"I'm not much of a skier," admits Sandro Schmid, an integral part of the Swiss gravity scene, "but the snowbike won me over on the very first day." What makes the snowbike from Swiss company Bullskate special is that skis are bolted to a "real" bike. "It felt a bit strange at first because the feet are not offset on the pedals, but next to each other on footrests that are screwed into the frame instead of the bottom bracket," Schmid recalls of his first ride. The lack of brake levers on the actually familiar bike handlebars was also a little confusing at first.
The Bullskate Snowbike is available as a conversion kit. So you either have to have the bike frame in stock yourself or order it from the Entlebuch-based company. The conversion essentially consists of removing practically everything except the frame and fork. Transmission, brakes, pedals - everything has to go. Even the saddle and handlebars are replaced by more suitable models from the Snowbike Kit. Massive adapters are fitted to the fork and rear triangle, to which short skis are attached.

Edges instead of cleats

Biking on skis can only be compared to mountain biking on snow to a limited extent. The snow bike can also ride sideways or backwards, and braking is done exclusively by "field hockey stop", i.e. by deliberately turning the bike sideways. The snow bike really comes into its own when carving. "On a freshly leveled and still deserted slope, you can turn the bike with so much speed that the handlebars scratch the snow - a pretty sick feeling," praises Sandro Schmid.
The Grisons native likes to ride his snowbike on Chur's local mountain, Brambrüesch. Wouldn't it be interesting to ride down the Chur bike park route straight away? "That would hardly work, because you always have to turn the bike sideways to brake and there's not enough space for that in many places on the trail." Deep snow riding, on the other hand, is possible, as some videos prove. However, the two 90-centimeter-long skis don't provide too much lift. The snowbike also cuts a fine figure on large kickers.

mso-ansi-language:DE-CH;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">A few years ago, Florian Jurt set the world speed record on the Swiss Snowbike. Swiss television SRF reported in two detailed winter challenge reports: The first snowbike speed record and World record attempt: high speed with the snowbike.

More information on snow and ski bikes:
www.schneevelo.ch
www.sledgehammer.at
www.skibike.net