The Wheel Deal by Group C

Photo by Anna Fielding

INTRODUCTION

Hey, and welcome to The Wheel Deal (We’re sorry, we’re not proud).

Working with the theme of transport while living in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, naturally our thoughts first went to bikes. How could they not? However, we are aware that talking about bikes in Amsterdam, it’s a cliché. Amsterdammers like their bikes- we get it. They’ve been around for years, and they’re not going anywhere any time soon. So what has changed? How has the humble bicycle evolved to fit into our modernised society? …Or has it not? Just like fashion, trends will come and go. So how does this work with bikes? What are the new fads trending in Amsterdam today? That’s where we come in. We’ve got interviews with ambassadors from stylish bike brand Veloretti. We’ve explored new technology through our investigation into E-bikes. We’ve gone into a day of the life of an UberEats cyclist. We’ve watched Dutchies achieve the impossible on their bikes (to us very amateur international students that is). We’ve even got a guide for riding home when you possibly shouldn’t… all to bring you the very best this two-wheeled city has to offer. So park your bike, grab a cup of tea, and settle in for a look at the latest trends from the biking centre of the world.

Megan Whitfield Editor-in-chief

CONTENTS

W H E N B I K E S M E E T FA S H I O N

2 3

A M S T E R D A M B I K E FA C T S

16 - 17

D R U N K E N J O U R N E Y S : A H O W - T O G U I D E

TA K E - AWAY O N T W O W H E E L S

10 - 13

E-BIKE: BIKING REVOLUTION OR JUST MORE TECHNOLOGY?

B I C Y C L E S I N A M S T E R D A M

6 7

8 - 9

T H E ‘ D U T C H - S T Y L E ’

4 5

4 - 7

18 - 19

20 - 21

C O N T R I B U T O R S 2 2

S O U R C E S 2 3

14 - 15

4 Cafechaser in yellow ochre colour © Veloretti

ARTICLE

W H E N B I K E S M E E T FA S H I O N

WHEN BIKES M E E T FA S H I O N Text by Viva van Jaarsveld Bicycles are increasingly seen as fashion accessories. They are no longer a mere means of transport but a part of peoples’ looks. Veloretti is an Amsterdam based brand that fully embraces this trend, offering bikes with a simple and modern design at an affordable price. To explore this trend further, we sat down with marketing manager and content creator at Veloretti, Dien de Winter, to get her thoughts on bike ‘fashion.’

W H AT I S T H E S T O R Y B E H I N D ‘ V E L O R E T T I ’ ?

W H E R E D O Y O U G E T Y O U R I N S P I R AT I O N FROM?

Veloretti is a no-nonsense brand. We felt that there were a lot of bike brands on the market selling bikes with a lot of ‘nonsensical’ add-ons and accessories. Things you do not want to have, but you still have to pay for. Veloretti stands for simplicity. We want to give our customers a clean design, on top of which they can add whatever accessories they desire.

We are lucky that we’re situated in Amsterdam, a city that inspires on a daily basis. Besides that, we follow interior and fashion trends: we read magazines and visit a lot of fairs. Social media, in particular Instagram, is also a source of inspiration.

WHERE DOES THE NAME VELORETTI COME FROM?

In fact, we also listen to the feedback from our customers directly, our office is in the same place of our showroom. When customers walk in, we can hear first-hand what they do or do not like about our bikes. We can then make adjustments and incorporate what we hear straight into our new designs.

Ferry Zonder, my boss and the founder of the company gave the brand the name Veloretti, inspired by his childhood memory of playing with miniature scooters. He thought the name had a particular catchy and phonetic appeal.

W H AT A R E T H E L AT E S T T R E N D S I N B I K E

ARTICLE

FA S H I O N ?

WHERE CAN I BUY ONE?

The trend is a more comfortable bike, which is lighter and has a classic and beautiful design. People are tired of heavy bicycles. It is tiresome and it makes you lose the pleasure of cycling.

Online and you’ll have it at home! Bikes from larger brands often go through the hands of several middlemen before they reach the end customer. We deliver the bike from the factory directly to your home. There is no middleman at all. You receive the bike in a box and put it together yourself. The bike is 75% complete. The rest can be put together in 20 minutes. To help you we have an Youtube channel with an array of ‘foolproof’ tutorials.

Colour is a very important trend in bike fashion. We see more and more colourful bikes on the street. The most popular colours for this season are: eggplant, mint and yellow ochre. We also see that people like to personalize their bikes. We let you customize your bike in many ways: you can add links to your bicycle, a holder for your suitcase and a holder for your coffee etc.

A N D W H AT A B O U T P R I C I N G ? We try to make our bikes as affordable as possible. By saving on assembly costs we can keep our prices very competitive. Besides, we let customers choose how much more they want to pay by customizing their bikes with extra add-ons and accessories. We keep our shipping costs also very low. You can get your bicycle delivered at home, everywhere in Europe, for 20 euros.

