-up. We’re not doing that intentionally. If we see them we’ll go out of our way to accommodate them.

I’ve been told there’s a poster up in the break rooms for CTA drivers that helps educate them about how to drive safely around bicyclists. On the other side of the coin, do you have any tips for bicyclists about how they can avoid conflicts with buses?

I did a video for the Chicago Department of Transportation called “Share the Road,” teaching bus drivers and cyclists how to operate safely around each other. We don’t mind sharing the road but what bicyclists have to realize is a bus is a big vehicle and it’s hard for us to stop it at times. When they’re dodging in front of us and breaking the rule of the road it doesn’t make things any easier on anyone.

I don’t know if you noticed this but we operators tend to pump our brakes – you ever hear that “hiss hiss” sound? – to notify you that we’re coming. It’s hard for you as bicyclists to hear if we’re coming since our newer buses are pretty quiet and some of you ride with earphones on.

Sometimes you get “leapfrogging” where a bus will pull up to a stop, a cyclist will pass them, and then the bus will pass the cyclist again. Is there a strategy you have to keep from trapping cyclists between the bus and the curb?

As a bicyclist you don’t want to get trapped in that triangle. The best thing to do is stay behind the back bumper and wait ‘til the bus makes his move. Sometimes it’s hard for us to see bicyclists behind us in our mirrors, especially on our right-hand side.

We try our hardest not to cause injury to anybody. Believe me, we don’t want that type of stuff in our head or on our records. It’s not a nice thing to live with.

Interview w/ Stephan Schier from Dutch Bike Co.

By John Greenfield
Photos courtesy of Dutch Bike Co. Chicago

Dutch Bike Co. recently opened a shop at 651 W. Armitage in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, selling several models of practical, comfortable and beautiful city bikes. Vote With Your Feet recently dropped by the shop and spoke with co-owner Stephan Schier about the origins of the business, the cycles they sell, bike culture in the Netherlands and the rise of "slow cycling" in the United States.

This is the first of a series of interviews with the owners of Chicago's three new European bike shops, including Copenhagen Cycles, 1375 N. Milwaukee in Wicker Park, and De Fietsfabriek, 1309 N. Wells in Old Town.

How long has the store been open?

Since October 16th.

So this is a branch – there’s a few other Dutch Bike Co. shops in the U.S.?

Well, our company, Dutch Bike Seattle, Dutch Bike Chicago, is a family-owned business. And we’re opening in New York in August. So that’s three in our Dutch Bike brand.

Did you move to Seattle from Chicago to open the store?

Yes.

Of all the cities where you could have opened the store, why did you choose Chicago?

I think Chicago is the best big city for a cycling lifestyle in the U.S. Functionally, it’s billiard table-flat. Secondly, the mayor is committed to making things more “cycle-able,” if you will. The streets are wide and all major streets where you want to ride have some sort of bike lane or marking or signage, or at least an awareness that there are bikes on the road.

And it’s neighborhood oriented, so it’s easy to live within a ten-minute bike ride of everything you might need to do. Living here in Lincoln Park, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, my bank, my gym and the lake are all within 10 minutes on a bicycle. And that’s on my cargo bike – I’m not racing to get anywhere. So I can ride my bike here all year long, and I do, and it’s easy. And I just use the cargo bike here in the neighborhood, I don’t even bother with any of our other bikes.

How did you get into the business of selling Dutch bikes?

Well, this is my business partner, David Schmidt, his family and me. Both of our families are of German descent. My family’s from Bremen in northern Germany. So we both spent a lot of time traveling in Europe, all over. And the European cycling lifestyle has always appealed to me and I know it has to David. And one day he called me up and said, “I bought a container of bikes and I think I can sell these. Do you know where I can get some shop space?” I said, “Dave, that’s a really ballsy way to start a business.”


Schmidt, mechanic Will Brehman and Schier at Chicago opening party

We’ve known each other for probably 17 years and we’d worked in the same industry together, running high-rise window cleaning businesses in Seattle. I got out of the industry a long time ago and was doing consulting for start-up companies, and a lot of traveling.

In most cases lived near where I work. I’ve been able to walk or ride my bicycle to work and to me that’s my favorite kind of lifestyle: living in the middle of the city, having access to all the cultural and social things that are available in the city and enjoying a relaxed life. I just don’t understand why all those people have created their lives to where they have to be on the freeway. Emotionally that’s the last thing I want. I want every part of my live to be within a neighborhood.

