The inaugural launch of the free of charge public bike pump system of the Municipality of Budapest took place at Liszt Ferenc square in the 6th District. The aim of the project was to support the everydays of the city’s cycling community and the bicycle transport.
The bike infrastructure of Budapest has gone through a significant improvement in the recent period, since surveys show that for the past 20 years the bicycle traffic within the city has increased tenfold. In favour of supporting the promotion of urban bike transport and as a new measure, the Municipality of Budapest has installed a free of charge outdoor bike pump system. The precise location of the stations can be found on www.enbudapestem.hu/terkep.
Additional 10 pumps are expected to be installed this summer, in different busy public spaces of Budapest.
Although you can carry your bike on trams, trolley-buses and buses since 2014, the Centre for Budapest Transport (BKK) did not manage to expand this service to the metrolines. There are only a few European cities where bikes are forbidden in the metro. Though all the circumstances are met in Metroline 4, it is still forbidden.
Since 2009, 444.hu has sent several letters to BKK asking for the reasons, which are always the following:
The transportation of bikes would only be safe in separate carriages.
The passengers’ clothes would be dirty.
The transport of bikes on the escalator is dangerous.
444 also tried to take foreign regulations to the argument that are applied in the big European cities, but there have always been some exceptions – Bucharest, for the longest time – where bikes were forbidden in the metro for sure. However, nowadays there are only a few European cities (including Budapest) where you cannot take the metro with your bike.
Of course, this does not mean that you can take your bike to any of the crowded carriages. Actually, there are two possible solutions in the bike-friendly cities:
A certain number of bikes can be taken to a certain part of the metro, usually at its beginning or end (just like on the commuter rail – HÉV).
Bikes cannot be taken to the metro in the rush hours so that nobody would stumble over them.
All of the elevators of Metroline 4 are suitable for carrying bikes, and it is also possible to take the bikes through the gates. Regarding metrolines, it is primarily due to safety risks that there has not been any leap forward yet – BKK answered to 444.
This is a little confusing, as Metroline 4, for example, is anything but crowded, and its maintenance is quite expensive for BKK. Selling only a few bike tickets would mean at least some leap forward. But it is also needed in other metrolines, and the lack of elevators cannot be an excuse. It is not an excuse in Prague either, where most of the stations do not have elevators yet.
Carriages of Metroline 4 are anything but crowded
Under the management of Dávid Vitézy, BKK started to test the system of transporting bikes in September, 2013. A tram (59), a bus (65/165) and a trolley-bus (77) were involved in the program. Though there has not been any bad experience, the program did not develop further. In addition to these three lines, bikes can be transported in the commuter rails, the cog-wheel railway and the ships of River Danube. If these lines are signed on the map, the same problem appears as in the case of cycle paths: these lines do not form a network, thus, they are suitable for only a few people.
Budapest’s map by 444.hu – lines where the transportation of bikes is possible indicated by red.
444 has also collected all the cities in the European Union where passengers can take their bikes in the metro. Among the metrolines in 42 cities there are only a few ones where bikes are forbidden.
European cities where bikes can be taken to the metro: Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Bilbao, Brescia, Brussels, Bucharest, Catania, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Genova, Hamburg, Helsinki, Lausanne, Lisbon, London, Lyon, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Naples, Newcastle/Sunderland, Nuremberb, Oslo, Palma de Mallorca, Prague, Rome, Rotterdam, Sevilla, Stockholm, Sofia, Vienna, Warsaw.
European cities where bikes can be transported in certain part of the metrolines: Paris, London.
European cities where bikes are forbidden in the metro: Budapest, Glasgow, Lille, Toulouse, Turin. (There is no available information about Marseille and Rennes.)
Though the Balkan States have never been the pioneers of environmentally friendly transport, they have run rings around us in this respect. Both Bucharest and Athens introduced the transportation of bikes in the metro a few years ago, moreover, in Athens it is free and available anytime. It has also been free in Warsaw since 2004.
Bus transporting a bike in Los Angeles
Furthermore, in Bratislava, for example, you can take your bike to any bus or tram, they are only forbidden on the newest trolley-buses. However, there is a restriction of two bikes per vehicle only. Bikes are transported by trailers on the cog-wheel railway of Stuttgart, while it is a well-tried method in the United States that bikes can be put on the front of the buses.