The biggest trend: people use their bikes as part of their interior decoration at home. They hang their bicycle above their couch or even in the middle of the living room. They treat it like an artwork.

W H AT A R E T H E M O S T P O P U L A R B I K E MODELS?

W H AT A R E T H E F U T U R E P L A N S O F V E L O RETTI?

Our model ‘Caféracer’ is the most popular model for women. The bicycle really stands for Veloretti with our signature vintage and simplistic design. It’s a very reliable and comfortable bike, with with rust free light-weight aluminium frame as all of our bikes. Men usually prefer the Caféchaser which offers the same advantages as the ‘Caferacer’, but has a more tough looking, aggressive design.

We are really ambitious. We want to expand in Europe and be able to send bikes overseas to the US and Canada. While we are already shipping bikes to multiple countries in Europe, we would like to expand our network of showrooms outside of the Netherlands as.

Cafechaser for men in gunmetal grey © Veloretti

Caferacer for women in Dakota red © Veloretti

W H E N B I K E S M E E T FA S H I O N

Caferacer for men in Desert Moss © Veloretti

INFOGRAPHICS

AMSTERDAM B I K I N G FA C T S Infographics by Kimberly van Dijk

A M S T E R D A M B I K I N G FA C T S

THE ‘DUTCH-STYLE’ When you think about the concept of transport in Amsterdam, the first thing that you think about is bikes. A bike in this city moves beyond being a necessary mode of transportation and becomes your best, and most trusted friend. Being an international student, coming from Perth Australia it took a bit of adjusting to get myself into this bike crazed rhythm of the city. I saw, on numerous occasions, the Dutch so calmy and comfortable riding their bikes, pulling stunts as if they were part of a street art performace. This series of photos, taken in Vondel Park over the course of three days shows some of these stunts, and hopefully reflects my amazement at the ‘Dutch-style’ of bike riding.

Text and photos by Anna Fielding

PHOTO SERIES

THE ‘DUTCH-STYLE’

PHOTO SERIES

THE ‘DUTCH-STYLE’

Â© siliconcanals.nl

FlickBike

ARTICLE

E-BIKE: BIKING REVOLUTION OR JUST MORE TECHNOLOGY?

Text by Marion Caspar

E-BIKE: BIKING REVOLUTION OR JUST MORE TECHNOLOGY?

W H AT I S T H E E - B I K E ? To be clear, there are two kinds of E-bike. The first one is a bike with an electric assistor, the Pedelec (or Pedal Electric Cycle, for its full name). With this, you have to cycle and the battery of your bike will help you. The second kind, simply known as an E-Bike, is a total assistance. This means you don’t need to cycle to move forwards, the motor will do the work.

As we all know, biking in Amsterdam is almost a religion. Every person living here, every expat, every tourist will tell you: In Amsterdam, you have to bike.

ARE E-BIKES A REVOLUTION IN CYCLING?

As a result of the 1980 demonstration in what is now Museumplein to protect children and pedestrians, issues with public transport, and rapid urbanisation with difficulties building roads, the Netherlands has certainly become the country of the bike.

We know that we are in a century of technological research, and motivated by the prevention of worsening global warming and the desire to constantly make our lives better, and so in this way the E-bike could be considered a revolution. Without having to pedal, long-distance travel is effortless. What’s more, they are rapidly rising in popularity, altering the nature of biking in Amsterdam. While your classic bike is still more popular, almost 30% of new bikes sold in Holland are Pedelecs. In fact, according to a study conducted by Fietsberaad in 2012, one million Dutch cyclists had opted for an E-Bike- a figure on the rise.

There are many advantages to biking, the biggest being its environmentally friendly nature. In a time of global warming, bikes don’t eject CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. However, it’s a technology that up until recently has had limited developments. Until now. In a society where technology is always researched, where we want to improve every aspect of our lives, a new kind of bike has emerged.

However, the use of electricity is not a new concept. We’ve been using it for generations, and use it in electric cars. That’s the main reason E-bikes may not be considered a ‘revolution’.

From this, we welcome you to the E-bike. Nonetheless, this development is understandably on the rise, making riding effortless and practical for long distances. Remember, there are some rules if you want to buy an E-Bike. Not considered as a normal bike (even a Pedelec), you need to have insurance, a certificate and a registration plate. And don’t forget your helmet!

VIDEO

BICYCLES IN AMSTERDAM

BICYCLES IN AMSTERDAM HTTPS://VIMEO.COM/234657758

ARTICLE

DRUNKEN JOURNEYS: A HOW-TO GUIDE

Text by Rachel Douglass

It’s 3am and the club is closing. You take your first steps outside into the fresh air and suddenly realise those last few shots probably weren’t the greatest idea. In terms of night travel, Amsterdam doesn’t have the best options. The night bus takes too long, taxis are expensive and walking for half an hour is never going to happen. The only option left is to cycle. It needs to be said, cycling drunk is illegal and the risk of injury is, obviously, much higher than when sober. However, as much as Amsterdam tries to tell people that cycling drunk isn’t allowed, people will always do what they’re not supposed to do. So instead of just letting you get on your bike and go off on your merry way, we’re here with some advice to help you get home in one piece.

