Ari and Joep

I haven't posted many photos of cool bikes lately, have just snapped them and put them up on Instagram.    But Saturday I spotted these really cool pair of bikes that seemed to merit more detail photos.  At first glance, they appear to be a pair of fairly "Normal Nice Bikes" *

Cream tires, check; distressed Brooks saddles, check; city geometry with slightly funky handlebars and cork grips, check; sophisticated colors, check; fenders and chaincases and lugs, check check and check.

 I took a closer look because I wanted to see what brand they were, in case they were an off the rack thing- many of the details match, so I thought perhaps it was a new-to-me  brand of city bike.

When I was searching in vain for a headbadge or label, I found these little tiny tags on the BB,  which I originally thought were the owner's names, but which turn out to be the brand name, or maybe the model names.

"ari"

Hard to read, but it says "joep"

These turn out to be Puur de Fiets bikes, a brand evidently created by a guy named Joep Salden.  

They're minimal and cool and very lovely, but the website is only in Dutch, so I can't tell you much about them.  I can't believe that they're being imported into the US (given how little Google can tell me about them) so these must be a self-import.  Can I just say I love the words for "shop" Winkel and "shopping cart" Winkelwagen,  which just are so much fun to say?

Hebie chainglider chaincase.  These are quite nice, and I'm surprised that no-one really imports them to the US- They'd work perfectly on a fixie or single speed, and the minimal aesthetic is much better for a lot of people than a full raleigh chaincase.

Cool bent plywood rack.  I think it might look cooler than it functions, but still.

 The leather pouch on the back is a "Leren hangslothouder"  which Google translate claims is a "learning padlock holder"  so I guess a place to store the chain.

The only thing I think is TOO minimal is that there are no integrated lights.  The hanging blinkies seem like a sad afterthought.  They're not really bright enough to do much good,  the one on the handlebar would drive me nuts swinging around, and the one on the rear hub seems like an accident waiting to happen.

Anyway, a cool new to me kind of bike- glad to see such exotic beasts wash up on our shores.

* These are the kind of bikes that might be remarkable anywhere else, but in Cambridge, they're just the kind of "curated" everyday cool bikes that seem to be everywhere.