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The Cycle Cable is the Bike Elevator Every Steep Hill Needs

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Built in 1993 and remodeled in 2013, the Cycle Cable is 130 meter long route that allows cyclists to cruise up a gradient of between 10-18 degrees at a speed of 1.5 meters a second. The contraption is best described as a foot rest on a razed sidewalk platform. Once you pull up, you lean your bike over and rest your drive side foot on the platform to cruise pleasantly up hill.

Some purists might decry that getting a lift to the top is cheating, but they probably don’t live in San Francisco….

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31 Comments
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Pacific
Pacific
10 years ago

That’s gotta be the most ridiculous and dangerous looking thing I’ve seen in a while. And they ruined a perfectly good street to do it.

aaron
aaron
10 years ago

that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.

i would like to see the blooper reel on this thing.

mudrock
mudrock
10 years ago

Germans are funny. But where is the spandex?

Mortimer
Mortimer
10 years ago

Mudrock: Yes, Germans are funny, but that’s a bit off topic, isn’t it?

Aaron: Scandinavians are not that litigious, we tend to rely more on common sense, and when that fails, socialized healthcare. I guess the blooper reel would tell us how this fares in terms of common sense, but seems pretty safe to me.

Ventruck
Ventruck
10 years ago

If it’s not vertical it’s climbable. To think they’re singing in celebration of this softness. I even saw someone in a kit. Put your Fred gear back on you FRAUD. I’m disgusted. Back in the day we didn’t have lifts, we just had to move the mountain out of our way altogether.

Rowan
Rowan
10 years ago

It’s not even that steep!

ForCommutersAndShoppers
ForCommutersAndShoppers
10 years ago

What a misserable bunch of comments so far. Yes, it’s a bit clunky but it clearly works for the folks there. If it removes the excuse ‘but there’s a big hill’ and gets more people on bikes then surely it’s something good?

As for this ellietist crap – not everybody is young and fully active. Maybe they don’t want to turn up at work dripping with sweet and clad in bike gear. If it means somebody can use a standard bike and not resort to an e-bike or some fosil burning alternative then why the hell do you care? Ride past them on your carbon mega bike flexing your big thighs if it helps your ego – I’d have a go just for novelty value… and the fact I’m not that good at hills on my 32lb commuter.

chuck
chuck
10 years ago

That’s gotta be 10-18% grade, not degrees. Still not that steep, certainly not for only 130 meters in length!

Drew
Drew
10 years ago

This system is meant for those cycle commuters who want to get from the bottom to the top without arriving sweaty and tired. The hill in the video is indeed not that long or steep, but the people behind it say it’ll work at up to a 20 degree angle for up to 500 metres. That may be a walk in the park for some, but there are fewer who could do it without breaking a sweat. The system on display is an upgraded version of an older system, hence why it is raised. The makers claim it can be set into the road surface. As for the blooper reel – they claim the system has carried hundreds of thousands of people up this hill since 1993 with zero accidents.

Their website is http://trampe.no/en/home in case you’re interested. And no, I’m not in any way affiliated or associated with them – just an interested reader!

mudrock
mudrock
10 years ago

Man, you guys gotta chill. This is for regular folks on their townies doing errands and going to work. The thing is perfectly safe. If your foot slips off so what? I’m just surprised the footrest is so pointed.

Chad
Chad
10 years ago

Whether this makes sense or not is subjective but the design looks to be properly safe. If your foot slips off, the footrest drops down. You would need to start over but at least you couldn’t land on it.

Chris
Chris
10 years ago

So this just replaces pushing a bike up the hill?

Nate
Nate
10 years ago

Jeg elsker det! Trondheim ser vakker ut. Jeg kan ikke vente å besøke.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
10 years ago

Mudrock’s got it right. This is for regular folk, not the cycling gods that frequent BikeRumor. It looks about as dangerous as riding a bike, but less so.

Mindless
Mindless
10 years ago

Nice. And as safe as biking uphill.

And no, not that easy to climb 18% gradient on a city bike single speed.

JasonK
JasonK
10 years ago

A “razed” sidewalk platform? I donth think that word means what you think it means.

JasonK
JasonK
10 years ago

…and I have a typo in my post complaining about proofreading. I guess that’s karma for you..

Kaj
Kaj
10 years ago

This should be forbidden, as it messes up Strava KOM’s.

Gunnstein
Gunnstein
10 years ago

I træ-æge Trondhjæm / Det e’ så hæsli’ å itj ha go’ ti’ / Træ-æge Trondhjæm / Det e’ så hæsli’ å fort sæ’ forbi.
– Gustav Lorentzen

Bob T.
Bob T.
10 years ago

I live on a hilly section of my town, I bet if this system was in place more people would use their bikes.

Shawn
Shawn
10 years ago

Anything that helps regular folks utilize bikes for daily transportation needs is a good thing. If we pull the need for “training” out of the utility bike world and provide effort reduction systems like this, how many more people would utilize bikes as an every day transportation option?

murpes
murpes
10 years ago

While I certainly wouldn’t use it, it’s nice to see a community make cycling a priority. That’s a far cry better than half-assedly painting a 100-yard white line on the road, calling it a “bike lane,” and then promoting yourself as a bike-friendly city.

neverstopriding
neverstopriding
10 years ago

Now if they can just install some railings and some jumps on the way down, it could become a skateboarders mecca.

The Conductor
The Conductor
10 years ago

Skateboard was also the first thing I thought of!

I’d like the video of all of the featured riders coming back DOWN the street…

satisFACTORYrider
satisFACTORYrider
10 years ago

i see some here don’t use escalators or elevators. you guys are badass.

kurti_sc
kurti_sc
10 years ago

This thing is awesome. i’d use it even if i could ride up the hill. This gives another reason to visit, too. kjempebra! (i’m guessing here, but I think that’s awesome in Norwegen.)

Loki
Loki
10 years ago

Travellators in airports, escalators, elevators lifts for downhill bikes and skiers, verniculars, these should all be banned because you’re a bike snob ? Oh, wait, they’re all machines to propel humans just like that two wheeled thing called a bike, with gears to make it easier …
if it gets people on bikes, it’s good. Enough.

DaleC
DaleC
10 years ago

Bah! What do Norwegians know about using bikes for practical transportation? I mean, who rides a bike there?

Oh, wait… tons of people?

Nah, their idiots because they don’t hammer their hills, even the old geezers.

DaleC
DaleC
10 years ago

They’re, not their. Damned autocorrect.

MG
MG
10 years ago

What ever happened to climbing the hill like normal people? This is almost as bad as giving fat people handicap parking privileges.

probl
probl
9 years ago

If bike lifts and e-bikes can get more people out of their car and onto a bike seat, I say go for it. It should be possible to use a bike for transport without having to exercise all the time. Complaining about this ruining cycling is like complaining about people walking to work ruining it for those who choose to run to the office.

A big aspect of this lift was also as a proof of concept and to get publicity and increase awareness on cycling, it is not like this hill is impossible to climb on a cheap bicycle. Like mentioned, not a single serious accident has been reported (I go up this hill dailly).

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