Water-lilies, steaming water even in winter, bathers swimming with joy, and characteristic buildings. This is the typical image pictured by the postcards coming from Hévíz in the past hundred years. According to these pictures, the huge bathing culture was already present at the beginning of the 1900s. Origo.hu has explored Hévíz to find out what more the town can offer beyond its wonderful bath.
Of course, everyone who visits the town starts the tour with the Thermal Lake of Hévíz. This is the biggest curative, thermal lake of Europe. From a bird’s eye view, this 4.5-hectare-big lake reminds the viewer of an enormous raindrop. It used to be a dangerous swamp, thanks to which the lake has both cold and hot springs. This results in the attractive feature of the bath that the 38-degree-hot water does not fall under 20-22 degrees in the coldest weather either. Thus, the bathing season never ends – not even in autumn or winter.
Hévíz Bath Source: Facebook / Hévíz
Indian water-lilies are just fine here
All the brochures of Hévíz must contain at least one photo of the wonderful water-lilies, which became the symbol of Hévíz. They are called nymphaea. They are also part of the town’s coat of arms. Sándor Lovassy, professor of Keszthely’s Academy of Economics naturalized them in 1898. These flowers came from India. The water-lilies are protected, they flourish from spring until the end of autumn. Their huge leafs moderate the lake’s steaming, while their runners protect the mud in the deep.
Water-lily of Hévíz Source: heviz.hu
Bathers can smear the mud on their body, which not only cures them but also makes them more beautiful – allegedly. The medicinal water rich in minerals and the mud are said to heal locomotor disorder and rheumatic diseases successfully.
What is beyond the bath?
If you have the opportunity, you must go biking in this beautiful environment. There are bikes to rent on four points of the town. The name of this bicycle-sharing system is HeBi and people are allowed to use these professional bikes just for a 3.2 EUR caution money. If you are not fond of sports, you can try Dotto, the road train of the town. The train does its sightseeing tour from April until October and takes people to the wine taverns of Egregy.
Egregy introduces wonderful terraces, wines, tasty dishes and a beautiful panorama. It was also known by the Romans, as it is near the ancient Amber Road that used to connect the Adriatic Sea with the Baltic region. However, in addition to amber, people used to transport wine on this road, thanks to which viniculture and wine-making spread in the region of Hévíz. Traditionally, it is a region of white wines. Their main types are Welschriesling, Pinot Gris, Müller-Thurgau and Grüner Veltliner.
Flourishing viniculture in Egregy Source: heviz.hu
Good wines require tasty dishes. Some specialities of the region worth trying are the fumu and the plutyka. Fumu sounds like a Japanese dish, but it is in fact a milk loaf with the shape of a doll. Plutyka is the local name of the boiled savoy cabbage, but tourists can also choose from a rich variety of dishes like cabbage with beans, “gombuca” with sour cream (noodle-like dish) and, of course, the zander of Balaton.
In addition to the bigger festivals in the weekends, weekly farmer’s market, folklore programs, musical and folk dance events await the tourists visiting Hévíz in the summer.
According to piacesprofit.hu, in the last few years Hungary managed to join the biggest biking nations. Surveys prove that on a European scale, Hungary is the third in line regarding regular biking after the Netherlands and Denmark, whose habit of biking is legendary. While the rate of citizens choosing the bike for everyday transportation is 36 and 23 per cent in these two countries, in Hungary 22 per cent of the respondents have stated that they go to school or work by bike. It is clear from Vatera’s data analysis that Hungarians are likely to buy mountain bikes (in 36% of the cases), and not surprisingly the “most-biking” Hungarian city is Budapest with 8,793 sold bikes in five years.
Biking has slowly but surely changed from a recreational activity into the everyday means of transport. This is proved by the startling data, according to which the bicycle usage in Budapest’s central districts has grown elevenfold in the last 20 years. Of course, the more popular biking became, the higher the number of bike-purchases got, as it is reflected by Vatera’s data. The operation of MOL Bubi surely contributes to this data as well.
