It’s my mothers 80th birthday and she wants a Dutch bike 
- but they’re something I know nothing about.
Any recommendations?
The best brands are probably Koga, Gazelle and Sparta but these are expensive. You probably need to decide how mobile your mother is first (ie does she need a regular women’s frame or low step frame) and then decide how many bells and whistles she needs
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You could ask her what’s she’s seen and go from there. A Dutch bike is basically a step through town bike with full mud guards, often 3 speed hub, chain guard. Very low maintenance. They are heavy though, an an e-bike version might suit better, depending what kind of rides she hoping to do.
Yeah that’s a concern, and with minimal gearing might make it unusable on some routes. Most of her riding is pretty flat though.
I suggest any canal in Amsterdam and a snorkel set. Free bikes just 2 meters deep.
Serious. Mostly.
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Not sure the Mrs will buy that as an excuse as I pack my diving kit and ticket to Amsterdam…
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My wife has a Gazelle e-bike. She is 65, non-athletic. The bike with battery is over 50 lbs and difficult for her to deal with. She crashed last June and fractured her collarbone, completely messing up our active summer of travel and kayaking.
We are planning to sell her bike and get the lightest e-bike possible. The bike is very well constructed and works well, but is just too dam heavy for her.
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Sorry to hear that. From an advice point of view it makes sense. 
A close friend (not though, a performance oriented rider) bought a Dutch bike from this maker, and was very pleased.
Republic Dutch located in Utrecht. Here is the contact info:
www. Republicdutch.com
+31 30 888 7530
Oudegracht 204, 3511 NR, Utrecht, Netherlands
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