Dutch Bikes
Browse used Dutch bikes for sale from riders across the UK. These are upright steel roadsters — omafiets and opafiets — built around fully enclosed chaincases, hub gears of three to eight speeds, integrated dynamo lighting, rear racks and frame locks, typically weighing 18-25kg. They suit flat towns and cities, riders in ordinary clothes, and anyone who wants a bike that needs almost nothing doing to it for years at a time.
What is a Dutch bike?
A bike designed for daily transport in a country with no hills and a lot of rain. The frame puts you fully upright with high, swept-back bars, so you look over traffic rather than through it. Everything that would otherwise dirty your clothes is enclosed: a full chaincase over the drivetrain, deep mudguards, a skirt guard over the rear wheel. Gears sit inside the hub so they work after a winter outdoors, lighting runs off a hub dynamo so there is nothing to charge, and a frame lock through the rear wheel means you never carry one. The weight is the price of all that.
Which Dutch bike brands should I look for?
The Dutch names dominate: Gazelle, whose Tour Populair is the classic roadster and whose Ultimate and Esprit lines are lighter and more modern; Batavus; Cortina, including the U4 Transport with its low, wide front carrier; and Burgers, whose heavy-duty models are exactly what the name suggests. Achielle builds Belgian-made omafiets in steel. From Britain, Pashley makes the Princess in the same tradition. Imported second-hand bikes from the Netherlands appear regularly and are often good value, though sometimes well used.
Dutch bike or hybrid?
A hybrid weighs around half as much and is far easier up a hill or a flight of stairs, but you sit leaning forward, and mudguards, rack and lights usually need adding. The Dutch bike is more comfortable, needs less maintenance and is genuinely all-weather, but it is slow and a real effort on gradients. If you live somewhere hilly, or need to carry the bike upstairs to a flat, the Dutch bike is the wrong choice regardless of how much you like it. Vintage bikes offer a similar look with lighter frames but none of the weatherproofing.
What should I check on a used Dutch bike?
Rust first, and inside the frame as much as outside — these bikes stand outdoors for years. Check the chainstays under the chaincase, the bottom bracket shell, and whether the seatpost moves; a seized post in a steel frame is a common reason a cheap roadster is not worth buying. Then the hub gear: ride through every speed under load, and reject any that slips or drops out, because an internal rebuild on a Shimano Nexus or Sturmey-Archer hub rarely makes financial sense on a used bike. Open or peer into the chaincase — a neglected chain inside a sealed case can be badly rusted with no outward sign. Roller brakes and hub brakes need grease and fade if they have not had it; older rod-braked machines stopping on steel rims are poor in the wet and should be priced accordingly. Finally, check the hub dynamo actually lights both lamps, and look at the wiring where it runs into the fork, and the frame lock's key — replacing a lost AXA lock key is fiddly.
What is a fair price for a used Dutch bike?
These hold value better than most city bikes because they last decades and demand is steady. A sound Gazelle or Batavus a few years old commonly sits at half to two-thirds of new; ex-Netherlands imports go cheaper but check them harder. Buy new if you want a warranty on the hub gear and dynamo system, since those are the two things that are expensive to put right. Below about £150 you are usually looking at a bike that needs a hub service, wheels and tyres, which is more than the bike is worth. Lowriders and other styled bikes trade on appearance instead; a Dutch bike is bought to be used.