Over the past 130 years Dutch bicycles have been modernised, but they still keep their traditional characteristics of being sturdy, comfortable, low maintenance, practical, and ‘stylish’.
As a general rule, Dutch bikes have taller frames than other styles of bike which give them the upright or “sit-up” style.. ideal when you wish to view the scenery while out cycling. This also applies today with their design of E-Bikes.
For around 75 years, SIMPLEX were a major Dutch bicycle manufacturer (1887 till 1965) who were eventually taken over by another Dutch company (Gazelle), with the trade name then sold on to a German company during the 1970’s that manufactured industrial machinery **
It was during the mid-1890’s that the company relocated from Utrecht to Amsterdam, and during this period they formed a partnership with the Dutch artist Ferdinand Hart Nibbrig, who together came up with what is now considered the first advertising campaign for bicycles! – The ‘Simplex, Snel, Sterk’ logo (Simplex, Fast, Strong) is still a striking image with clever use of colours. The 2 images in this blog by Nibbrig date from 1895 and 1897.
The Electric Bicycle; On the subject of e-bikes, they were already in development almost 100 years ago! - Back in 1932, Simplex and Philips (another Dutch company) already had their first e-bike out on the streets - see photo below taken from a book about the history of Sparta Bicycles.. 'Simplex fiets met elektrische aandrijving van Philips' (Simplex bicycle with electrical driven support by Philips Electronics)..
Then in 1937, Gazelle (later to be called Royal Dutch Gazelle) also teamed up with Philips Electronics, and they launched their first electric bike, which was known as 'the Electro'.. The history of Royal Dutch Gazelle (7:37 mins) can be viewed on YouTube at;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
For Simplex, by 1955 they had sold their one millionth bicycle.. they then expanded the brand by eventually relocating to a different factory (Apeldoorn), but ten years on this move resulted in their collapse, before being taken over by the Dutch bicycle company Royal Dutch Gazelle.
** From the 1970’s onwards, Simplex in Germany is not to be confused with the Simplex Manufacturing Company (formed over in New Orleans, USA in 1935) who had made Servi-Cycles and motorbikes during the WWII period, and who had ceased trading in 1975.
Fun fact; Ferdinand Hart Nibbrig (born 1866) was not only an artist, but also a popular amateur racing cyclist, and as a painter he was one of the first to introduce luminism to other Dutch artists of that era.
A print of his ‘Simplex, Snel, Sterk’ advert used to be on display (top left window) at the HBT hub in Perth city centre.
HBT make use of Dutch manufactured Gazelle E-Bikes on all our tours across Highland Perthshire.
The original artwork by Ferdinand Hart Nibbrig is on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.. photo of Highland Bike Tours shop front by HBT
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Book your Tour
How to book your Tour
There are no cash payments at the premises, so all tours must be booked in advance.
Please note that there are only a maximum of 4 places on any given tour.
To book and reserve your place on one of our tours you can use the Fareharbor Booking system (via orange BOOK NOW link), or for all enquiries send us an email to [email protected], or simply complete the Contact Us section. As there are only 4 slots on any of our tours we operate on a first-come first-served basis with all our bookings. Please also include the height of each person - We will then supply you with the correct frame size.
It is also worth mentioning that if the ‘private tour’ option has been booked in advance then there are no other places or bikes available on that day. For more info about the ‘private tour’ (from 1 up to a maximum of 3 people for the same fee) please see our Tours section, or simply contact us by email or via the website.
Highland Bike Tours (HBT) make use of Hybrid E-Bikes with a classic Dutch design, so suitable to use while wearing casual clothing. You can view images of these e-bikes on the FAQs page (see above), in our Blog section, or in some of our Instagram posts (see below).
Solo travellers wishing to take part in a Bike Tour: Although there is the 'private tour' option (for 1 to 3 people), all of our shared tours require a minimum of two people, so if you would like to take part in one of our tours and are travelling alone, then feel free to contact us with your preferred travel date, and we will do our best to match you up with others in a similar position.
Guided E-Bike Tours also in the Dutch language. NL: Samen met een Nederlandssprekende tourgids ervaar je al het moois dat de Schotse Hooglanden te bieden heeft op een unieke manier.
