Monthly Archives: August 2014

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Dutch Bicycles

August 25, 2014 1:06 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Cycling in has grown more interesting in the Dutch Culture. Today, the world is fast getting to notice this unique culture in the Dutch bicycle brands. A good way to define a classic Dutch bike is by frame type. One most popular frame in the Dutch city of Amsterdam is “Omafiets”, and is widely viewed as Dutch cruiser bike. Traditionally, a Dutch bike is usually a day and night, shine or rain bike that takes one to any destination in the most convenient and comfortable manner all round the city and the suburbs where you may be residing. Moreover, the Dutch bicycles allow you to enjoy the ride while you are dressed in your normal clothing fashion or in the best choice of your shoes. Again, Dutch bikes are designed to provide carriage for a number of persons or items that the rider would love to carry. Interestingly, Dutch bicycles can last for decades with an all time low maintenance cost.

The most admirable features in Dutch bicycle include an upright comfortable riding position. This is unique as the Dutch bicycles are not designed for racing but for normal day’s routine for the cyclist. this is more so to models such as Ladies Vintage Bikes. This further allows the bicycle to carry more persons and items as well as allow the rider to look around. Additionally, the bikes have got a totally enclosed drive chain. Although traditionally, most bicycles have a metallic casing, the modern Dutch bikes have a plastic casing to make the lighter as well as reduce noise produced by the metal casing. Again, a plastic casing is not prone to corrosion or denting. A casing prevents dirt and water from getting to contact with the chain, while protecting the cyclists’ clothes from grease. With a casing it is always possible that clothing will not be caught up in the moving bicycle parts. The casing will last for long and requires little maintenance.

Dutch bicycles are ever improving in their designs. One attractive model is the ladies vintage bike. The bike is modeled to help carry small items for the cyclists. This bicycle has a relaxing and a sit up riding style for women, a characteristic that enables women to have an easy ride on a typical Dutch bicycle. Further, the bicycles it is fitted with three speed gears that help improve on speed of the bike and climb up the hill with all the ease. A carriage fixed at the front enables women cyclists to place items or their hand bags and ride in full comfort. Dutch vintage bikes are of different sizes featuring all potential riders from young girls to elderly women. They are of high quality and are not overly expensive. That is, they are well affordable to all. The bicycles are further designed with internal hubs brakes thus reducing dust particles from getting into the braking system thus leading to failure. The lighting system is also well effective and performs to the best. To reduce the power cost, the system is fitted with a dynamo that charges as the bicycle cycles.

Check out these vintage bicycles.

Posted in: Dutch Bicycles, Vintage ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,

Bicycle Heart Rate Monitors

August 18, 2014 9:58 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Many people like to cycle for a good workout, some more serious than others. The heart rate monitor can help in many ways, it can help while training, measuring your personal BPM (beats per a minute). This form of training takes discipline but is worth it, you can greatly increase your endurance. Who wouldn’t want that? The key to using this form of training is to start off slow and to keep your heart rate in the right Zone. This may be torturous and boring when first getting started, but over time you will begin to see how much progress your body is making. Have you ever wondered who people zip past you on their bicycles and aren’t completely winded? Well, this is your answer, in order to go faster and have better endurance you need to be able to keep your heart rate steady and have control over it. This is the way that most professional cyclist train, it works on multiple skills at once. While building your capability to keep a normal BPM you are also building the muscle and powerful legs that every cyclist needs.

Each beat of your heart is blood being pumped around your body. The lower your heart rate the healthier and stronger your heart is, when the heart gets stronger it can pump more blood at once which means less pumping has to be done. This relates back to training because you are always trying to keep your heart rate as low as possible while still cycling as fast as possible. I know this all may sounds very confusing, so let me break it down for you. There is one main factor here, endurance, and we train in order to build this. The way endurance works while cycling is how tired you are after going a long distance in a short time, but in order to get there you have to build your hearts strength, and you do this through BPM training.

After all of this talk about going through this training, we still have to talk about where to get one of these, and which one to buy. Since heart rate monitors aren’t cheap you want to make sure that you are buying a good one that give you a completely accurate reading. The very high end monitors, can be three to four hundred dollars, for example the Garmin Edge 500 GPS Bundle with Heart Rate/Cadence is an amazing tool to have but is a bit pricy. Since we all know times can be rough and we don’t want people missing out on an opportunity to train like this there are ones that can go for cheaper prices on amazon. One very convenient thing that you can do is if you have an iPhone many devices come with an app that can track your history and will save all of your data about your previous rides. Not many people have the dedication to go through the vigorous process of BPM training, do you have what it takes?

Posted in: Accessories, Bicycle Computers, Bicycle Heart Rate Monitors

Padded Bicycle Shorts

August 11, 2014 9:52 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Padded bicycle shorts are specifically designed to ensure cyclists are comfortable while cycling. bearing the fact that there are different users the fashion designers put into consideration the comfort ability of the cyclists. the cyclists will want ideal shorts that offer greater comfortability and performance during a riding session. As a rider you need examine carefully your body morphology and look for shorts that merge your needs. Padded shorts are made with a high degree of consideration of the individual cyclists to suit their needs and reduce any harm while riding.

