BicycleCinema.org
Night-time open-air Fahrradkino powered by a row of Oekotrainer pedal stations: riders on the bikes at the left, audience seated on chairs, film on a large screen
Photo: Oekotrainer (oekotrainer.de) — via oekotrainer.de

Oekotrainer.de

Germany · Equipment supplier

Active last verified 2026-09 Oekotrainer.de is the manufacturer and direct renter; KL.digital (Kaiserslautern) and ADFC chapters (Rhein-Neckar, Schwetzingen) are independent operators renting or buying its 8-bike Fahrradkino sets.
Battery-buffered AC
8 Oekotrainer roller trainersDocumented

Websitehttps://oekotrainer.de/

Oekotrainer.de builds and rents an eight-trainer Fahrradkino set from the Frankfurt region; its generator is the roller itself. Its software overlays each rider's live wattage on the projected image and slows the film when the group's output falls below an adjustable threshold.

Key facts

  • Fleet

    8 Oekotrainer roller trainers1,2

    Documented

  • Buffer

    12.8 V / 100 Ah / 1,280 Wh LiFePO42,3

    Documented

  • Inverter

    1,000 W max, 600 W recommended continuous2,3

    Documented

  • Generator rating

    0–50 V DC, up to 36 A, >1,000 W peak, ≤85% efficiency1,2

    Manufacturer rating

  • Beamer draw

    not disclosed1,2,3

    Not disclosed

Oekotrainer.de is a commercial equipment supplier. Its Fahrradkino set is eight roller trainers plus a control "KinoBox", sold outright or rented complete with screen, beamer and PA; each trainer's generator is pressed against the clamped bicycle's rear tyre by a knurled screw, and the trainers' direct current charges a LiFePO4 pack, the "PowerStationSet", that feeds a pure-sine inverter. Oekotrainer publishes the generator's voltage, current and efficiency ratings; system-level values such as the generator's construction and the beamer's wattage are not disclosed. The equipment reaches audiences mainly through renters in Kaiserslautern and in ADFC chapters in Rhein-Neckar and Schwetzingen, and the current operating manual is dated 27 March 2024.

Specifications

What do these labels mean?

FieldValueConfidenceSources
Trainers per set8 Oekotrainer roller trainersDocumented1,2
Set pricefrom €1,200 (sale); rental includes screen, beamer and PAList price on the manufacturer's own shop page; rental pricing is quoted per event and not published.Manufacturer rating1
Generator output0–50 V DC, speed-dependentMaximum current 36 A; peak output over 1,000 W at up to 85% efficiency.Manufacturer rating1,2
Generator typenot disclosedThe behaviour described (speed-dependent DC output) is consistent with a permanent-magnet machine, but the words "permanent magnet" do not appear on Oekotrainer's own pages, so that label is not used here.Not disclosed1,2
Buffer chemistryLiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate)Documented3
Buffer capacity12.8 V / 100 Ah / 1,280 WhThe 'PowerStationSet', standard since December 2022.Documented3
Inverter output1,000 max / 600 recommended continuous WPure sine wave.Documented2,3
Beamer drawnot disclosedNo projector model or wattage is published for the Fahrradkino set.Not disclosed1,2,3
Kaiserslautern deployment (27 May 2026)8 Ökotrainer; approximately 200 visitorsFigure from the City of Kaiserslautern's own press release.Operator-stated4

History

KL.digital, a municipal digital-services provider, supplied Kaiserslautern's first municipal Fahrradkino on 27 May 2026, documented in the city's own press release: eight Ökotrainer units screening the documentary "Cycling Cities" for about 200 visitors 4. Two chapters of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club (ADFC), Germany's national cycling-advocacy federation, run 8-bike Ökotrainer sets of their own — Rhein-Neckar, profiled separately, and Schwetzingen, which used one for an asparagus-season opening event in April 2025 5,6.

The Oekotrainer roller trainer: a green folding frame with the generator unit mounted as the roller at its base
Photo: Oekotrainer (oekotrainer.de) — via oekotrainer.de

Technology

Each rider's output displays live along the top of the projected image; if the group's collective pedalling falls below an adjustable power threshold, the software reduces the film's playback speed until output recovers 1,2. The same generators can run a "Fahrraddisco", with the beamer omitted and the electricity routed to a sound system or live band 2. The set takes wheels of 20 to 28 inches and excludes hub-gear bicycles whose shifter cable exits sideways from the rear axle, as well as mountain-bike tyres, which run too loud against the roller 2.

Typographic panel describing the on-screen per-rider wattage overlay and the automatic playback slow-down below a threshold
Per-rider wattage overlay and automatic film slow-down1,2,3 Image: BicycleCinema.org, drawn from the research corpus
The Oekotrainer voltage-regulator unit (Spannungsregler): a black box with digital volt and ampere displays and heavy-gauge connectors
Photo: Oekotrainer (oekotrainer.de) — via oekotrainer.de

In their own words

"Der Oekotrainer ist ein Rollentrainer, der mit einem Stromgenerator als Rolle ausgestattet ist. Dazu wird ein Fahrrad an der Hinterachse in den Rollentrainer eingespannt." — The Oekotrainer is a roller trainer equipped with a power generator as the roller. For this, a bicycle is clamped into the roller trainer at the rear axle. 1,2

"Wenn die Fahrer zu langsam werden (Leistungsgrenze einstellbar), kann automatisch die Abspielgeschwindigkeit des Films reduziert werden." — If the riders become too slow (power threshold adjustable), the film's playback speed can automatically be reduced. 1

The 12.8 V, 100 Ah LiFePO4 battery pack (1,280 Wh) of the Oekotrainer PowerStationSet: a black case with red and black leads
Photo: Oekotrainer (oekotrainer.de) — via oekotrainer.de
The assembled Oekotrainer PowerStationSet: a pure-sine inverter strapped to the LiFePO4 battery pack, leads coiled on top
Photo: Oekotrainer (oekotrainer.de) — via oekotrainer.de
Audience seated at tables before an outdoor screen beneath a concrete structure at Kaiserslautern's first Fahrradkino, 27 May 2026
Kaiserslautern's first Fahrradkino, 27 May 2026 — an eight-bike Ökotrainer set run by KL.digital, the same class of hardware ADFC Rhein-Neckar uses Photo: Stadt Kaiserslautern (kaiserslautern.de) — via kaiserslautern.de
Bicycles clamped into green Ökotrainer roller stands at Kaiserslautern's first Fahrradkino, 27 May 2026
Kaiserslautern, 27 May 2026: the Ökotrainer roller stands of KL.digital's eight-bike set — the same hardware class as the ADFC Rhein-Neckar cinema Photo: Stadt Kaiserslautern (kaiserslautern.de) — via kaiserslautern.de

Sources

  1. [1]Oekotrainer — shop/descriptionoekotrainer.de
  2. [2]oekotrainer.de — FAQoekotrainer.de
  3. [3]Oekotrainer Gebrauchsanleitung 5.0, 27 Mar 2024oekotrainer.de
  4. [4]Stadt Kaiserslautern, Pressemitteilung 28.05.2026www.kaiserslautern.de
  5. [5]Stadt Eberbach — Fahrradkino (ADFC Rhein-Neckar)www.eberbach.de
  6. [6]deutsch-polnische-nachrichten.eu, 22/25.04.2025 (ADFC Schwetzingen)deutsch-polnische-nachrichten.eu

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