Second-hand bikes are more popular, especially in the spring
Last year altogether 6,297 bikes were sold on Vatera at the average price of 19,330 HUF (around 61 EUR). In 81 per cent of the cases people were selling second-hand bikes, while 19 per cent of the bikes were new. These numbers clearly show that there is a growing demand for second-hand bicycles, which means that purchasers are still sensitive to prices.
Safety first
The mentioned study also shows that the rate of accidents involving bikers is growing slower than the rate of people everyday riding a bike, so regarding rates, less and less accidents happen that involve bikers. That means that bikers make more and more efforts to ride safely, which is further proved by Vatera’s data. Last year people bought cycling safety equipment worth 6,300 EUR on Vatera, such as lights (58%), safety helmets (34%) and bells or other biking devices making a sound (9%).
Mountain bikes and kid bikes are the most popular
On the basis of the number of purchases, mountain bikes were the most popular last year, 1,217 of them were sold on Vatera. One reason of this popularity can be that this is the type that copes the best with the challenges of the streets in the city. They are followed by the traditional urban bicycles with 898 purchases. Road bicycles are the third ones with 410 purchases, while 375 and 203 were sold of the more special trekking and BMX bikes, respectively. 55 per cent of the sold bikes were for adults, while 45 per cent of them were for kids.
Champions of bikes – the most and the priciest
The most bicycles of the last five years were purchased – not surprisingly – in Budapest. This means 8,793 bikes, worth around 570,000 EUR. The capital is followed by Debrecen and Szeged, where biking is the most practical means of transport due to the features of the terrain. In these towns, 671 and 513 bikes were purchased on Valera. The top 10 towns of bike purchasing also contain Pécs, Győr, Miskolc, Székesfehérvár, Tatabánya, Nyíregyháza and Érd. If we want to rank these towns regarding the number of inhabitants, so we consider the buying and selling per capita, the “most-biking” town is Kistarcsa, but Göd, Fót, Szigetszentmiklós and Keszthely are also at the top of this fictive list, while Budapest is only the ninth – reports Vatera.
One of the most modern public spaces on the picturesque Danube river embankment is Moszkva promenade.
The investment was targeted for the 17th FINA World Championships hosted by Budapest. The new promenade will definitely be a useful and enjoyable infrastructural element for foreign visitors during the World Championships and in the long run it will serve the needs of inhabitants of all ages enjoying a nice cycling trip, running, some sport or a relaxing walk on the embankment promenade.
The construction of the promenade is a significant development on the international as well as municipal level:
– It was constructed primarily for the major aquatic tournament, the 17th FINA World Championships. The promenade will be used by foreign guests, officials as well as inhabitants and visitors of district XIII.
– It is located by the Danube, a key waterway in Europe for international trade and tourism. Due to the vicinity of several ports nearby as well as Margaret Island the promenade and its area is an important spot for domestic and foreign tourism alike.
– The cycle path will become an integral part of the EuroVelo international bicycle network along the Danube.
The promenade brought about a total renewal of a section of the embankment on the Pest side which was out of use before. A 1150m long 7m wide divided pedestrian and cycle path has been constructed. The divided pedestrian and cycle paths joins an existing non-divided pedestrian and cycle path under Árpád Bridge as well as a cycle path constructed in the course of the Dagály project. On the southern side cyclists have access to the upper embankment and existing cycle paths in Dráva street via the hub by Dráva street.
Retaining walls by the promenade have been decorated with the design elements of the World Championships so this section of the embankment promotes one of the greatest sporting events in the history of Budapest and Hungary.
The project constitutes an important element of a high-prestige urban development scheme serving local and touristic purposes alike in the framework of which cycle paths and pedestrian promenade is being constructed from the Parliament to Dagály beach along the lower embankment on the Pest side and then as a continuation to the north, from Népfürdő street to Rákos River. It provides a high quality link and ensures pedestrian and bicycle access between the downtown and North Pest and it will become an integral part of the EuroVelo network as well.
The project entailed the redevelopment of surrounding green spaces, areas, the installation of uniquely designed street furniture and bicycle stands and the preparation of smart public lighting and smart city solutions.
The reconstruction has been completed combining the present and the future in line with the smart city concept. New public lighting poles – convertible into smart spots – have been implemented along the promenade therefore the conditions necessary for providing free public Wifi are now available in Budapest – one of the first cities with such facilities-. These modern poles feature energy saving, environmentally sound LED lights.
