Army chic
Is camouflage a thing now? I’m seeing it all over the streets. This brunette pulls it off easily on her — wait, is that a KLM cruiser? Complete with bike rack? That’s pretty sweet. How did she get a hold of that ? Hmmmm.
by Meredith
Sunny Sunday!
Hey! Where are you going with that leek?! Come to my house and cook! Where ever this handsome chap is heading, looks like he’ll be sharing a lovely meal.
Any groceries in your bike basket today?
by Meredith
PS. Thanks to Joni for snapping up this pic!
Bike crate
You probably already noticed it on our blog, but to have a crate on the front of your bike is really trendy in Amsterdam! Hardly any cute baskets in the streets just cool and sturdy crates, in different colours, sometimes branded or full of stickers. What do you think of this trend?
Cruising Sunday
Well hey there pretty lady! She’s got her matching gloves and beanie, and just cruising along on her Old Dutch, carrying some things in her basket and listening to music. This freezing weather isn’t wearing her down at all…it’s almost making her smile!
What made you smile today?
by Meredith
What’s in your basket?
I’m always super impressed by what Amsterdammers carry while peddling a human-powered machine. Weaving through cars, alongside trams, riding with one (or no hands!), talking on their phones, listening to music–and schlepping all kinds of stuff with them at the same time, too. In the past few months we’ve seen people on their bikes carrying planks of wood, sleds, Christmas trees, and of course their babies. And despite the terrible weather, they all make it look so easy breezy.
There are all types of baskets out there. You’ve got the classic crate in wood or plastic. The Albert Heijn winkelmandje is always a nice one to see (how do you steal a shopping basket?!). There’s the removable baskets, too. I’ve seen some nice vintage wire baskets. And the huge wicker baskets that have a handy lid, those are fantastic.
The widespread use of the bike basket, to me, is yet another reminder of how utilitarian the bicycle is for Dutch society, and really for any society. It’s not only a means of transportation; it’s a way of life. It’s so ingrained into daily life that of course (!) we use our bike to get groceries, purchase planks of wood, take our kids sledding, buy Christmas trees, and for anything else we have planned for the day. In fact, it makes no sense to do it any other way.
Do you have a great photo of a bike basket, with something crazy in it? Post it to our Facebook page, we’d love to see it!
by Meredith
Doggy style!
The coolest dog in town – by Else
The Dog and the Zebra – by Else
Just chillin’ – by Sofie
Running dog – by Else
Waiting to go for a cycle – by Joni
All these Amsterdam cyclists show how easy it is to cycle with your dog. For some dogs it’s a moment of relaxing and enjoying for others it is their daily exercise!
Cyclist of the Month: Lauren the blogger
This beauty from Amsterdam was caught just before parking her bicycle to grab a take-away soup for dinner. Lauren (26) recently bought a racing bicycle to tour the Dutch flat countryside, a real trend amongst Amsterdam youth. But she just as much loves crossing through town on her Dutch bike with bicycle crate. Now that she finished her masters the summer has begun for her; cycling from park picknicks to work to late night dancing. In the meanwhile she blogs about the hidden treasures of Amsterdam for tourist site Spotted by Locals.
Cycle Chic – The Book
Mr. Cycle Chic and founder of the entire Cycle Chic Republic, Mikael Colville-Anderson, made a book full of pictures of chic cyclists from all over the world. It is called ‘Cycle Chic’ and published by Thames & Hudson.
Rainy Cycle Chic
If I can bicycle, I bicycle
With colourful images Mikael takes you around the globe and shows you how people enjoy cycling through their cities and look fashionable at the same time. There are pictures from his Copenhagen and from our Amsterdam, but also from many other cities from all over the world.
Budapest
Paris and London
Dublin
Amsterdam
Wanna see more?
- Order the Cycle Chic book
- Check out the original Cycle Chic blog by Mikael: Copenhagen Cycle Chic
“The greenest bike is red”
“The colour we use most is red, because we like our bikes to stand out. Not only because they are cool looking, unique, retro style bicycles, but we hope that people that cycle them want to make a statement. A statement of sustainability. That is why in Amsterdam the greenest bike is red.”
We are talking to one of the founders of Roetz bikes, Tiemen ter Hoeven. 
After having worked at a big consultancy firm for years Tiemen found his calling: starting a bicycle brand of sustainable bicycles. Roetz bikes are green and social: “We select the best steel frames from bicycles that are not used anymore and turn them into new, fancy looking bikes. All the parts we use are as sustainable as possible and many parts are of recycled material, like the crates made out of pallets from the Amsterdam harbour. We get the used frames from the city council and they are reproduced for us in a sheltered workshop.”
Roetz is a young and quickly growing business. Last August they sold their first bicycle and now their bikes are sold through 35 dealers in the Netherlands.
- Are you a bicycle dealer (in the Netherlands or somewhere else) interested in selling Roetz bikes? Contact Mark or Tiemen
- Check out Roetz’ website
- Follow Roetz on Facebook
Three kids, one mum (2)
In Amsterdam you see many parents cycling with their kids. With one or two kids it is easy enough, but cycling on one bike with three kids is quite a balancing act. Especially when it is not a cargo bike. Our friends from Hungary managed to capture this on film:
The Amsterdam Cycle Chic team spotted this mum. Cycling with two of her kids on her bike (one sitting backwards) and her third child on her own bicycle in Amsterdam City Centre.
This is not the first time we post images of one mum cycling with three kids, check out our other post.
Amsterdam rush hour
Heaven – Amsterdam rush hour from Cyclechic hu on Vimeo.
This weekend our friend Áron from Hungarian Cycle Chic visited the Netherlands. He made this cool video of rush hour in Amsterdam’s city centre. Check out all the people chatting, making phone calls and rushing to work. You can also clearly see how popular the bicycle crate is in the Netherlands. The Mr Visserplein, where the video was shot, isn’t what you call the most beautiful spot in Amsterdam, but for Áron it was ‘Heaven’….
A window view
Through a window of a house on a canal we shot pictures of these typical Amsterdam scenes. It was one of the first sunny and warm days of the year. Cyclists looked so small from high above.
Red bicycle day
It’s Red Bicycle Day in the Cycle Chic Republic. Check out the pics from all over the world.
‘The sun never sets in the Cycle Chic Republic’
Copenhagen, Denmark
Sevilla, Spain
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Barcelona, Spain
Lisbon, Portugal
Caracas, Venezuela
Vienna, Austria
Berlin, Germany
Mexico
Graz, Austria
Montreal, Canada
Sydney, Australia
Cardiff, Great Britain
Budapest, Hungary
Do all things with love
Especially for Valentine’s Day, we share this picture of the window of a bike shop in de Pijp, a neigbourhood in Amsterdam.
Have a LOVE-ly day!
Mobile and connected
The first thing citizens from Amsterdam ask themselves when they get on their bike is; What phone calls do I have to make? While cycling to work or back home again, or on your way to a bar, it’s a perfect time to call your friends.
