It is a bicycle that will make you stand out on the street anyway: the DutchFiets. It consists of 100% recyclable plastic. We asked creator Johannes Alderse Baas some more about this special bike.
The idea did not just happen. While studying mechanical engineering, it was already Johannes' ambition to design something with unusual materials. He soon arrived at plastic; an easily recyclable and energy-efficient material. What followed was the idea for a bicycle, a typically Dutch product, mainly inspired by a friend's search for a new bicycle.
Competitive bicycle
"I was helping a friend who was looking for a new bike. We didn't find the whole second-hand thing reliable and the quality of many new, affordable bikes is not up to scratch either. Many 'Gamma bikes' are actually already ripe for the scrap heap. Then I started thinking whether I couldn't make a bike that could rival these bikes. Actually, the idea was to make a bike for students. One that doesn't rust, lasts a long time and doesn't cost too much."
Together with his fellow students, Johannes did calculations to see if it was at all possible to make a bicycle out of plastic. "I took the research to my minor and by the time of our crowdfunding, we had clear drawings of the final product. Then we started seeing if there was a demand for it. Whether people were interested in cycling on it." That turned out to be the case; within six days, Johannes had sold 100 bikes.
Computer simulation
Yet he still ran into some challenges in the actual production. In particular, finding the most optimal material took time. "On paper, a certain plastic may seem ideal, but in practice it still sometimes turns out differently." Johannes welded together the first steel test mould himself in his shed. Later, he used machine hours from a manufacturer who saw potential. "That resulted in a square bicycle that we then used to test different plastics. Using computer simulation, we looked at how the material would hold up and what the deflection of the bicycle frames would be, for example. But even if you find a strong material, it can happen that it discolours in the sun, for example. That search was most of the work."
He tested the bicycle until it met European standards. Meanwhile, 120 'guinea pigs' ride the first model DutchFiets, which is entirely produced in the Netherlands. "It can be compared to a modern granny bike; it has no gears and other bells and whistles. Also, you can't puncture the tyres." Among other things, Johannes will use their feedback to further develop the design. "Our crowdfunding campaign should raise enough to perfect the bicycle and make it more sustainable, for example by using bio-plastics. The product should ultimately meet all requirements and wishes."
By: Kelly Bakker