Technical parameters:
– construction of a promenade and cycle path with the length of 1150 m
– 7 m width: 4 m pedestrian platform + 2×1.25 m cycle path + 0.5 m median strip
– more than 7500 m2 decorative covering
– 75 uniquely designed benches
– 9 uniquely designed sun benches
– 51 bicycle stands and 30 litter bins
– more than 160 newly planted trees
– more than 60 public lighting poles with LED lights convertible into smart ones
The Duna Arena, key venue of the 17th FINA World Championships, can now be accessed easily and conveniently through the embankment on Pest side (as well). We are looking forward to welcoming thousands of fans seizing the opportunity of using the promenade.
According to inforadio.hu, a great cycling investment is predicted to start in the capital city in 2018. The joint project of Budapest and its districts will concern 16 districts.
“The capital city and its districts entered the Competitive Central Hungary operative programme, in the frameworks of which they received 8.3 billion forints from the European Union” said Áron Halász, the spokesman for the Hungarian Cycling Club. He added that the plans of the new cycling traffic network are currently being worked on, and they are trying to figure out the most efficient way of using the sources.
“If the constructions go well, 21% of Budapest, so almost its quarter, 112 kilometres will become available for cyclists. There are currently 150-200 kilometres of cycle tracks including the yellow lines, painted on the sidewalks, that are quite outdated (some are simply outgrown by the cycling community), the two-way streets, cycling lanes and non-busy paths recommended for cycling.”
The spokesman emphasized that this was a huge opportunity for Budapest, but added that a lot of things that cyclists want would still not come true. “The cycling issue of the Great Boulevard will still not be solved, but there are several projects that can help a lot”.
For instance, there’s going to by a cycle track along Rákos Stream between the Danube and the border of the city, and Rákoskeresztúr will be connected to the city centre.
“There’s also going to be developments in the 3rd, 13th, 18th, 11th, 2nd, 12th districts and Csepel (22nd district), Újpest (4th district), Soroksár (23rd district), Kőbánya (10th district), Árpádföld (16th district), Kispest (19th district) and Pesterzsébet (20th district).”
The licensing plans will be made in autumn, while the construction works will start next year and they will probably last for 5 five years.
A Danish bicycle rental company is expanding to Hungary, namely to Budapest, with two hundred bicycles – informs hvg.hu.
If you’ve ever been to Budapest, then the sight of the green-coloured bicycles scattered around the city is familiar to you. These are in fact called MOL BuBi: MOL referring to the Hungarian oil and gas company, which covers the bikes’ operating costs, and BuBi is a contraction of Budapest and bicycle. You can find many BuBi stations in the city and you can rent them for maximum 30 minutes. Afterwards, you can drop them off at the nearest station to you; you don’t have to return them to the pick-up point.
Now the Danish Donkey Republic renting network has its eyes on Budapest: they are bringing two hundred bicycles to the Hungarian capital. It works differently than BuBi, you have to search for the bikes – which are available for pick-up at different locations – via an app, and after you’ve payed for them, they are unlocked and good to go. Donkey Republic operates roughly two thousand bicycles in 19 countries.
There is an advantage over BuBi, that being the length of the renting time. The shortest time for which you can use a bike is two hours, and it costs 7 euros, but it seems to be their priciest offer. If you want to, you can rent a bike for a whole weekend for 25 euros, and there is the option to rent for 150 days.
At the moment, there will be 40 locations in Budapest’s downtown, from where you can rent a bicycle, as of yet, there are no plans for the outer regions of the city. If you want to take a bicycle tour around the Grand Boulevard, the nearest station is at the Heroes’ Square. When your time is up, you have to return the bike to the location where you picked it up.
In 2017, Budapest also joins the European Cycling Challenge, the biggest urban cycling team competition between European cities. This year, the Hungarian capital will also get the chance to compete in cycling with 50 other European cities in the challenge held from 1 to 31 May.
During the campaign, cyclists in the participating cities track travelled kilometres with the help of a smartphone application developed for this purpose. By doing this, cyclists not only help their home city to achieve the title of “the European city that rides most” but in Budapest they can also win MOL Bubi gift packages or smartphone-holder mounts for their bikes. Last year, 46 thousand participants from 52 cities recorded around 4 million kilometres in the competition’s smartphone application.
