Pyromancer said:You sit much more upright, looking forwards, than on a sport bike.
This does mean more wind resistance, but it's worth it both for the
more enjoyable, comfortable ride, and for being eye-level with
double-decker bus drivers in town. And you can still hunch down over
the bars and pedal like an athlete if you want to go fast, then sit up
and relax later on.
Just bought a very similar style of bike from Halfords (sorry - but
it's outside my hotel so the only place I can get to in Dutch opening
hours!) in .nl for EUR 249[1]. It's unlikely to last as long, but then
I'm having to leave it outside the hotel during the week so I thought
slightly cheaper would be better in case of theft/vandalism (though I'm
using the same two big locks I use in the UK on my road-ified MTB, so
it should be OK, given that most Dutch seem just to lock the wheel).
The riding experience is every bit as comfortable as I remembered it
being when I had a similar bike while living in Germany. Assuming it
doesn't get nicked/vandalised, it'll be getting brought back with me
when I finish over here.
[1] Could have had a proper traditional "omafiets" for under EUR 200,
but they only have backpedal brakes and no gears, which would be an
issue in Milton Keynes given the steep hills in places, not to mention
being (strictly speaking) illegal in the UK due to having only one
braking system.
Neil