Classic shorts provide for fluid movement with the body while in cycling session. The two smooth panel construction and a seamless pad that reduces opportunity for abrasion and saddle sores making riding a wonderful experience. the shorts generally should be made from quality fabric. Since there are many cyclists with different preferences so is the case with padding shorts. Padding bicycle shorts utilize muscle compression and thus increasing comfortabilty on longer rides eventually rewarding the cyclist’s efforts.

The padding shorts are made of fabric so as they get a longer life as well as comfortability. The cross cutting technique usually maximizes the stretch performance of spandex fabric while preventing bacteria from infringing and so it stays dry for longer hours.

Padding is mainly done for the sit bones by the anti chafe design between the legs and on the saddle area. fabric that can abrade without damage is highly recommended. This also makes the shorts elastic thus remaining in place. it provides for a snug fit and thus remaining intact and does not flip in the air.

Padding shorts ranges from thick to thin and they protect individual cyclists. thick padding mainly act a shock absorbers because they contain thick foams or gel inserts. chamois padding reduces abrasion and lessens pain in the butt area. there are pads for male and female , but again there those which can serve for both-unisex shorts. Women chamois have more of a pillow whereas men’s are more of compression through the center. men’s bike shorts typically have a groove or cut out in the center of the pad for the men morpholgy to sink into the take pressure off the ischia and perinea area.

The use of ant chafe creams hand lubricants is important in that when combined with snug bike shorts in a great deal enhances pleasantness while one rides. today most chamois pads are made from high performance synthetic fibers like coolmax brand polyester or polyurethane fibers.

Due to their stretchy nature padding shorts can fit anybody, that is, very small shorts can fit big people and the the large ones fit small people. but the shorts should not be too large as this can lead to the chamois pad moving around and thus leads to rubbing which can cause abrasion in the long run.

The shorts contain leg grippers which help the shorts to remain intact. they dry quickly and the pad has peap performance. they are designed in such a manner that they take into consideration how the body sits on the saddle plus the pressure areas that come int contact with the saddle. thus padding shorts are loaded with features that suit the uniqueness of individual riders.

Posted in: Comfort, cycle clothing, Cycle Safety ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

Antique Bicycles

August 4, 2014 9:51 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Almost all of us have owned and cherished a bicycle at least once in our lives or longed to. And we grow attached to them. It’s this fondness that has ensured a strongly-rooted hobby in restoring, selling and collecting antique bicycles that spans generations. This love bloomed in many of us as children. Then, it wasn’t just a bicycle. It was a gallant steed, a motorcycle fit to make even James Bond envious, or a rocket ship exploring the boundlessness of space. When we grew up and entered our adults years, the bicycle became something more practical and less magical. It became an inexpensive and simple mode of transportation, a way to keep fit or something to race competitively. But the love of the machine never seems to fade.

A Brief History

The bicycle has been around a long time. The earliest sketch of a bicycle-type vehicle surfaced in 1493 envisioned by Gian Giacomo Caprotti who studied under none other than Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortunately, the authenticity has never been verified. The first practical working bicycle was produced by a Baron in Germany, Baron Karl von Drais in 1817. He patented his design and in 1818 it became the very first cycle to be commercially-produced successfully. It was known then not as the bicycle but as the velocipede and tritely nicknamed “the dandy horse”. So I guess we weren’t the only ones to imagine our bikes as horses. These strange two-wheeled vehicles were originally manufactures in Germany and France but the British were quick to jump on the bandwagon, or bicycle as it were, in 1818 and produce their own improved mode. After that production and use spread over much of Europe and America. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Common Types of Antique Bikes

Velocipedes: Although these cycles can have any number of wheels, the most common is the bicycle. The term was first used in 1818 by Nicephore Niepce in France.

Boneshaker: This term was first used in 1869 for what is considered the first true-type of bicycle. It’s name was born of it’s rough unyielding ride.


The penny-farthing is probably what you first imagine when you think of an antique bicycle. This is the model with the enormous front wheel and a much smaller rear one. These began to appear around 1870. The larger the wheel, the faster the speed. Safety bicycles: This style of cycle gained popularity toward the end of the 1880′s and was an alternative to the penny farthing bicycle, It’s considered the forerunner of the modern bicycle.

Famous Collections

  • The Bicycle Museum of America is located in New Bremen, Ohio and boasts one of the largest private collections antique bicycles in the world.
  • The National Cycle Collection, Llandrindod Wells, Mid Wales, in the UK displays a collection of over 200 bikes, some dating back as far as 1819 and covers 6,000 square feet.
  • In Bad Bruckenau Germany, Ivan Sojc’s Velicious Bicycle Museum houses almost 230 bicycles most still in their original condition covering everything from the first velocipedes to modern bikes.
  • There are many more museums and collections open to the public, so be sure to check your local listing. It may spark your own love affair with antique bicycles.
Posted in: Antique, Vintage ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,