Cycling in Holland

heskey

Hello there, just wondering if anyone has any information about cycling across holland. I've read about the LF routes that cris cross the country but would like to know if you can rent a bike in one place and drop it off in another. I was thinking about flying to Dusseldorf, taking a train to Nijmegen and havin a leisurely jaunt across to rotterdam and then Amsterdam. Any insight would be great, thanks

gerardduff

Good question. You'd think you could wouldn't ya. I'm not saying you can't rent in one place and drop off in another, but I've never heard of it. I've rented bikes in Holland and they are never great quality and usually hybrid or mountain bikes. Which are fine but not what you want for a 100km spin. You can rent for a week or more and do a round trip.

This place, for example, will rent you a bike. On the other hand, the train from Dusseldorf crosses the border at Venlo and the station there is always jammed with bikes. Just lying around, maybe for weeks. When no one is looking it would be possible to steal one. I think that is legal in Holland...also.

CramCycle

Its not legal. That said if your in Amsterdam it's cheaper to buy a stolen bike off the Junkies for a tenner than rent one. They will be pretty sh*t but if your on a budget it might do.

As all my friends from the Holland say, unless you have somewhere like your own shed and 10 locks to tie it down, no bike should be worth more than a tenner or it will be stolen.

The decent rental bikes are alot like DB bikes, I've done a decent spin on them, it depends on how fast you want to go. As for dropping them off in different cities, I've heard of it for groups but not for individuals. But worth dropping them a mail to see, it sounds like something that should be there.

gerardduff

So the advice is to steal one yourself or support the local tea leaves. LOL.

Seriously though I'd love to hear if there was chain of bike shops or some business that allowed you to p-p-pick up in one city and drop off in another....in holland or anywhere else.

BTW I didn't think it was legal to steal private property in Holland...or anywhere else..I'm just a big Harry Enfield fan....but then who isn't?

Idleater

Depending on what you actually want to do, there are a number of options.

One is to hire a bike at a station, which can be dropped off at another station.

This is the dutch railways, and their two rental off shoots depending on what sort of use you want.

Like the others said, there is not much point in looking to rent a €2k pinarello to cycle around amsterdam as you will not be able to let it out of your sight.

Other than that, there are absolutely hundreds of different fietsverhuur (bike rental) results in google if the above is not what you are looking for. Fire off a few email queries in english explaining what you want to do, and the will more than likely help you out or point you in the right direction.

gerardduff

Thanks for that. I found this English language document explaining the scheme.

And this video..

gerardduff

Quote from that document...

"In Nijmegen, the Bikedispenser is located at Nijmegen Lent"

mr_staggerlee

well l took my bike on the plane without hassle to schipol
cycled amsterdam/utrecht/arnhem/some german place/breda/einhoven/rotterdam/leiden/amsterdam

would do it again in a heartbeat camping and hostelling aplenty

but l'd be annoyed if some junkie got my bike :eek:

heskey

Bikedispenser, ya gotta love the dutch. to be honest something out of that contraption would be a great laugh. make for good stories at least. i'll keep doin my research and if i find out anything good i'll let ye know. thanks lads

Greentopia

CramCycle wrote: »

Its not legal. That said if your in Amsterdam it's cheaper to buy a stolen bike off the Junkies for a tenner than rent one.

Buy a stolen bike?? You're really suggesting someone to buy a stolen bike? :rolleyes: I guess you won't be so mad then if your own bike gets stolen and you find out later some scumbag or junkie sells it on eh?
Just because it's in another country doesn't make it ok.

Idleater

Greentopia wrote: »

Buy a stolen bike?...
:
:
:
:
... Just because it's in another country doesn't make it ok.

Sigh, talk about taking one aspect of a post and blowing it out of context and proportion.

The bicycle "industry" alluded to by the poster is not the €5000 Trek Madone range, it is the crappest of the crap that is left lying around the station bike racks unlocked and unwanted. The bikes are the €10 crap heaps that no one cares or wants to keep other than getting from one square to another.

If someone wants to keep their bike in holland, they take precautions not to have it stolen - i.e. if they are going shopping, they take the POS bike - if they are going for a sunday spin, they take the proper bike.

BTW, this post is not to say stealing bikes is okay, it is just establishing the "market" pool from which the "stolen" bikes are generally taken.

To go even further, the councils in holland have to go around these bike parks and apply stickers to bikes that haven't moved for weeks. If they remain there for a couple of months, the bikes are deemed "unwanted" and are serviced and sold on for probably €10. Does this qualify as organised local government stealing - considering the bike is being removed without the owners consent?

Greentopia

nereid wrote: »

If someone wants to keep their bike in holland, they take precautions not to have it stolen - i.e. if they are going shopping, they take the POS bike - if they are going for a sunday spin, they take the proper bike.

