![\"Fat](\"https:\/\/apicms.thestar.com.my\/uploads\/images\/2026\/04\/07\/3847662.jpeg\")
Fat bikes are particularly popular with older children and teenagers. They often race in pairs, mobile phones in hand, along cycle paths and through parks – and without helmets.<\/p>\nAt the entrance to Amsterdam’s Vondelpark, a couple of tourists are strolling along the wide path when, out of nowhere, a black bike comes racing past just in front of them.<\/p>\n
“Oh my god,” cries the young woman in alarm. Both try to quickly reach the safety of the other side of the path, while e-bikes whiz past them on both sides.<\/p>\n
Scenes like this have become a daily reality in Amsterdam, affecting far more than just unsuspecting tourists.<\/p>\n
“It’s a jungle out here,” says Henk, who sells drinks in the park. “The worst are the fat bikes.”<\/p>\n
These low-slung, often black bikes with oversized tyres can reach speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour, turning them into a menace for pedestrians and fellow cyclists alike.<\/p>\n
The city administration in Amsterdam is now stepping in, moving to impose restrictions on fat bikes.<\/p>\n
Cycling paradise in peril<\/p>\n
Bicycles are as much a part of Dutch culture as tulips and cheese.<\/p>\n
There are more bikes than people in the Netherlands, and around two-thirds of the population cycle regularly – covering an average of 267 kilometres each week.<\/p>\n
E-bikes are becoming increasingly common, too: roughly one in three Dutch residents now owns one.<\/p>\n
But with the rise of battery-powered bikes, the idyllic image of Dutch residents cruising leisurely on classic “granny bikes” has begun to fade.<\/p>\n
Many e-bikes now travel well above the official speed limit of 25 km\/h, disrupting the calm of traditional cycling routes.<\/p>\n
Fat bikes are particularly popular with older children and teenagers. They often race in pairs, mobile phones in hand, along cycle paths and through parks – and without helmets.<\/p>\n
Fat bikes, in particular, are hard to miss with a long, low saddle and oversized tyres measuring about 10 centimetres – the very feature that gives them their name.<\/p>\n
This trendy bike is particularly popular with older children and teenagers. They often race in pairs, mobile phones in hand, along cycle paths and through parks – and without helmets.<\/p>\n
“That children are allowed to ride them is madness,” says 60-year-old Loes, who no longer cycles into the city centre. “You don’t hear them coming at all, and then it’s too late: you’re simply knocked down.”<\/p>\n
More kick than your average e-bike<\/p>\n
Fat bikes often pack far more powerful motors than standard e-bikes. With a simple twist of the throttle, they can reach 40 or even 50 km\/h – without the rider pedalling even once.<\/p>\n
Their speed and agility have made them popular not only with enthusiasts but also, according to police, with criminals.<\/p>\n
Complaints about reckless riding are rising – as are the numbers of serious accidents.<\/p>\n
In 2024, around 15,000 people required hospital treatment following e-bike accidents. Fat bikes were involved in at least 5,000 of these cases, half of them with riders under 16. Tragically, more than 100 people did not survive.<\/p>\n
Figures for 2025 are not yet available.<\/p>\n
Minimum age and compulsory helmets<\/p>\n
Local Dutch authorities are stepping up efforts to rein in fat bikes. Enschede, in the east of the Netherlands, became the first city to announce a ban on fat bikes in its city centre.<\/p>\n
Amsterdam is now following suit, planning riding restrictions in certain areas – including the popular Vondelpark.<\/p>\n
“Every week I receive reports from Amsterdammers who no longer dare to cycle and are begging me to ban fat bikes,” says Melanie van der Horst, the city councillor responsible for transport.<\/p>\n
A ban on fat bikes is also right at the top of the new government’s wish list in The Hague. Parliament is also considering measures such as a minimum riding age of 16, compulsory helmets and fat bike-free zones.<\/p>\n
![\"Amsterdam](\"https:\/\/apicms.thestar.com.my\/uploads\/images\/2026\/04\/07\/3847660.jpeg\")
Amsterdam plans to crack down on super-sized fat bikes.<\/p>\n
Legal experts, however, are sceptical. “This is a hopeless path,” concludes a government-commissioned report. Special rules for fat bikes would likely not hold up in court – after all, a fat bike is essentially just an e-bike with thicker tyres.<\/p>\n
Transport lawyer Rembrandt Groenewegen also doubts the effectiveness of such targeted rules. “Manufacturers will then try to circumvent the rules and simply produce ‘skinny bikes’ with thinner tyres,” he says.<\/p>\n
In the long term, only measures applying to all e-bikes would be effective, he believes.<\/p>\n
Retailers threaten legal action<\/p>\n
Manufacturers and retailers are already threatening legal action. The problem isn’t the bikes themselves but the often young riders, fat bike retailer Armando Muis told the Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool.<\/p>\n
Either there should be rules for all e-bikes, or none at all, he said, adding: “Why not a lower speed limit of 20 km\/h, a number plate or a compulsory helmet?”<\/p>\n
The cyclists’ association echoes the sentiment, questioning what the new rules would actually achieve. Speeds over 25 km\/h are already prohibited, as is cycling while holding a mobile phone – yet enforcement is rare, they say.<\/p>\n
Quality control is another concern. Many fat bikes with overpowered motors and poor brakes are imported from China and sold online at rock-bottom prices starting around \u20ac650.<\/p>\n
Technically, these bikes aren’t legal, but enforcement is virtually non-existent, the association argues.<\/p>\n
One potential solution is a compulsory helmet rule, which could curb the fat bike craze. Advocates point to positive experiences with mandatory helmets for moped riders.<\/p>\n
Traffic lawyer Groenewegen also suspects that a helmet rule might make riding a fat bike less trendy: “A helmet messes up your hair. For young people, that may be enough to put them off.” \u2013 dpa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the entrance to Amsterdam’s Vondelpark, a couple of tourists are strolling along the wide path when, out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[26464,64,63,784,13729,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-620436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-amsterdam","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-cycling","12":"tag-e-bikes","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}