Why do you think European bikes are becoming popular in the U.S., or at least why have so many European-style bike shops opened up recently?

Art on shop walls by Tully Satre

I think some people are opening because they have a dream of opening a bike shop. A lot of people have jumped in out of romance for the idea of selling these bikes. Whether or not they’re good business people is yet to pan out.

I guess what I’m asking is, why do you think the time is right for European bikes?

I don’t necessarily know that the time is right. I know that our business is growing but I wouldn’t call it a particular trend that has to do with European bikes because each bike has its own level of quality and performance. Some bikes are selling now because they’re trendy and there’s a lot of marketing money behind them but they’re also failing. We’ve already gone through cycles of buying product that didn’t do to well because it didn’t have the quality that we and our customers expected.

There’s a trend towards European bikes, but I wouldn’t just call it European bikes. It’s a trend towards quality and comfort, and people who have never ridden a bike or haven’t ridden a bike in ages wanting to ride.

What do bikes like these offer people that they wouldn’t get from a typical American-style hybrid or mountain bike they night buy at Village Cycles?

Our bikes are the kind of bike you only need to buy once in your life. Most of our bikes will outlive their owners. There are a few things that are particular to our bikes. [Schier points to an Oma city bike.]

Oma by the Dutch brand Workcycles

If you look at the wheel on this bike it’s build with 13-guage stainless spokes which I don’t think you’ll find on any comparable bike sold in America unless it’s some radical downhill mountain bike or something. These spokes come from Belgium – I don’t know that they’re available through any wholesaler in the U.S. And the rims are double-walled aluminum. So it’s a wheel that’s built to handle an extreme amount of stress and an extreme amount of wear and to last a long, long time.

You see all the Schwinns running around Chicago that are 20, 30 years old and they’re still rolling. A lot of them, if they haven’t had a wreck, their wheels a re still pretty good and those wheels aren’t necessarily that well built but they’re heavy and sturdy.

So our bikes are built that way. They’re built as appliances, not sporting goods or some consumable. In Holland people are interest in something that’s durable, comfortable and low maintenance. So that level of quality isn’t really being sold in the U.S. Most people are being sold finicky, lightweight and maintenance-intensive bikes that have index shifting systems, exposed chains and derailleurs. If you ride one of these in the Chicago winter on the salty, wet streets, you might want to clean your chain every night.

Brehman carries boxed bikes on Bakfiets cargo bike

In Holland after World War II, because of the density and the level of affluence – people didn’t have enough money to buy cars – bicycling remained as a primary form of transportation. And even today in Amsterdam 60% of all trips are on a bicycle. And it’s normal to ride and people in Amsterdam would never call themselves “cyclists.” They’re just people who happen to be getting around on a bike, no more than you or I would call ourselves “motorists” if we were on the freeway. I wouldn’t be putting on my motoring clothes.

Do you think that’s part of the appeal of these bikes, that they allow people to ride with very little preparation, you don’t have to put on special clothing?

Yeah, that’s a huge appeal. There’s no special regalia required, they’re easy to ride. And most of our customers don’t call themselves “cyclists.” They’re just people who want to ride a bike. They’re not going to go cycling for helmets or jerseys or cycling shoes or shorts.

You guys don’t even sell helmets here, right?

No. At some point we will, but right now so much of our business is selling bikes to people who don’t care about the rest of that stuff.

I’m guessing that you would endorse wearing a helmet for certain types of cycling. People in Holland generally don’t wear helmets for urban cycling. Do you think that is the style of bike that they’re riding?

Well, in Holland you have so many more people riding and they’re not racing about. There’s 18 million bikes and 16 million people. People think of cycling as a safe, normal activity. Here in America, and depending on the advocacy group you’re dealing with, you would think that cycling is the most dangerous activity someone could possibly do in a city. So it’s a different attitude.

I think it’s a choice for everyone – whatever it takes to make you feel safe. I know that being upright and comfortable and being able to turn your head to the left or right, and having a high vantage point, versus having to bend over a low handlebar on a road bike, and also having tires and wheels that can go over rough roads without throwing you off the bike, those things all make cycling safer. I’m a big fan of awareness and comfort and confidence on a bike as a way to prevent crashes. But a helmet certainly might protect your noggin if you do crash.

