The bike of Panagiotis Liaros

He is now the proud owner of his eighth bike since he moved to Delft from Greece about a year and a half ago.



Some of his bikes have been stolen, others ruined. The very first bike he owned here was totaled. Riding home after a long day of work, Liaros’ brakes failed while rounding a corner and he crashed into a wall. Thankfully he was not hurt, but the bike wasn’t so lucky. Sadly, that first bike was Liaros’ favorite bike and he noted that all that have followed have been significantly worse.



On a positive note, Liaros believes his current bike is a lucky one. He’s had it for three months, which is the longest period he has had any bike so far. “I am starting to feel luckier with this one and I hope that I will have it at least until my graduation this summer,” he stated. Liaros describes his bike as “old fashioned looking” and said that it has an unusually large mud flap on the front. It is missing a bell and sometimes the rear light, which tends to get stolen frequently.



Most of his bikes were bought through websites like Marktplaats.nl and Facebook groups for cheap prices. The current gray-green city bike was chosen because it’s “quite fast” and the price was attractive to Liaros. He uses it mostly for daily commuting between home and the university, but has had at least one longer adventure. He and some friends set out to cycle to Rotterdam one day. The ride ended up taking about two and a half hours one way because they chose scenic routes instead of the shortest route. “Maybe the ride was a bit long,” stated Liaros, “but the vistas and the fun we had going to Rotterdam were rewarding.”



Liaros clearly enjoys the bike culture in the Netherlands. “It is really helpful, flexible, eco-friendly and safe. Much more it is one of the reasons that motivated me to move to Netherlands since I really like cycling.”