I’ve just returned from Amsterdam and I can’t help sharing my impressions of this trip with you. First of all, this city is amazing! The buildings though being dull and grey are majestic and grandiose! Some people would say that this is a dull city but I strongly disagree! The “falling” buildings in the historical center of Amsterdam are really magnificient and when you appear on the Blood street you feel this energetics of the past… terrifying but great! What has really stricken me is that there are few cars there! Just bikes. Thousands of bikes. There is no other city in Europe where you can find so many bikes in the streets and people of different socials statuses are riding them! Top managers wearing Gucci suits and ties do not ride a Lexus or Mercedes - they prefer riding their bicycles. To be modest is highly appreciated in Holland and people do not really care what kind of bike they are riding but usually all the citizens of Amsterdam have at least two bikes: one bike that can even be rusty they use riding to work and there is one more bicycle that is saved for special occasions and they use it on holidays, on weekends and etc. The latter is a brand new bike with all the modern technologies.

Why can’t we take their model of transport development? Why should we rush for buying a brand new car instead of taking care about the environment and ecology and buying a brand new bike?

If you are a keen bike rider you should know that the quality of brakes is of great importance. When you brakes are in good condition you are safe. When something is wrong it is better to give up the idea of riding.

Let us see how can you diagnose brakes yourself. First of all, pay attention to the brake pads. If you feуl that they don’t look “fresh” it is better to replace them. Don’t even try to save money on brakes. You should know that the more you pay the better your brakes work. Again, brakes is the most important part in your bike! If you have a desire to improve anything, start with brakes.

Very often it happens that brakes start to “stick”. They don’t open very well after squeezing. The first thing that should be checked in this case is to check the clipper. Squeeze it and if the brakes open well the problem is not in clipper. After that, move to hand lever and see whether you can move it easily. If it moves easily, the problem is in it.

Replace everything immediately. Make sure to use high quality parts!