Bikes: buying one, not losing it, riding like a local

A bike quietly halves your cost of living. Baku does not prepare you for cycling as infrastructure, with protected lanes and its own traffic lights and right of way, but two weeks in it clicks.

Getting one

Second hand is the default. Local bike shops sell refurbished city bikes with a short warranty, which is the sweet spot between price and not accidentally buying a stolen bike. Marktplaats, the Dutch eBay, is cheaper and fine if you check the frame number against the stolen bike register first.

Swapfiets is the subscription option. Fixed monthly fee, and they repair or replace the bike whenever something breaks. Over a year it costs more than owning. It also removes every headache, which is why so many students use it.

Buying from a guy on the street for 20 euros means buying a stolen bike. Beyond the ethics, receiving stolen goods is an offence. Do not.

Not losing it

Bike theft in Rotterdam is industrial. The formula that works:

• Two locks of different types. A fixed ring lock plus a chain, through the frame and around something bolted to the ground.
• The chain lock should cost more than you want to spend. A 10 euro lock buys a thief a 20 second delay.
• Use guarded parking where it exists, like the fietsenstalling under the station and the racks at Woudestein. Try never to leave a bike outside overnight in the centre.

Rules the police actually fine you for

Lights on from dusk, front and rear. Checks cluster in autumn, exactly when new students are cycling home from borrels in the dark.

No phone in your hand while riding.

Red lights apply to you too.

Nobody wears a helmet on a city bike here. That is normal, and it is your call. What is universal: signal before you turn, and let the tram win every argument. The tram always wins.