Electra Amsterdam Review

Electra Amsterdam

The Electra Amsterdam – A distinctive Dutch style cruiser bike – designed for comfort rather than speed.

Electra is an American company, and they have tried hard to make a very competitive kind of ‘Dutch Style’ cruiser bike. The result is a classic steel frame bike in the distinctive relaxed riding style, but combined with low end spec components they manage to keep the price close to £500.

Design and Looks

It does look good with a trademark black and silver finish. It is reasonably smooth and polished.

shiny enough to see a reflection of myself taking photo.

Ride Quality

A distinctive feature of this bike is the coaster brake. This means that to apply the rear brake you have to pedal backwards. This is quite an unusual braking system and you won’t find it on many bikes. It is quite intuitive and feels good fun at low speed. I find myself not bothering with the brakes, but just relying on this coaster system. (Note it is not the same as a fixed gear system. You can freewheel)

However, although it is fun to use coaster brakes in normal circumstances, when you have considerable speed downhill, you do wish you had a normal braking system to give greater stability in the braking system.

view from the front. The wide handlebars may be comfortable to use, but not the most practical set up for squeezing between parked cars.

The second distinctive feature of the Amsterdam Electra is the upright position, the handlebars and seat are positioned so you have an almost relaxed upright position. This is very different from what you are used to, when you get in this position, it just says to you take it nice and easy, no point rushing. It’s a very different cycling experience to drop handlebars.

As you would expect, the bike is heavy and you need the low gears (Shimano Nexus 3spd hub) to get around.

Advantages of Amsterdam

Everything to keep clothes away from chain. Complete with mudguards and pannier rack with elastic to keep objects in place. Rear light is battery. Front light is dynamo.

The bike is fun to ride, it is taste of the classic Euro style bike for leisurely riding around town / canal paths.

Comes with all the features you would want on a cruiser

• Dynamo front light
• Generous mudguards
• Coat and chain fenders
• Cheap way to get a ‘dutch style’ bike

Disadvantages

The bike is really limited to quite a specific purpose – gentle cycling around town. It is not a bike for hills or any adventurous cycling. The relatively low price comes at the expense of budget specs. For example, I would want to add some more puncture resistant tyres than the ‘city tyres’, and I’m not sure how the components would stand up to year round use in the rain and salt.

The bike only comes in one size. The effect is that for a tall person like me, it’s always going to be an imperfect fit. One of the attractions of a bike like this is a comfortable fit, but if you can’t get right size, it seems to defeat the purpose of it.

I was comparing this bike next to a Pashley, the saddle on the Electra somehow had a cheap ‘American’ feel. The Pashley had a high quality Brooks leather saddle. That was indicative of the difference between the two.

Would I buy it?

No. It’s the kind of bike, I would love to hire if visiting a cycling city like Amsterdam. Though it is fun to ride, I think the novelty would wear off after a few months and I would be wishing I had bought a more practical bike for zooming around town.

Who does the Bike Suit?

It will suit a specific kind of cyclist looking for a laid bike cruiser style bike to enjoy short distances. It will also suit someone looking to stick to a specific budget. If you’re saving up for your dream bike, I would recommend saving up another few hundred pounds for a bike with higher specs.

If The Bike was a Car?

Perhaps if a really competitive Chinese car manufacturer started producing a classic vintage car quite cheaply. It may look like a vintage car, it may even be a very cheap way of buying it, but it’s never going to the ‘real’ thing.

Specs

Frame – high tensile steel
Fork – lugged steel

Tyres City 700*40c

Other Versions

• The Royal 8c – offers an 8 speed version of the hub brake
• The classic 3c this version – black
• Original 3c comes in brown

Women’s Version

The women’s version has a step through top tube for ease of use with a skirt.

Thanks to Big Red Bike, Harrogate for chance to test this model of Electra Amsterdam.

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