What’s the price range on your bikes?

Our bread-and-butter bikes are at $1,589 for the Oma and the Opa [“Grandma” and “Grandpa” with step-through and diamond frames, respectively.] It’s $1,749 for the Transport bikes with a front beer rack, and $3,000 for the Bakfiets cargo bikes. [Right now the 2009 cargo bikes are $3,029 and the 2008's are $2,749.]

Transport bike with front beer rack

We also sell Viva bikes from Denmark for $1,355. Those have seven-speed Shimano Nexus internally geared hubs and a front and rear rack. They have a bit more sporty riding position than the Dutch bikes. The Dutch bikes are perfectly upright. And then we have some handmade German bikes by Retrovelo for $2,139.

Schier on a Retrovelo

Could you show me around and point out the other features of your bikes?

Sure. They come completely equipped, with sealed Shimano internally-geared rear hubs, similar to the old Sturmey-Archer three-speeds. The Shimano hub is very low maintenance; you basically do nothing to it except maybe have your mechanic take it apart and oil it every year or two. They all have the sealed Shimano generator hubs in front to power the lights. They all have sealed Shimano roller brakes. All of the fittings on these bikes are stainless steel, from the spokes to the stem to the handlebars, which is very unusual in the U.S.

What does that do for you?

Basically, you can leave the bike out in the rain. People in Holland don’t have garages. Most bikes will start rusting but everything on these bikes, even the steering return spring, is stainless. The spring is so when you park the bike on its center stand the wheel always comes back to center and the bike doesn’t flop over. They all have a full chain case which reduces the chain maintenance. And the chain is a fixed length – there’s no derailleur to wear out and it’s very easy to maintain.

You guys do maintenance here?

Yeah. 95% of the maintenance we do is on other people’s bikes.

I guess one thing about these bikes, they’re pretty hard to work on yourself, they’ve got pretty specialized parts?

The thing is, there’s nothing to do. The bearings are cartridge bearings. If you want to do something yourself, typically you can adjust a brake cable and the shifter indexing and replace the front light bulb pretty easily. You can patch a flat without taking off the wheel. But there’s not much else to do. There are no derailleurs to adjust. The wheels are built like motorcycle wheels so you don’t really need to true them. Because people in Holland are not interested in working on finicky bikes.

The racks are sturdy enough that you can take your friend along for a ride, which is very common in Holland. The tail lamp is generator-powered and has a feature called a stand light which means it will stay lit for a few minutes while you’re stopped – it has a capacitor that stores up a charge while you’re riding.

All the bikes have a built-in handcuff lock on the rear wheel. It’s kind of a medium-duty, convenient locking solution that makes it really easy to lock up if you’re just running in and out of stores doing errands. The lock also has sockets and you can plug in a heavy chain or cable we sell into the sockets and chain the bike around an object. A lot of the frames even come with their own pump.

What kind of bags do you guys carry?

They’re FastRider, a Dutch, double-sided rear rack bag. They’re anywhere between $59 to $110. [Right now they’re selling all small rear bags at a 20% discount since these bags are more likely to fit smaller bikes than the Dutch bikes they carry.]

Did you see the recent article in the New York Times about the European bike trend?
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We were interviewed in it.

I’m not saying this is a bad thing – it probably is a good thing. But it seemed that the gist of their article is that the Dutch bike is becoming kind of a fashion statement. You’re on a trendy stretch of Armitage with a lot of boutiques. Do you find a lot of your clientele are looking for a bike they can wear nice clothes and ride on? Are they looking for a classy-looking bike that’s a fashion statement?


All of those things. As far as I’m concerned, whatever it takes to get people interested in cycling. Many of our customers drive a Range Rover and they own one of our bikes and they wouldn’t ride any other bike. Or they have an old bike that’s been sitting in their garage for 15 years because it’s not attractive and it’s not comfortable. It is pleasing to a lot of people to ride a beautiful bike.

Do people have stories about unusual places they’re ridden their bikes to? Is anybody riding their bike to the opera?

All over. We have people taking their children to school every day on the bikes, people going out for a nice dinner on our bikes. In Seattle one of our customers had us drop off his bike at the courthouse where he got married. His bride climbed on the rear rack with a bundle of tulips and they rode off to their hotel together. So people are getting into the spirit and the joy of cycling as an everyday activity.