The European Cycling Challenge is a European-level competition established under CIVITAS 2020, in which Budapest can compare itself this year among others with Rome, Barcelona or Cracow, to see which city has the longest total cycled distance. In addition to shaping transport behaviours and promoting sustainable, eco-friendly urban transport, the ECC also provides useful information for transport organisers, as well.
In the competition, the kilometres travelled by bicycle can be collected after registration in the Naviki smartphone application freely downloadable by anyone. The winner of the challenge will be the city that records the most kilometres in May. However, this is not the only reason why you should take part in ECC2017: at the end of the competition, the top 100 players collecting the most kilometres in Budapest will receive a bicycle smartphone mount, furthermore during the four-week-long challenge weekly lots will be drawn for 25 MOL Bubi gift packages amongst those who have recorded at least 10 kilometres. In addition, after the closure of the event, a further 150 bicycle smartphone mounts will be drawn amongst those who have cycled and recorded at least 10 kilometres during the whole competition. The online leaderboard on the official website provides real-time information on the state of the competition.
Budapest has joined the cycling challenge in the framework of the FLOW research and innovation project of the European Union.
According to origo.hu, the great spring parade of cyclists returned with a new course. I Bike Budapest tries to follow the traditions of Critical Mass, which was held before 2013 in Budapest annually. The aim of the event is to popularize travelling by bicycle, and it also draws attention to the importance of developments related to cycling.
I Bike Budapest cyclist parade MTI Photo: Balázs Mohai
According to the hosts, approximately 10,000 people attended the cyclist parade of I Bike Budapest, despite the forecasts promising rain.
The hosts also told that cyclists also came to the streets in the countryside – in Debrecen, Szeged, Székesfehérvár and other cities – to highlight that the old and outdated cycle paths require repair in order to decrease urban traffic.
MTI Photo: Balázs Mohai
There were significant limitations of traffic on Saturday afternoon and evening because of I Bike Budapest. The attendants gathered from 3 pm in Szabadság square.
The parade started from Szabadság square and went through minor streets on the lower embarkment, through Közraktár Street, Petőfi Bridge, Irinyi József Street and Karinthy Frigyes Street to Móricz Zsigmond Circus.
From that pont, it continued to Bartók Béla Street, Szent Gellért embarkment, Attila Street, through the Castle Tunnel and Chain Bridge to Széchenyi István Square, then through József Attila Street, Andrássy Street and Heroes’ Square they arrived at Városliget.
MTI Photo: Balázs Mohai
Hungarian Cyclists’ Club organized the parade along this course because these are the parts of the city which needs some development concerning cycle paths, and the already existing paths also require repair.
The winter operation of MOL Bubi has ended, so all the public bicycles are back in service now after having been inspected and undergone the necessary repairs during the winter, bkk.hu said.
In spring, more and more users hop on public bikes, so the good news for them is that currently a total of 1,286 bicycles are available at 112 docking stations. In the early summer, the scheme is planned to be expanded with 12 new docking stations on Margaret Island as well as in District 13, in time for the FINA World Aquatics Championships (14-30 July) to be held in the vicinity, followed by further new stations in the second half of this year and in 2018. Along with the installation of the new docking stations, the number of bikes will increase as well.
During the low season, check-ups and required repairs were carried out on the MOL Bubi fleet: the bicycles were equipped with new grips, baskets, bells, headlights and cabling.
We are confident that the recent user-friendly upgrades will contribute to the growing enthusiasm of the system’s customers.
More information about the public bike-sharing scheme is available at molbubi.bkk.hu, while at molbubi.bkk.hu/tiz_erv.php 10 arguments are listed in favour of using MOL Bubi.
According to index.hu, Budapest is kind of a sport capital. The city will be the home of the World Aquatic Championships, it bids for the Olympic Games, stadiums grow out of the ground, you can go kayaking and canoeing on the Danube and take part in several running competitions around it. But what’s the situation with the fans of the second most popular mass sport, cycling? They are like unwanted children in the city. But this can change soon.
There are already bicycle lanes and tracks in the city, but those are not really suitable for doing sports. The Millenáris is going to be rebuilt, but, presumably, there won’t be space for neither hobby cyclists, nor roadside racers.
