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Comment by microtonal | Hacker News Reader

Dutch-style bikes are not only very heavy, but the upright position is also not good for speed. They have other benefits though, the posture gives a better overview of traffic, lowers the chance of back pain and this type of bike generally requires less maintenance (e.g. my wife's Dutch bike only needed one repair in the 10 years she has had it, while it has been parked outside in the rain/snow some years, when we didn't have a garage).

That said, Dutch-style bikes are not for me. I like trekking bikes, which often have a good trade-off between speed, weight, stability, and lower maintenance than most road bikes (especially with belt drive and a gear hub). I also have a hybrid bike, which is lighter and faster, but I don't really like the amount of maintenance it requires (regularly degreasing the derailleur) and it feels less stable than a trekking bike.

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> lowers the chance of back pain

my (limited) experience is the opposite. I have more back pain after a ride with my upright, dutch-style ride, than on my sporty trekking bike, that has a more inclined position and I ride comfortably for longer and on more irregular terrain. Maybe the vertical position is worse to absorb road vibrations?

Maybe the vertical position is worse to absorb road vibrations?

Could be. My point of reference is The Netherlands, where we have good cycling infrastructure and the roads are typically very smooth.

Yeah, I wonder what kind of back pain is that. On a dutchie your weight goes right onto your lower back (just like when sitting down), and it's the lower back what you use for your pedal strokes. Not great for extended periods of time.

On a trekking bike your weight is more distributed, since your torso is sort of laying down.

In my experience: It's more likely to be some detail about your two positions than the coarse category.

In my case, a change of saddle made a great difference. The two saddles weren't particularly different in price or overall look, but one happened to fit my body much better than the other. Luck.

You are correct the upright position on a city bike is harder on the spine! That is why upright bicycles usually have a real mattress sprung saddle not just a piece of cheap plastic or carbon!

You don't ride a Dutch bike to go fast, you ride it to get from A to B, optionally with three kids and a week's groceries loaded on it.

I did that on a trekking bike (admittedly with one kid). I must be Dutch ;).

Though, if I could go back a few years in time, I would just buy something like an Urban Arrow. We had one last holiday and they are awesome for transporting kids + groceries.

I do that. Two kids, not three. And I appreciate that the bike is light.

It doesn't make much sense, in a way: If I have a trailer and 150-200kg of total weight (and I have as much every couple of weeks), why should 5kg more or less matter? But it matters: The bike feels better when it's not that heavily loaded, ie. most of the time.

What matters most of the time, matters.

Definitely. With a kid on the back a bike has to be sturdy first and foremost. It's not a slow bike, but it has just three speeds (start-from-standing, normal, downhill/wind-in-the-back).

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