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Roetz-Bikes
What do you get when you combine a green enterprise with a social one? Roetz-Bikes, where in its Amsterdam North factory otherwise hard-to-employ workers “remanufacture” discarded bicycles into stylish steeds featuring sustainable cork handle grips and wooden fenders. The company saves 3,000 bikes a year from the 1 million-strong scrap heap, many of them turning up in the city’s OV-fiets bike fleet. Re-inventing the wheel at its finest. ROETZ-BIKES.COM
VanMoof
Award-winning Amsterdam bike maker VanMoof is on a mission: tackle bike theft and get more people cycling. The company began integrating a GSM/BLE tracking system into its bikes’ frames in 2016 with the promise that if one is stolen, their ‘bike hunters’ will get it back. As of this spring, all VanMoof bikes worldwide will feature this smart technology, which boasts a retrieval rate of 70% (compared to local police’s paltry 4%). “There are no more stupid bikes,” says VanMoof’s Karlijn Marchildon.
© KENNETH STAMP
VANMOOF.COM
Cycling routes
Amsterdam has a route for every preference: The bike path under the Rijksmuseum is majestic, while the car-free boulevards of the Plantage offer scenic, stress-free cycling. Ride your bike on the ferry North to explore the area’s quaint villages or escape the bustle by following the Amstel River towards Ouderkerk aan de Amstel. See iamsterdam.com for mapped routes or simply cycle with abandon.
IAMSTERDAM MAGAZINE