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Why Dutch Bikes are Better 🇳🇱 | American Reacts

Aaron Arnold Reacts: Europe

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*🚲 AMERICAN REACTS TO WHY DUTCH BIKES ARE BETTER (AND WHY YOU SHOULD WANT ONE) 🇳🇱*

In today's American reaction video, I'm reacting to a video all about Dutch bicycle culture in the Netherlands, and honestly, this Dutch reaction left me completely amazed! 🤯 As an American discovering Europe one country at a time, I had no idea just how different bike culture is in the Netherlands compared to back home in the US.

This Dutch bike reaction breaks down exactly why the omafiets (the classic "grandma bike") is such a genius design. We go through the upright riding position built for comfort instead of speed, the step-through frame that makes hopping on and off so easy, and the skirt guard (or coat guard) that keeps clothing safe from the wheel spokes. 🧥 I was blown away learning that Dutch bikes are designed to protect a child's foot from getting caught too — such a small detail with such a big impact!

We also dive into the frame lock, a built-in lock almost every bike in the Netherlands has, and how convenient it is compared to the bulky chain locks we use in North America. 🔒 I couldn't believe how something so simple could be such a game changer. Then there's the heavy-duty steel frame construction, internal hub gears that barely need maintenance, and coaster brakes that you engage by pedaling backwards — something I had genuinely never seen before as an American!

One of the most surprising parts of this Dutch reaction video was learning about the different tire valve used in the Netherlands (the blitz valve) compared to the Presta and Schrader valves we use in the US and Canada. ⚙️ We also talk about dynamo-powered lights, panniers and cargo racks strong enough to carry another passenger, and why Dutch bikes are built to last decades instead of built for speed.

This American reaction also highlights the bigger cultural difference: in the Netherlands, bicycles are everyday transportation, not just a sport or exercise tool like they often are in the US and Canada. 🇺🇸🆚🇳🇱 The video even touches on how hard it is to find practical upright bikes in places like Toronto, Canada, and how groups like the Plain Bicycle Project are importing bikes straight from the Netherlands because the demand is so high!

If you're Dutch, I would love to know — did you grow up riding a bike just like this one? Is this as normal to you as it seemed in the video? 🚲💬 And if you're not from the Netherlands, I hope this American reaction opened your eyes to just how thoughtfully designed Dutch bike culture really is. It certainly did for me!

I post daily American reaction videos discovering European culture, music, sports, history, and food, one country at a time. If you enjoyed this Dutch reaction, make sure to like and subscribe so you don't miss the next one! 🙌

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Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next reaction video! 🚴‍♂️🇳🇱

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Video Credit - Why Dutch Bikes are Better (and why you sh...

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20 Comments

@AaronArnoldReacts Creator 3 weeks ago Pinned

I didn't know any of this about Dutch bikes 🇳🇱 Did you?

Thank you so much for tuning in! All of my links are in the description, and please let me know if you have any video recommendations! 😁

@fithrildith7188 3 weeks ago

Dutchie here! I'm 45 and I still use the same bike I had when I went to high school. I rode it to school every day (6 km one way). My mom bought it second-hand.

@daviddevos3518 3 weeks ago

I have a couple of old Dutch bikes that I still use. The youngest dates from 1951 and the oldest from 1927. Decent stuff.

@RobbertMichel 3 weeks ago

My bike is now 30 years old, and only had maintenance once, so it's not falling apart yet.
Sorry Canada

@RayvdKerkhof 3 weeks ago

the park at 12.34 is looks like Vondelpark in the heart of Amsterdam. serene place in the middle of a buzzling city

@ZLSM-fan 3 weeks ago

What was missing are the collection of cargo bikes and the footage of us moving with a flatscreen tv under the arm, a child in the front seat and the rest of the shopping in the rear bags. But due to the high percentage of expats in Amsterdam you are probably less likely to see that. Here in Hilversum i came across the latter last week but that was the most normal transport use i saw that week. I also encountered a lot of furniture being moved using a bicycle and even a pingpong table.

@vincentvanbeelen837 3 weeks ago

I bought my last bike in the Netherlands in 2016. And it is still going soundly. No wear, no tear. It will last me at least another 15 years,

@bertpainter5200 3 weeks ago

I live near Amsterdam and I have 5 bikes and a small Van of which I can fold down the rear seat to accommodate 2 bikes. When travelling to further places, we park the car and hop on the bikes.
2 classic commuter bikes, restored to new from the 70ties. 1 fitness bike to also be able to travel dirt roads, 1 lightweight racing bike and since recently a sporty Gazelle City e-bike.
I should get rid of at least three of them, but I don't have the heart to do so. I love them all.❤

@horsshoe 12 days ago

The oma-fiets also was the flower power bicycle, painted colours, 60 70 -s. Many got stolen at demonstrations in Amsterdam.. after that the borow bikes became popular. The kids footsteps prevent lots of broken ancles.