There’s effectively no place where you can cycle without obstacles. The asphalt of the Margaret Island is not really smooth, there are many pedestrians, and the swimming pool is under construction. Individual cyclists usually take on the Zichy Mihály Road – City Park – Olof Palme Walk triangle, where they have to make their way through parking lots, trolley buses and illegal car tricksters (the road-conditions are actually also not the best here for cycling, only with the best-built off-road bikes – DN), and the place is frequently closed because of a running event.
Cyclists couldn’t organise a competition there due to the factors mentioned above, they just made do with the place. Until now, because due to the constructions, only a tiny lane was left for cyclists and nobody knows what the future holds for them.
Meanwhile, there’s an excellent and obvious solution, which has been a bit neglected in recent years. It is the Népliget, and cyclist champion Károly Eisenkrammer has already worked out a plan for the utilisation of the space. The 3D animation of the plans is quite cool.
The BringaPark Népliget (CyclingPark Népliget) project would offer the following functions:
A two-kilometre-long asphalt circle closed off from street-traffic, lighted up at night for recreation goals (hobby cyclists, children, roller-skaters) in the northern part of the park.
A three-kilometre-long asphalt circle closed off from street-traffic, lighted up at night for sporting goals (cycling trainings and competitions) in the southern part of the park.
A park for the rules of the road, a road safety education course and Bringa Academy education centre.
BMX and mountain bike dune course (for hobby cyclists and children).
Cycling trial course.
Field training course for beginner and kid mountain bikers.
BMX and roller-skate park for skateboarders as well.
Besides toilets, dressing rooms and water drinking opportunities, there would also be a bicycle service station and a bicycle rental. The plans wouldn’t hinder in with the current functions of Népliget, for instance, the institutions could be approached by car, in fact, there would be a separate parking lot for those visiting the Planetarium.
The designers also plan on separating the official traffic lane from the sport lane so that hobby cyclists and sport cyclists wouldn’t get into arguments. Similarly, buses and trolley buses wouldn’t endanger cyclists.
The BringaPark would cost about 190 million forints. The elements of the project can be executed irrespectively of each other, even though it would be best to serve all branches of the sport. The estimated length of the execution is 8-12 months. If it was to happen, the capital city would redeem a serious debt for cyclists.
According to szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, nine public bicycle pumps have been installed in different spots of Budapest to help cyclists with deflated tyres.
The public bicycle pump system might be the most useful initiation that Hungarian cyclists could’ve received from Budapest this year. The BVA Budapest City Image Non-Profit Kft installed 9 bicycle pumps in different locations of Budapest in partnership with BKK (Centre for Budapest Transport) and the Hungarian Cyclist Club.
These urban inflators can be used by anyone without any restrictions, but, naturally, it’s worth taking good care of them so that they can serve cyclists for lots of years. The organisations also promised to launch even more pumps in 2017. If you want to see the exact locations of the public pumps, click here. They are signalled with small, green pump symbols.
Would you ever thought that the unique bicycle for girls was invented by two guys? CSB (Csajbringa – Girlcycle) turned out so well that women simply adore the stylish, harmonic and good quality bikes. Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu talked with Viktor Kádár and Zsolt Erdő, the creative, cycling-fanatic inventors of CSB. They certainly know what women need.
And what they needed hasn’t been manufactured for decades: an elegant, minimalistic bike with harmonising colours, avoiding black and unattractive Chinese plastic. Viktor believes that the technical development of the 90s and the spreading of mountain bikes took a bad direction (from women’s point of view) in the development of bicycles: they became more and more futuristic. Not to mention that most women don’t desire extras, only an elegant, feminine and comfortable bicycle.
The idea arose when one if the inventors couldn’t find any nice bicycle for his girlfriend’s birthday – so why couldn’t they design bicycles for women? They were lucky because this realisation fell in the same time as the start the renaissance of cycling in Budapest.
In the beginning they didn’t think that it could turn into a serious business, they only knew that they were both crazy about bikes and that no one had done anything like this before. So they ran to the second-hand market and bought four ancient bicycles, which they disassembled, sand-sprayed, polished, assembled and bought some accessories.
