Let’s go Dutch
There’s a fantastic little shop that’s opened just up the road from ‘Look Mum No Hands’ on Old Street. ‘The Bicycle man’ stocks the perfect bikes for easing your way around the city, amongst them classic Gazelle Dutch bikes for the fan of traditional sit up style rides and the full range of the fantastic Van Moof cycles.
To my mind, Van Moof represent everything that’s interesting in modern city cycling. First of all they’re beautiful. Brushed, oversized aluminium frames with chunky tyres, mudguards and a Brooks saddle. That’s a winning combination. But even better than that, the Van Moof have come up with one or two little innovations that give some insight into the intelligence put into their design and – perhaps – some justifiable claims to have cornered the market in sustainable two wheeled transport. 
Each Van Moof comes with a solar powered light fitted to both the front and the rear of the top tube. Given their Dutch origins, some thought has also been given to Northern European lighting conditions and a USB connector will charge the lights in the absence of sufficient sunlight. Great stuff. Taking it on a notch, one model has even got a built in Abus lock (the Van Moof no.5). All this utility weighs in at around £500, a bargain in my books.
My real soft spot however, was reserved for a rather sexy belt driven hub geared bike; the Schindehauer Victor. This beautiful city speed machine (pictured) takes your maintenance levels down to almost zero. It makes me wish I was in the market for a new commuter (given the recent purchase of a folder, it’ll be a while until that’s the case).
Good luck with the business Mr Bicycle man.
Bicycle man can be found on 61-67 Old Street London (020 7253 7322).
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