@Blackadder75 3 weeks ago

the short shot of the park is Amsterdam's Vondelpark, which you can see as a local version of NY's Central Park or London's Hyde Park .

@JjVstraalen 3 weeks ago (edited)

And what the video also shows is the different paths for bikes. He calls them 'bike highways'. Funny, but accurate.

@Paul83121 3 weeks ago

Three years ago I bought a second-hand one for about €70. The front fork has Gazelle logos on it, while the frame is from Batavus. Sometimes the forks have a bit of a weak spot near where the wheel attaches, and when it gets too rusty it can break. Clearly someone replaced the original Batavus fronk fork with a Gazelle one at some point. These things are more ore less modular, so it was probably around three minutes of work to replace, five minutes if they took the wheel of the old fork and put it on the new one. Judging from the logo on the frame I'm guessing it's from the late 80's or the 90's, and the frame is as solid as it has ever been. My front wheel had a crack in it from a collission and collapsed at some point, but that was easily replaced with a new one for €40, and I could continue cycling with less than 30 minutes delay (the wheel collapsed at a 5 minute walking distance from a bicycle repair shop). Other than that I have had no issues at all with the bike, and it will probably still go strong for decades to come. These bikes are truly amazing in their simplicity.

Since you're reacting to this video by Not Just Bikes, I recommend looking at some of his other videos about Dutch city and infrastructure design. "The Wrong Way to Set Speed Limits" and "The Dumbest Excuse for Bad Cities" are great ones to start with.

@BuellHooliganXB12R 3 weeks ago

The step thru frame was originally for ladies with a longer dress or skirt, but men also like the ease of it....

@heikable 13 days ago

In the first half of the 20th century, this type of bike used to be everywhere, including in America. They're so prevalent in the Netherlands because we never really stopped using them. In most other countries they disappeared for a while and only in the last couple of years, people have started to rediscover them.

@piepkwiep4312 3 weeks ago (edited)

Some have speed pedelecs (28 mph) for 15 miles or more commuting.
The frame of a step-through is often less sturdy.

@Scugzerker 3 weeks ago (edited)

Another benefit of the coat guard is that it also protects long keychains. My coat guard fell apart, and I still haven't come to the point where I could spend the energy buying a new one, so I removed my favourite keychains.
8:13 More specifically the older bicycles. The newer ones are often made of aluminium. Sure, they are noticeably lighter, but they're also noticeably faster at falling apart. I prefer sticking to refurbished bikes. I want my bike able to withstand a nuclear assault.

@DataStorm1 3 weeks ago

@12:45 That will probably be Vondelpark in Amsterdam. Footage looks like late spring to midsummer.

@MartijnIJzereef-e9j 3 weeks ago

I am a Dutch person that nowadays has a few sports bikes too (and a sturdier bike for going places inside the city :) ), but when I was younger and without much money, my opinion was that it was best to have this simple, steel, sturdy, single gear, type of Dutch bike, because of the low maintenance. There are just few things to it that are vulnerable, so maintenance costs are low and when it starts to break down, you can still ride it for a long time :D Only the dynamo's did use to be a vulnerable part, slipping on the tire in wet weather (the most old fashioned model, that was completely made out of steel, did that and at some point they started selling rubber caps for over the steel wheel - that goes onto the tire - to prevent it from slipping) and thus also causing a lot of wear to the side of the tire.
The older bikes (say pre 1970) are getting fewer and fewer, of course, but there are stil many around and these are usually of high quality.

Concerning the locks, the frame lock really suffices in most of the country, but in locations where bike theft is high, you always need 2 locks, I would say. Thiefs that intend to steal a bike either carry a big cutter, remove the front wheel and then steel a front wheel from another bicycle or come with a van. If you combine a good chain lock with a frame lock (the newer ones are very theft resistant - 40~50 years ago when we lost our key, we as kids used to open them using the spokes, by lifting up the back side of the bike, running and then dropping the back side, so that the spokes would break the lock :D - not possible anymore) and if you use the chain to connect the front wheel to the frame of the bike and at the same time to a fixed object, then the bike gets very hard to steal (it would require a cutter ánd a van :D ).