The concept was the creation of sophisticated, minimalistic bicycles in harmonising colours made with of good quality components, avoiding the ugly, black Chinese plastic. They then shared the bikes on Facebook, because they didn’t know what else they could do with them. They only wanted to make them, not use them.
They sold the first bikes way under their realistic price, but this didn’t discourage them. They got more and more positive feedback, newspapers started writing about them and they knew that they had to carry on.
Viktor had a vision about a nice girl bicycle, which proved to be right by the feedback. They don’t tell you how a nice bike looks like, they give you the option to design the appearance of the components by choosing from 30 colours.
But they soon realised that the renovation of old bicycles might not be the best, quickest and most effective option. “We had to admit that it wasn’t good that we overworked ourselves while the bikes still didn’t turn out perfect, so we started making completely new bicycles.”
They say that they did everything from sales to marketing with common sense, and the business started up by itself; satisfied buyers brought new buyers. “It was like moving a rock which started an avalanche. It wasn’t the result of conscious strategic decisions, the whole thing happened because it was meant to happen.”
Fortune and hard-working helped each other in the case of CSB. In 2014, László Szilvássy was looking for a unique female bicycle and stopped a CSB user on the street who led them to the inventors. He saw potential in the idea, so he and his partner, Balázs Lendvay, invested money and ideas in the project. This was exactly what the boys needed: two experienced businessmen.
They started a company together, made the enterprise more professional and transparent. A higher positioning was also part of the plan, which resulted in the rise of prices. Their field is a though one concerning that higher prices mean lower income, not to mention that the purchase of components is harder in smaller amounts. “We have to find a way to reach our target group. We have to grow up for this task.”
They believe in their next big plan: they are trying to bring the frame manufacturing to Hungary for a better quality and cost-efficiency. They hope to achieve this by 2017. They might also try selling CSB abroad, where the circle of potential buyers is wider. For instance, there are much more cyclists and higher incomes in Scandinavian countries. Since no one would understand Csajbringa (~Girlcycle) abroad, they have been consciously positioning the brand to CSB since the beginning.
Budapest, November 7 (MTI) – The length of Hungarian bicycle network reached 3,072 km in 2015, growing by almost 50 percent from 2,058 km in 2010, a summary of infrastructure data published by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) shows.
Bicycle paths have expanded but the combined length of footpaths slightly decreased from 50,220km to 49,708km from 2010 to last year.
The Hungarian road network last year consisted of 31,925km of national highways and 172,957km of local municipal roadways, both categories showed marginal expansion compared to 2010.
KSH said that around 75 percent of road traffic is on national highways.
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Out of the nearly 32,000km of national roads 1,168 km were classified as motorways in 2015.
KSH noted that motorway infrastructure more than doubled between 2000 and 2010. There were two years in 2011 and 2012 without major construction projects but between 2010 and 2015 there were still 100 km of motorways built.
BKK published a new 360-degree short film 360-degree short films demonstrating the interesting sights in Budapest and at the same enticing viewers to use the MOL Bubi public bikes. The films have English subtitles to encourage foreign tourists not only to visit the Hungarian capital, but also to try out the public bikes. Thanks to the innovative filming technique, viewers get to see the surroundings in full rotation if they wish, and have a unique, virtual reality experience.
Thanks to the innovative filming technique, viewers get to see the surroundings in full rotation if they wish, and have a unique, virtual reality experience. The films have English subtitles to encourage foreign tourists not only to visit the Hungarian capital, but also to try out the public bikes.
Public bikes are the latest addition to public transport with the aim of offering passengers a new travel alternative for short trips in the city. Each bike hire with a MOL Bubi ticket or pass is free for 30 minutes which is sufficient time for exploring a few sites in the city centre on routes that are not covered by other public transport vehicles. For longer sight-seeing adventures though, it is still recommended to return your bike within half-an-hour and take a new one.
More information about use and fares is available at molbubi.bkk.hu
The historical secrets of Buda – 360
The famous gardens of the Palotanegyed – 360
Exploring the immense university campus in Buda – 360
Attention cyclists, a handy gadget is in sight! It is called Shoka Bell and is able to control, light up, and also signals if your bike is being stolen. According to szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, many people have already laid their eyes on this amazing gadget.