DRUNKEN JOURNEYS: A HOW-TO GUIDE

I Amsterdam

First things first, make sure you you know exactly how to get home, and that your friends know you’re leaving. Amsterdam streets are notorious for all looking similar- particularly when you’ve enjoyed one too many beers. Get out your Google Maps (before your night starts, and when it ends), and try and spot some familiar sites that should lead you to your front door.

Watch out for other cyclists!

Tone down the confidence levels.

Look out for tram lines.

According to some Dutch research, about 90% of cyclists on the road after midnight are drunk. That means you’re not alone in making bad judgement calls. We all know how difficult it is to avoid others during the day, so imagine that, but drunk. Exactly.

Being drunk comes with the added daring personality trait. Feels great when you can go talk to that cute guy at the bar, or make new girlfriends in the bathroom. However, we are here to remind you that: no, you are not actually able to cycle with no hands. Now is not the time to try any fancy tricks you’ve seen native Dutchies do.

2 4

This cannot be stressed enough! They are a cyclist’s worst nightmare, with the ability to take you out in a matter of seconds. It’s also incredibly stressful to be stuck in them with a tram coming at you. Always cross them at an angle. In fact, just look out for any uneven surface.

Stay discrete.

If you are causing mayhem on the road, you will be stopped and you will be fined. Think sober thoughts.

Disclaimer: We are not encouraging you to cycle drunk, this was created for entertainment purposes only. If you do choose to cycle drunk, you are doing so at your own risk. 19

ARTICLE

TA K E - AWAY ON TWO WHEELS Text and photos by Elisabeth Ulla UksnÃ¸y

T H E P E R K S O F B E I N G A D E L I V E RY B I K E R

You have probably seen them. They might even have rung on your doorbell. Dressed in bright pink, blue and orange windbreakers with a big, matching square bag on their backs, they bike around Amsterdam with one common mission on their mind: To deliver fresh food at your door as fast and easy as possible.

says. Well, besides knowing how to ride a bike and read a map. The bikers deliver food all over the city, and they never know where the next shift is going to take them. “The shift is three hours long and I usually do between nine and eleven deliveries during a shift”, Steponavicius explains. It’s a physical job, but as a student, he prefers a job where only his legs get tired: “I prefer being physically tired instead of mentally tired. That way I can focus on my studies and still have some income”.

It’s an amazing time we live in. By clicking a few buttons in an app on your smartphone, you can have food transported to your doorstep from a huge variety of restaurants in Amsterdam. That way you never have to leave your house on a rainy Sunday!

When you do nine to eleven deliveries every time you work, you obviously meet a lot of people. And yes, the hungry people you bring food to are mostly nice. “I can’t remember people being mean or weird when I have met them, people are generally nice. It do however happen that people order double by a mistake or are not home when I ring their doorbell”, Steponavicius says. And what do you do if no one opens the door? Well, you can go on to the next order. And you can keep the food.

Companies like Deliveroo, Foodora, Uber Eats and Tuisbezorgd all offer the service of giving you a restaurant experience in your own living room, but that also means someone has to get out of their cozy living room, get on their bike and transport the food from the restaurant and into your loving arms. Even in the shitty Amsterdam weather. Why would anybody want a job like that?

As every other job, there must be a downside to biking around Amsterdam all day. You can probably guess it. It’s the weather. “When the weather sucks, the job also sucks. It doesn’t really matter if it is cold, but if it’s raining, the ground is slippery and the wind is really strong, the job isn’t that much fun”, he says. And as the locals know, the weather here can be really unpredictable. You never know when the average of 700 mm rain a year will fall down from the sky.

Mykolas Steponavicius from Lithuania has delivered food on his bike for Foodora for a year. Also for the bikers, everything happens through an app. They get an order, accept it, picks up the food and delivers it at the address they find in the app. “It’s a pretty flexible job which makes it good for a student like myself. You don’t really have a boss to follow, all the communication happens through the app, so it’s also very easy”, Steponavicius says.

I don’t know about you, but I am really happy I don’t have Mykolas’ job, and have the privilege to leave my bike in the parking garage and order sushi from my smartphone on a particularly rainy day.

The delivery boys (and girls) of 2017 don’t need a driver’s license to get hired. All they need is a bike. “It’s a really relaxing job because you don’t really need any skills for it”, he

CONTRIBUTORS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND COPY EDITOR Megan Whitfield

A RT D I R E C T O R Rachel Douglass

VISUAL EDITOR Anna Fielding

VIDEO EDITORS Ife Yasmina Jing Xiang Roselin Walgien

TEXT TEAM Elisabeth Ulla UksnÃ¸y Marion Caspar Viva van Jaarsveld

INFOGRAPHICS Kimberly van Dijk

SOURCES

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