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> most of NL is relatively flat Yeah as soon as he said about "no gears" I thought that. I've heard people talk about "no gears" and London being flat but you

> most of NL is relatively flat Yeah as soon as he said about "no gears" I thought that. I've heard people talk about "no gears" and London being flat but you would NOT get away with that in Edinburgh.

giobox 5y ago
As someone who rode fixed gear (“no gears”) in Edinburgh for many years, I can assure you it’s absolutely possible, and wouldn’t take an average person that long to get fit enough to do it either. I’d actually argue Glasgow city centre has more challenging gradients - some of the streets around Garnet Hill/Strathclyde Uni are _much_ more taxing IMHO on a single speed than most gradients in Edinburgh’s old and new towns. I’d 100 percent still buy a bike with gears for my kids if I lived in Edinburgh though! The bigger issue with Dutch style bikes is the “coaster brakes” they often have - these are very inferior stopping power-wise to even something like a dirt cheap v-brake design. Less of an issue again on the flat, they are truly awful to try and come to a halt on a long steep decent though.
- blunte 5y ago
  Indeed, my favorite bike for technical mountain climbing in Colorado was a singlespeed. As for the weak brakes on old Dutch bikes, you can flip on the headlight friction generator for some added stopping power :P.
  - jarofgreen 5y ago
    > the headlight friction generator The dynamo? :-) I did wonder when it said about them in the video. I've heard old models were bad for this but again have never tried a modern one.
    - blunte 5y ago
      Haha, yes. I forgot the name. I estimate it can be 10-20% extra pedal power required to overcome the extra friction when the dynamo is flipped into active mode. Sucks. Grocery stores sell the little led clip on lights, so most people done use the dynamos.
- jarofgreen 5y ago
  > I can assure you it’s absolutely possible, and wouldn’t take an average person that long to get fit enough to do it either. I'm sure some people do but I'm not sure about "the average person". Having heard how average people adjust to cycling in Edinburgh and still complain about the hills, I reckon fixies will stay rare in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Interesting about the brakes tho - thanks. I've never tried that kind and it doesn't sound good. Also for a nervous cyclist who suddenly finds themselves bombing down a hill far to fast I reckon pulling a hand leaver is probably less scary to do then start trying to cycle backwards.
  - u801e 5y ago
    Rear brakes don't provide much stopping power due to weight transfer to the front. Do Dutch bikes have a front caliper brake?
    - blunte 5y ago
      More modern ones do have front and rear caliper brakes. But the traditional oma/opafiets bikes use the pedal to activate the rear wheel hub for a brake. This is fine for a casual Dutch ride. The only big downside is that you cannot backpedal a bit to raise the inside pedal when coasting and turning sharply… so you may hit your pedal on the ground and get an unpleasant bounce. But really, most new bikes have abandoned such old brakes.

giobox 5y ago

As someone who rode fixed gear (“no gears”) in Edinburgh for many years, I can assure you it’s absolutely possible, and wouldn’t take an average person that long to get fit enough to do it either. I’d actually argue Glasgow city centre has more challenging gradients - some of the streets around Garnet Hill/Strathclyde Uni are _much_ more taxing IMHO on a single speed than most gradients in Edinburgh’s old and new towns. I’d 100 percent still buy a bike with gears for my kids if I lived in Edinburgh though! The bigger issue with Dutch style bikes is the “coaster brakes” they often have - these are very inferior stopping power-wise to even something like a dirt cheap v-brake design. Less of an issue again on the flat, they are truly awful to try and come to a halt on a long steep decent though.

blunte 5y ago
Indeed, my favorite bike for technical mountain climbing in Colorado was a singlespeed. As for the weak brakes on old Dutch bikes, you can flip on the headlight friction generator for some added stopping power :P.
- jarofgreen 5y ago
  > the headlight friction generator The dynamo? :-) I did wonder when it said about them in the video. I've heard old models were bad for this but again have never tried a modern one.
  - blunte 5y ago
    Haha, yes. I forgot the name. I estimate it can be 10-20% extra pedal power required to overcome the extra friction when the dynamo is flipped into active mode. Sucks. Grocery stores sell the little led clip on lights, so most people done use the dynamos.
jarofgreen 5y ago
> I can assure you it’s absolutely possible, and wouldn’t take an average person that long to get fit enough to do it either. I'm sure some people do but I'm not sure about "the average person". Having heard how average people adjust to cycling in Edinburgh and still complain about the hills, I reckon fixies will stay rare in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Interesting about the brakes tho - thanks. I've never tried that kind and it doesn't sound good. Also for a nervous cyclist who suddenly finds themselves bombing down a hill far to fast I reckon pulling a hand leaver is probably less scary to do then start trying to cycle backwards.
- u801e 5y ago
  Rear brakes don't provide much stopping power due to weight transfer to the front. Do Dutch bikes have a front caliper brake?
  - blunte 5y ago
    More modern ones do have front and rear caliper brakes. But the traditional oma/opafiets bikes use the pedal to activate the rear wheel hub for a brake. This is fine for a casual Dutch ride. The only big downside is that you cannot backpedal a bit to raise the inside pedal when coasting and turning sharply… so you may hit your pedal on the ground and get an unpleasant bounce. But really, most new bikes have abandoned such old brakes.