The gadget, developed by Hungarians, can become the new favourite of cyclists: Shoka Bell has been up for only a few days on Kickstarter’s site but already collected 85 thousand dollars of support. And they are still counting, as it seems that many people see potential in the invention.
The tool can do much more than alarming or warning – of course you can do this by pushing one button, but it is also a great navigator, a lamp, and it can even warn us if our bike is being stolen, because it signals if anyone touches it in a zone of 250 metres.
You don’t even have to put the gadget itself onto your bicycle, its case is enough, as Shoka Bell is connected to it magnetically. You can connect it to your mobile phone via Bluetooth and you only need to download an application, type in your destination, so Shoka Bell can lead the way with the help of its built-in LED-s. It runs on an accumulator, but one charging can last for 200 hours.
The gadget, registered under the name of Dániel Falusi, will be available for circa 109 dollars.
Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu shares an interesting story: an enthusiastic coach promised to travel to Rio from Baja by bike, provided a sportsman of his sports club makes it to the Olympic Games. Now guess what, the sportsman did make it, so the coach had to kick off his journey.
Miklós Borbély, manager of the Mogyi SE Baja sports club made a promise of riding a bike on the way to Rio from Baja, in case Gábor Faldum manages to get qualified to the 2016 Olympic Games. Faldum is a member of the Hungarian national team, regarded to be its best triathlete, and luckily achieved the results necessary for the Olympic qualification.
Now, as he succeeded in doing so, Borbély and his two partners had to travel to the hosting city of the Olympics on bicycles. On his journey, which kicked off on the 20th of June, the 46-year old Borbély was accompanied by Zoltán Németh and Balázs Barta. Notably, Borbély had previously done Olympic rides, in 1992, to the Olympic Games in Barcelona, and to the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta.
Németh, aged 54, is a PE teacher and ultramarathon runner, who has done the Spartatlon race in Greece twice; while the third adventurer, the 16-year old Barta is also a triathlete of the Baja team. The trio’s European biking destination was Lisbon, where they planned to change the two-wheeled vehicle to a plane.
But before that, the road started, of course, in Hungary, from were they rode to Croatia, then to Slovenia and Austria, after which they arrived in Italy. After passing the Lago di Braies, they crossed the Dolomites, included Lake Garda, and went across Northern Italy. Then, at Geneva, the bikers reached the shores of the Ligurian Sea.
They even had the energy to do a small competition, in honour of the Milan-San Remo bike race, which ended with the victory of Barta, winning the polka dot jersey. However, after all the fun, following the French Riviera, the Cote d’Azur, Monaco, Nice and Marseilles, they got into trouble.
Németh had his bike, passport, mobile, bank card, and all of his cash stolen from him in Martigues. Therefore, he was thinking about giving up the adventure, but people came to his rescue and sent him some money, so he could buy all the equipment he needed to carry on with the journey.
Also, the Hungarian consulate in Marseilles helped him with getting a new passport, thus, after two days they could resume their travels. Then, after Barcelona, Aragon, and Castile, the trio finally arrived in Lisbon.
Furthermore, at the end of the adventurous journey to Rio de Janeiro from Baja, Németh shared a post on Facebook, expressing his gratefulness toward all those who helped him in making it to Lisbon. Also, he mentions what a great experience it was, and that they fulfilled the journey’s sporting part.
But then comes an unfortunate turn of events, as he writes that the vacation and the rooting will not happen in Rio, because Barta got into the hospital of Lisbon, from where he was released on July 25. After that, the team took the night flight back to Hungary, and Barta got under therapy. He was getting better, felt fine, but his CBC made the doctors decide to carry out further medical examinations.
Budapest, August 3 (MTI) – The government has decided to implement cycle path development projects worth 30 billion forints (EUR 96.4m) in major tourist regions, a government commissioner said on Wednesday.
The projects include developing a path connecting Budapest to Lake Balaton, in western Hungary, and further developing a path around the lake, Máriusz Révész said.
Further projects include constructing the missing stretch of a path around Lake Tisza, in eastern Hungary, and a complex development of the Rajka-Dömös, Szentendre-Budapest, Dunakeszi-Budapest and Budapest-Érd-Százhalombatta sections of European cycling route network EuroVelo 6, he said.
The projects will be carried out with EU and Hungarian state funding and most of them are expected to be completed by 2018, he said.
