Beautiful Bicycles: De Fietsfabriek Oma 05/12/10

I recently test rode the De Fietsfabriek Oma for three days and thirty miles. De Fietsfabriek is a Dutch bike company and the U.S. distributor is a lovely shop along my daily commute route, owned and run by Jon Lind. (A great interview with Jon is here.)

This is the first bicycle I have tested that matches the quality of my WorkCycles Azor Oma and has features that I wish my Oma had. In fact, my Oma has now been slightly altered to incorporate one of the De Fietsfabriek’s accessories – more on that later.

I’m not saying that this bike is a rival for my love, but I wouldn’t kick her out of bed for eating crackers.

Before I begin to discuss all of the components, I must point out the design touches that make this bike extra special. As shown below (the “FF” stands for “Fietsfabriek”) lettering can be die cast into the frame, between the top and bottom tubes. You can choose to spell your name or anything else you want. Now I totally want “Dottie” on my Oma!

Another way to personalize this bike is the frame color. While most bikes come in only black or black plus a couple of other colors, this bike comes in over 40 different colors – including pink. Granted, black matches everything, but a splash of color would be fun. The steel frame is powder coated for durability.

Now on to the substance. An important factor when considering a city bike is how it handles cargo – anything from your briefcase to a case of beer. The integrated rear and front racks on this bike hold a substantial amount of cargo. The matching color and clever design make them as elegant as they are practical. There is a padded cushion you can buy for carrying passengers on the rear rack. Pictured below is a De Fietsfabriek plastic crate on the front and my own Basil pannier on the rear.

The padded and sprung saddle was pretty comfortable, but I would swap it out for a Brooks B67 for sure.  Then again, I am a Brooks freak.

The pedals are the bee’s knees. These metal pedals with rubber inserts are simply amazing. In fact, after my test ride I immediately got these pedals for my own Oma, the only alteration I’ve ever made to her.

What’s so great about these pedals? They make it possible to ride in any shoes, no matter how challenging. I was able to ride in two pairs of shoes that I usually don’t ride in due to slippage: 4-inch Prada pumps (pedaled 20 miles on Saturday) and 4-inch Marc Jacobs mary janes (pedaled 8 miles on Sunday). The pedal-sole connection always felt perfectly stable.

The braking system is another super star.  A combination of coaster brakes and a front drum brake is perfection.  The coaster brakes are in the rear and you engage them by pedaling backward.  This means you can stop without any hands on the handlebars, very useful for signaling turns or talking on a cell phone (I kid!).  The drum brake is in the front and you engage it by squeezing a handbrake.  The drum brake is surprisingly powerful, but should not be used as the main brake.  Rather, I used the coaster brakes for most of the stopping power and engaged the roller brake at the very end, so I could stop pedaling backward and set the pedals in the “power position” with the right pedal at 2 o’clock.  This allowed me to start up again easily.  Now I really, really want coaster brakes on my Oma, but that would be a pretty expensive project and I already have a perfectly adequate set-up of front and rear roller brakes.

While the braking system shines, the SRAM 5-speed internal hub gearing system would not work for me in the long term. Throughout all of my riding time, I stayed in 5th gear (i.e. the hardest gear). Even in Chicago’s tough headwinds, I rode in 5th and often wished for more power. Most likely I would need this bike with a Shimano Nexus 8-speed hub, which is what I have on my Oma. This is definitely possible, but I’m not sure what the cost would be.

That said, I think this is a problem most people would not encounter. My legs are hardened due to riding Oma so much and I often prefer to feel a bit of burn. For a lot of people, the SRAM 5-speed hub would be preferable, especially for anyone in a more hilly area or anyone who totes kids or cargo. This is the same hub that’s on the Pashley Princess Sovereign and many other bikes. SRAM is headquartered in Chicago.

Moving on to some smaller but important features, the integrated wheel lock provides extra security or low-level security when you’re popping in a shop to buy cupcakes. The lock here is on the front wheel but there’s also room to add one on the back. These wheel locks can be purchased separately.

The 28 inch wheels have Schwalbe tires – the best.  I’ve never gotten a flat on either of my bikes since using Schwalbe tires for the past 1.5 years (knock on wood!).

The sturdy two-footed, center-mounted kickstand holds the bike up no matter what. This is the same kickstand I have on my Oma and it’s the heavyweight champion of the world – or at least my garage. A sturdy kickstand is especially helpful while loading and unloading.

The bike is equipped with integrated front and rear lights, which are essential for safe daily riding.  The lights are battery-powered LED, not hub-generated (i.e. not pedal powered).  A lot of well-designed city bikes don’t come with generator lights and I don’t know why.  Although LED batteries last a long time, not having to worry about batteries at all is a huge benefit of generator lights, which I prefer.

There are several components that work together to keep your clothes clean and safe. The chain guard will prevent your clothes from getting dirty, greasy or eaten by the chain. Again the design shines here with color, cut-outs and die cast lettering. Note that the guard does not completely enclose the chain.  I can’t decide if this is a plus or a minus.  On one hand, it’s easier to get to the chain for maintenance and reminds you that the chain actually has to be maintained (something I’m in denial about).  On the other hand, more grit and salt can latch onto the chain, making for tedious clean up.

The skirt guard will prevent your skirt or coat from getting caught in the wheel spokes while riding. Since most skirts and coats are not voluminous enough to worry about, I find these skirt guards most helpful for any packages or sweaters you may bungee to the rear rack. This guard is made of the same vinyl-like material as the guard on my Oma, which has held up perfectly over time.

Fenders, fenders, fenders. So important to keep yourself clean. These ones are full coverage and match the frame color.

How is the ride? Wheeeeee! Fun. Extremely smooth. Pothole soothing. Easy to pedal, despite the weight. Regal. The feel was very similar to my Oma. I could not say that one is better than the other in that regard. The handlebars on the De Fietsfabriek are a bit less swept back and further away, but I was still able to sit straight up. The frame size I rode was probably a bit small for me compared to my Oma, but it did not actually feel too small, so maybe not.

The bottom line: the De Fietsfabriek Oma is an exceptional bike with a high quality build and unique design details. Major standouts include the braking system and utilitarian built-in accessories. Potential “could do betters” are the lighting system and the gear ratio. However, the gearing may be preferable to some, especially anyone who lives in a more hilly area or who plans to carry cargo.

While there are many similarities to my WorkCycles Oma, there are also major differences. Anyone interested in purchasing a bike like this should consider all of the options carefully based on his or her own preferences.

In the U.S. the sole distributor is De Fietsfabriek in Chicago. They ship all over. For other countries, check out the main company website. De Fietsfabriek also makes many other city bikes and cargo bikes.

Questions? I’ll try my best to answer them.

{As always, we at LGRAB receive nothing for our reviews except the joy of spreading beautiful bike love.}