Gliding up hills in Norway -- the Sykkelheis
May 05, 2008 · 01:54 PM · permalink
I often ask folks what it would take to get them to commute, and often they reply: “Well, there’s a hill on the way to my house, so make that go away…”. The Norwegian town of Trondheim has done just that by building a Bicycle Lift. The Sykkelheis or Trampe was built about 25 years ago (1993) as part of a program to improve the college town’s bicycle infrastructure. Apparently it’s the only one in the world today, but with oil over $120 a gallon maybe it won’t be the last. Maybe we can fit 5 or 6 of these around Seattle as part of the Bike Master Plan improvements? One up to 1st Hill, Queen Anne, Admiral way, Denny, Freemont and of course Your House would do just the trick.
Of course, this won’t help the fixies (it’s free-wheel only), but y’all are skinny enough already. Won’t help the wasteline of the free wheel crowd either, but hey maybe we’d finally get the Mayor out on a bike with one of these.
We’ll never ever ever get Mayor McCheese out on a bike, don’t kid yourself!
You see he needs to have a security team and emercency communications equipment with him at all times.
He’s far too important to use a bicycle.
I think this is a great idea. While for an in-shape cyclist, the hills of Seattle are just another challenge, for many people (not just the out-of-shape, but also younger and older folks and people with some physical disabilities) the hills represent a major barrier. My commute ends at the top of Fremont hill, and I have to admit to frequent tow-rope fantasies at the end of a long day. And I like hills!
Love this thing …
1993…25 years ago…Damn, Am I so old allready…
What a fantastic invention, I had no idea something like this existed. I am sure we all have a local hill where we would like one of these installed.
why wouldn’t this work for a fixie?
right foot will be on the lift, your butt will be on the seat, so jut take your left foot off the left pedal, right?
also, fixie riders don’t care about hills so much.
Whoops! Sorry for the repost.
It sure ain’t new, Ben, and I had exactly the same thought you did. Even though it isn’t brand new it was news to me, glad it was for some of you too.
Re: Fixies, I’m sure it would work given enough determination, but… relatively slow speed makes balancing the bike hard w/o pressure on the pedal, plus you have to keep your ‘on the lift’ leg out of the way of the pedal coming round.
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