WIR 03/2018 [EN]

International Projects
15
Austrian premiere for bike clips
6-CLD-B Langegg | Sölden, Tyrol (AUT)
Bergbahnen Sölden
2,258 m 752 m 2000
Winter 2,400 PPH 5.0 m/s 106 6-seater chairs
Summer 720 PPH and 480 bikes/h 3.0 m/s 53 carriers for 4 bikes each and 53 chairs
A chairlift equipped with bicycle carrier
system ensures longer trails and makes for
a better connected mountain biker section in
the Sölden region.
When the Langegg chairlift was originally built
in the Tyrolean resort of Sölden in the year
2000, it was only designed to operate in the
winter. Since the 2018 summer season, bikers
have also been able to enjoy using the lift as it
has now been fitted with the novel Doppelmayr
bike clip. The Langegg lift links up the mountain
bike trails in the Gaislachkogl and Giggijoch
sections. This creates better connections within
the “Bike Republic Sölden” – just as it does
for the ski area in the winter. For biking fans,
this means longer routes and more variation
in trails.
All-year use thanks to retrofit
The newly equipped lift went into service in
Sölden following extensive tests. This is the
first time that technology of this kind has been
used in Austria. Worldwide, there are currently
only two other installations – one in Germany
and another in Switzerland – that are fitted with
bike clips. The upgrade in Sölden enables the
lift to be used all year round. In the summer, 53
of the lift’s 106 chairs are converted into transport
carriers with bike clips. Up to four bikes
can be transported on each carrier.
Clip on, take a seat and off you go!
The bike is attached to the bike clip in one
simple action, which holds it in place. Passengers
load their bikes themselves and then
take them off again when they reach the top.
To make unloading in the top station as comfortable
as possible for bikers, the decelerator
assembly was adapted and a start-stop clutch
used. Every carrier entering the station then
stops briefly in the unloading zone and the
next carrier follows at a defined distance without
the lift having to come to a halt. The bottom
station is also fitted with an electrical loading
gate system with four “double gates”. These
create the required space for four people with
bikes. To explain exactly how bikers should use
the carrier function, a demo assembly is provided
in front of the bottom station where they
can try out the system for themselves.
The challenge lay in the fact that the lift was
built without ever considering the idea of
carrying bikes, so it took a lot of brain power
to figure out how to adapt it.
Patrick Kuprian, Bergbahnen Sölden
Bike clips in use
6-CLD-B Langegg, Sölden (AUT), converted for
bike transport 2018
8-CLD-B Prodalp–Prodkamm, Flumserberg
(CHE), converted for bike transport 2017
6-CLD Kappe, Winterberg (DEU),
new lift built in 2013
Coming soon
Check out the video
of the Bike Republic:
8-CLD Köhlerhagen K1, Willingen (DEU),
new lift from December 2018, first-time summer
operation with bike clip 2019