What has four wheels, twelve seats and a keg of beer? It’s a beer bike, idiot.
Coming around the corner, Berlin’s Bier Bike is a shocker. Heads turn and lips pucker with envy as passengers clank glasses and down foamy pints of suds. Cars nervously skirt by the slowly moving vehicle, tourists point in awe and all the while the bike’s passengers do all that is necessary – pedal and drink.
A bizarre contraption, the Bier Bike has been on the streets of Berlin since this May. It operates on a simple system. Eleven peddlers sitting on barstools move their feet in unison to propel the bike forward. The company’s sober driver sits up front and steers, making sure that the bike stays on course.
No injuries have been recorded as of yet, according to the bike’s driver/manager Ulli. The most common customers tend to be those with celebration in mind, often bachelor parties or sports teams.
I asked Ulli about the most any on group has had to drink. The record currently stands at 50 liters. The question then had to be asked – were they British? “Yes, of course.”
The Bier Bike – which comes stocked with brewskies and a sound system – is available to rent for two hours or more. It (technically) holds up to fifteen passengers and runs around 100 Euros for a two-hour tour and more for longer excursions. Beer is an additional cost, running €3.50 per liter.
The bike runs two routes around, one through Mitte and another towards the north side of Kreuzberg. For more information visit the Bier Bike website.
Community Connection
Matador is bike happy. If you do nothing else, be sure to check out some of the freakiest bikes on the road in Hal Amen’s photo essay. Also check out Attica! Attica!’s plan to tour the USA by bicycle and raise money for World Bicycle Relief in the process.
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12 Comments... join the discussion!
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What a great concept! But I can’t hear the phrase “beer-bike” without thinking about one of my alma mater’s crazier traditions: Rice’s Beer-Bike race. Here’s a story about it in the student paper: http://tinyurl.com/ygk99hx . Bike riders used to also do the beer chugging, but it’s become more specialized as time has gone on.
I like the Berlin version better for participation, but for spectating, it’s probably a tossup.
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I’ll join you Candice, even though I’ve become a lightweight recently. haha
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Brilliant. I love it!
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Can you imagine an entire public transit system based on bier bikes? Green movement, take note.
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genius! pure, unfiltered, amber genius!
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Get a group of us Scots on the bike and we will shatter the record, you Yanks wouldnt have a hope German lager would be too strong for you!
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Wow. I wonder if I could put together a beer boat on the Mekong…
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I also saw one of these in Amsterdam.
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Tßus, i’ve been in Berlin a month ago, and i didn’t know about bier-bike, or see it somewhere on a streets of Berlin.. so thanks for sharing that infor. good to know for my next visit…i just love that city.
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Hey William,
Whether it serves up helles, doppel bock or your country’s Scotch ale, I and a group of my friends from across the pond could out drink and out peddle any Scotsman.↵ -
I saw this bike while I was in Berlin and it looked like a real hoot! The people riding it were singing away at the top of their lungs and cheering. haha definitely a classic sight!
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