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The single most exciting thing about moving to the Netherlands next month is getting to ride an electric bakfiets with my kids every single day.

DonHopkins 3y ago
You won't be disappointed, and that feeling will not fade. I grew up in the US but live in the Netherlands, and when I see parents riding around with their kids and pets in an electric bakfiets, on bike paths along city and country roads, and on paths through the parks, I am so benevolently jealous of them. The kids always look so delighted, having the time of their lives, and the parents are so healthy and fit! I can highly recommend getting an electric bakfiets with an Enviolo NuVinci Stepless Automatic Transmission Hub. It's a gearless continuously variable planetary hub, with an automatic transmission, that can change gears while you're stopped, automatically shifting from high into low gear when you stop at an intersection, then smoothly shifting up as you accelerate. Yes, it can actually shift while stopped, and while you're accelerating, and it's perfectly smooth. Get a carbon fiber belt drive instead of a chain if you can, too. Low maintenance, long life, and grease free! Your kids will be safer and you will be much happier concentrating on driving and navigating instead of shifting gears, especially if you tend to forget to shift into low gear before stopping, which is a potential disaster with a normal derailleur and a bakfiets full of kids at a busy intersection, but not a problem with an automatic continuous transmission. https://www.urbanebikes.nl/cargo-l-enviolo-automatic https://www.urbanebikes.nl/cargo-l-enviolo-automatic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYiXwhjlSMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYiXwhjlSMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ2f08RHD1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ2f08RHD1Y
- nerdbert 3y ago
  I've ridden the Citibikes with the gearless hubs, and I assume they wouldn't install something that breaks down easily, but it's so hard for me to imagine that something like that isn't a maintenance headache waiting to happen. I do love the experience of using it though.
- CalRobert 3y ago
  Thanks for the tip!
acdha 3y ago
It’s great. I’ve never enjoyed daily life as much as bike commuting with my son, even in lousy weather. My favorite memory of the trip to daycare happened on a shared path where I’d often see another dad taking his sons to work on a long-tail. One fall day, the boys were wearing superhero costumes and those bike helmets with the Roman warrior crests, and they were standing up on the running boards cheering him on as they raced down the hill. It was like a triumphal procession — and quite the contrast with all of the unhappy, raging people on the roads nearby.

DonHopkins 3y ago

You won't be disappointed, and that feeling will not fade. I grew up in the US but live in the Netherlands, and when I see parents riding around with their kids and pets in an electric bakfiets, on bike paths along city and country roads, and on paths through the parks, I am so benevolently jealous of them. The kids always look so delighted, having the time of their lives, and the parents are so healthy and fit! I can highly recommend getting an electric bakfiets with an Enviolo NuVinci Stepless Automatic Transmission Hub. It's a gearless continuously variable planetary hub, with an automatic transmission, that can change gears while you're stopped, automatically shifting from high into low gear when you stop at an intersection, then smoothly shifting up as you accelerate. Yes, it can actually shift while stopped, and while you're accelerating, and it's perfectly smooth. Get a carbon fiber belt drive instead of a chain if you can, too. Low maintenance, long life, and grease free! Your kids will be safer and you will be much happier concentrating on driving and navigating instead of shifting gears, especially if you tend to forget to shift into low gear before stopping, which is a potential disaster with a normal derailleur and a bakfiets full of kids at a busy intersection, but not a problem with an automatic continuous transmission. https://www.urbanebikes.nl/cargo-l-enviolo-automatic https://www.urbanebikes.nl/cargo-l-enviolo-automatic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYiXwhjlSMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYiXwhjlSMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ2f08RHD1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ2f08RHD1Y

nerdbert 3y ago
I've ridden the Citibikes with the gearless hubs, and I assume they wouldn't install something that breaks down easily, but it's so hard for me to imagine that something like that isn't a maintenance headache waiting to happen. I do love the experience of using it though.
CalRobert 3y ago
Thanks for the tip!

acdha 3y ago

It’s great. I’ve never enjoyed daily life as much as bike commuting with my son, even in lousy weather. My favorite memory of the trip to daycare happened on a shared path where I’d often see another dad taking his sons to work on a long-tail. One fall day, the boys were wearing superhero costumes and those bike helmets with the Roman warrior crests, and they were standing up on the running boards cheering him on as they raced down the hill. It was like a triumphal procession — and quite the contrast with all of the unhappy, raging people on the roads nearby.