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Press Release: Batavus BuB wins an iF award

BuB designer Onno Kramer with Eric Kamphof

The Batavus Utility Bike (BuB) which was launched with great fanfare at this years Interbike has just won a prestigious iF award from the International Forum in Hannover, Germany. Noted for its clever ‘paperclip’ design and eminent sensibility, the BuB represents a huge step in the evolution of the city bike. “Batavus has been building dedicated city bikes for over 100 years with export markets all around Europe,” says Frank van den Eeden, Batavus’ marketing manager, “we needed to design a bike as iconic as the classic Fryslan model yet significantly lighter.” With a price tag of only $600, the BuB is an affordable entry into the city bike market for consumers who wish to use their cars less and other alternatives more.

The Batavus BuB represents a new focus for Batavus as it enters new markets. “A city bike in Holland is a very mundane affair,” says van den Eeden, “we wanted to re-inject that sense of romance that a bicycle has while employing a strong lifestyle focus.” Eric Kamphof, Manager of Fourth Floor Distribution agrees, stating that “the urban consumer is very identity driven and has a far more curatorial approach to the objects they purchase whether they be computers, furniture or even bicycles.” By aligning itself with this lifestyle focus, the BuB gives consumers the opportunity to personalize their bike. Various areas of the bike from the rack to the grips can be customized with different colours, making the bike into a personal statement.

The BuB is a city bike meant for short-burst urban activities. “This is a bike that multi-tasks everyday life without requiring spandex,” says Kamphof. “The typical urbanite lives almost 80% of their lives within 10km of home, an area we call the ‘lifestyle radius’”, says Kamphof, “and this radius is easily navigated entirely by bicycle.” The BuB is designed to safely whisk the urban citizen from activity to activity with all the essential hallmarks of Dutch bicycle design: complete clothing protection, upright safety, a minimum of maintenance, and, of course high fashion. “The BuB is not only meant to cover the vast majority of your daily life,” says Kamphof, “it is probably the coolest, and cheapest car you’ve ever owned.”

The iF foundation, based in Hannover, is a juried award granted by a body of distinguished designers. The award recognizes design, design material, and underlying vision. “Clearly the lifestyle concept is our underlying vision”, says van den Eeden, “but the design and design material was quite difficult to employ – the bending of the tube required entirely new processes but gave us a huge surface area to weld, making the BuB a truly indestructible design.” Despite building iconic bikes for nearly 100 years, this is the first time the iF foundation has awarded a Dutch bicycle company with an award. “Clearly we are very happy,” says VanDenEeden, “the BuB is the evolution of Batavus and the city bike itself…we are very pleased with the recognition.”

With the BuB already selling extremely well in Europe it will take a little longer than expected to reach North America. “We are already oversold in parts of Europe and our production is running at full steam,” says van den Eeden, “with the addition of the iF award we anticipate even greater sales, pushing our production further and further back.” The BuB is anticipated to arrive in North America in early April and nearly a third have already been pre-sold. “It is truly an icon,” says Kamphof, “it is difficult to outdo the classic Dutch bike, and its no surprise that the first to do it would be the Dutch themselves.”

The BuB is offered in a 3speed platform with coaster brakes and optional accessories. It retails for $600 USD and is available from retailers across North America.