Cycling

The Dutch are born cyclists, and yes, we are proud of it. But the days of the old-fashioned, rattling granny bike are well and truly over. This is ‘Cycling 2.0’: technology has given us pimped bikes and turned our cycle paths into a kind of Mario Kart track, complete with unexpected obstacles and speed bumps.
Flashback to 1985, when the Spartamet arrived on the scene. This was a bike with a petrol engine that allowed grandma and grandpa to simply whizz past the kids. And believe me, no matter how much you as a youngster also wanted to cycle faster, you wouldn’t dream of taking to one of those bikes yourself. They were the mode of transport of ‘oldies’ – who, incidentally, did manage to breeze past more sporty cyclists with a smile, without breaking a sweat.
Fast forward to today. Electric bikes have taken off. They are selling better than regular bikes, and currently have 80 per cent market share in terms of turnover. E-bikes have become a status symbol: bye bye old-fashioned rust bucket, hello fat bike! Weight? No problem, an electric motor renders this totally unimportant. This illustrates how technological innovation often leads to unforeseen products and creates new challenges.
E-bikes, fat bikes, and e-cargo bikes are competing for scarce space on cycle paths that were actually designed for more rustic bicycles. Of course, this results in pretty hairy situations. Yet, ‘Cycling 2.0’ is here to stay. My children aren’t getting e-bikes; I’ve given them public transport passes. This might not be healthier or cheaper, but definitely safer. Although I know full well that they will get onto the back of friends’ fat bikes whenever they can.
Personally, I’ll stick to my rusty granny bike for now, but chances are that when I’m 70, I’ll be whizzing past the sporadic traditional cyclist on an e-bike, taking full advantage of TU Delft’s automatic handlebar assistance. Safety first, not so? So I might become the Spartamet user of the future myself, but without the old-fashioned petrol fumes.