You're assuming I know nothing about the nature of cycling in The Netherlands. That's an incorrect assumption. While I've never lived there I have lived many years in Scandinavia which has a similar utilitarian cycling culture and I take a keen interest in that form of cycling. I know Dutch people keep their racing bikes for the week-end and holiday's and use their old Azors' and Batavus' during the week for pootling to the shops and going to work.

nereid wrote: »

BTW, this post is not to say stealing bikes is okay, it is just establishing the "market" pool from which the "stolen" bikes are generally taken.

That's what I thought, no worries. I still think the "market" you refer to is wider than you think though. Also just because many bikes there are old (the average age of a bike in Amsterdam is 35 years I believe) doesn't mean they are less valued as a real form of transport by the people who have them stolen or that it pisses them off any less, on the contrary if a bicycle is your main form of transport as it is for many people in places like The Neths. and you personalise it with your own bits and bobs then you're going to be, of course not as mad as if your €5000 sports bike is nicked, but certainly you'll be angry.
That's why they all seem to have big heavy f*ck off locks on their €10 bikes.
A friend of mine in Dub. had her POS bike stolen recently which she uses for transport (no car) and she was mightily P.O. A bike incidently that she brought over from Amsterdam while on hols. there with her Dutch BF.!

nereid wrote: »

To go even further, the councils in holland have to go around these bike parks and apply stickers to bikes that haven't moved for weeks. If they remain there for a couple of months, the bikes are deemed "unwanted" and are serviced and sold on for probably €10. Does this qualify as organised local government stealing - considering the bike is being removed without the owners consent?

No, of course not. Obviously if someone valued their bike they wouldn't leave it unattended out in the open for weeks. Maybe it's a way of dumping unwanted bikes that have given up the ghost. In a country like The Neth. where bike ownership outnumbers the size of the population there's always going to be people who'll leave old and abandoned bikes around.

CramCycle

Greentopia wrote: »

Buy a stolen bike?? You're really suggesting someone to buy a stolen bike? :rolleyes: I guess you won't be so mad then if your own bike gets stolen and you find out later some scumbag or junkie sells it on eh?
Just because it's in another country doesn't make it ok.

I'm going there on Monday for a cycling holiday, so no I don't. I never said it was OK, I am just telling you what happens. Every friend of mine over there has a minimum of a 50 euro lock on their 10euro day to day bike, while most of them carry a minimum of a 100/150euro motorbike lock.

The bikes the junkies have are worthless, if you meet these guys, you'll find that most would be stumped by anything more complicated than a piece of string, the majority of the bikes they sell are more likely abandoned but still technically stolen, how moral you want to be about it is your choice, I'm not condoneing it, just telling you it's there.

It's accepted as something that happens, I don't think anyone likes it but its just the nature of the beast. If you want your bike recycled for further use, leave it unlocked, if you want it for future use, get a lock that will take at least an hour with a grinder to get through.

heskey

ah lads, Holland is all about the love

Greentopia

CramCycle wrote: »

Its not legal. That said if your in Amsterdam it's cheaper to buy a stolen bike off the Junkies for a tenner than rent one. They will be pretty sh*t but if your on a budget it might do.

That reads like advice to buy a stolen bike, but if you didn't mean that ok, I'm not going to dispute the point any more.

CramCycle wrote: »

I'm going there on Monday for a cycling holiday, so no I don't. I never said it was OK, I am just telling you what happens.

I know, I've been there. Though as I said in my previous post thankfully for them the number of bikes stolen has been falling there for the past couple of years because they've instituted measures like a National Bike Register and anti-theft chips on all new bikes sold.

CramCycle wrote: »

Every friend of mine over there has a minimum of a 50 euro lock on their 10euro day to day bike, while most of them carry a minimum of a 100/150euro motorbike lock.

Yep, I've seen them. Which means they must value their bikes even if they are worth only €10, which of course you would no matter how crappy it was if it was your primary means of everyday transport like it is to many people there. At least in the cities anyway.

CramCycle wrote: »

...the majority of the bikes they sell are more likely abandoned but still technically stolen, how moral you want to be about it is your choice, I'm not condoneing it, just telling you it's there.

I know it's there, as does anyone here who's ever been to the Netherlands or read about it happening, and I know about the junkies selling bikes on but actually junkies are not responsible for all the theft. The Geemente there say only 30% of bikes are stolen by junkies so that means the majority are not sold by poor junkies only looking to score their next hit, they're by ordinary scumbags, criminals (petty or otherwise) in full command of their senses, which makes it a whole lot worse, but anyway I've made my opinion clear I think on the morality of it and people who engage in it so that's all there is to say on it.

Anyway enjoy your cycling holiday there. I only wish we had half the facilities and cycling infrastructure here that they do *sigh*

CramCycle

heskey wrote: »

ah lads, Holland is all about the love

Greentopia wrote: »

Anyway enjoy your cycling holiday there. I only wish we had half the facilities and cycling infrastructure here that they do *sigh*

I'm only using it as an excuse so my OH doesn't ask about the soft drugs and "Self employed models"

The use of which is made easier by the good cycling infrastructure :P