Cool folding backpack bicycle

Bergmönch, a combination of a rucksack and a ‘downhill machine’. Due to a smart folding construction, this two wheeler can easily be converted into a backpack. Bergmönch is an innovative folding bike that transforms into a backpack in just 2 minutes.

In mountaineering the buzz comes from your ability to clamber over any terrain however rough, always with one objective in mind – the summit. But descending is hard on the joints, and so it’s a necessary evil. It’s quite different with mountain biking. In that case descending is an adrenaline-fulled thrill worth working for, bringing you effortlessly back to the valley and enabling you to cover large distances. The “Bergmönch” combines the two. It’s a sports device which can easily be carried uphill, and which mutates into a fun-filled downhill device par excellence for the descent.

An integrated system of rucksack and scooter. Uphill you can climb unrestricted with free hands and senses in touch with nature, then swoosh back down to valley level either standing or kneeling. If the terrain is really rough, you can stand on the Bergmönch with your weight well back. Otherwise you can ride kneeling, with relaxed muscles for the descent. This geometry is the logical result of numerous theoretical, and later empirical, evaluation procedures. The riding position, upright, low and set well back to the rear, and the different-sized wheels, all create a well thought-through vehicle concept, which ensures superb handling and safety downhill, while achieving a perfect compromise between compactness in uphill mode and comfort downhill. The overall design concept together with clever detail design solutions allow you transport the “Bergmönch” comfortably and snug against your back, and yet also to enjoy its extreme ground-covering performance with ultra-low weight.

When descending mountains our joints are subjected to forces many times our body weight, as step by step our legs have to brake the descent of the body. Everyone knows the consequences: eventually the muscles in the upper thigh ‘soften’ and sooner or later your knees hurt. Your walking becomes less secure. Sometimes you end up more stumbling downhill than walking in full control. Studies have shown that 67 percent of all mountain walkers have knee problems, followed by pain in the ankles, hips, shoulders and spine. But travel with the Bergmönch and this problem simply vanishes into thin air, and you can roll down the descents instead, absolutely ideal for the joints.

The Bergmönch allows you to enjoy the mountains as you never could before. This means that it also brings in a completely new target audience for mountaineering or mountain hiking. Sports and nature enthusiasts who until now felt a lack of ‘action’ in this leisure activity, can now with the Bergmönch experience an extremely stimulating and high fun-factor mountain activity.

In contrast to other mountain experience offerings such as summer toboggan runs, the Bergmönch can be used anywhere and at any time. This ‘decentralisation’ will help generate cleaner Alpine tourism and more sustainable mountain use.

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