Something that has come to epitomise the Copenhagen streetscape may be on its way to the Americas

Transport bikes fit like sand in a bucket with the Copenhagen streetscape and now the Nihola bike brand is looking to enter the North American market.

Niels Holm Larsen founded Nihola bikes 11 years ago and has steadily developed the company and product in an ‘old-school’ way.

Nihola – the name, a contraction consisting of the first two letters of each of the founder’s names – has never spent any money on marketing but is the most popular transport bike in the city. Some 6,000 of them weave their way around town, according to Larsen.

The company preferred to concentrate on making bikes to try matching the impossibly high demand. The secret to the success of the Nihola was its quality, said Larsen.

‘It rides very much a la a one-wheel bike. It’s easy to steer and it’s very light.’

Nihola employs six people full-time at its Copenhagen production facility and pumps out up to 1,500 bikes a year. It also has workshops in Paris and Berlin, and is looking to set up something in either the US or Canada within the next two years.
Long-term, Larsen also wanted to get the bikes on to streets in Australia and possibly New Zealand.

During the 7-18 December UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) Nihola bikes will be in action around the city, delivering The Copenhagen Post’s daily climate edition – The COP15 Post.