Brubakken is brutally steep (about 1-in-5, 20%). Instead of pretending everyone should just grind it out, Trondheim installed a bicycle lift here in August 1993. It is widely cited as the world’s first “cycle elevator”. How it works is wonderfully low-tech. You stay on your bike, keep your left foot on the pedal, place your right foot on a moving footplate, press start, and the plate pushes you uphill at roughly jogging speed. Most of the mechanics are hidden under the street, with footplates popping up one by one from a narrow slot. What makes it special It is infrastructure for one pinch po…
