I have the possibility of spending some time and even possibly moving to Gothenburg so of course, first and foremost, how is the riding around there? I know there are a few people from Sweden on here and even maybe a couple from Gothenburg area itself (fella who made the mtb.no map?).

So can anyone give me some kind of information on what the riding is like around Gothenburg and where the nearest real hills are, since it is fairly flat around those parts. What is it like in the winter for riding? Are we talking similar amounts of snow to the UK or are we talking fat bike territory? And then within Sweden where are the areas of the country that are best for riding or would people head across to Oslo area and Norway?

Also i’m sure there was a map similar to the mtb.no one for Sweden, is anyone able to find that for me?

Thanks in advance and hopefully you are able to come up with some positive responses! 🙂

Hi anus 🙂

I lived there for four years bit have now moved further up north , next to Åre .
The riding there is decent .It is by no means mountainous but ‘rugged’ . Delsjön is the main area to ride in , and is huge . There are hundreds of trails and it can be a little daunting at first to find them all , but strava is good , as is happy MTB website for finding rides . Leo at hillside cycling is a really sound guy who knows pretty much all the trials there too.

It can however get very very muddy there , to the point where I think it becomes unrideable, but others will differ . Snow isn’t much of a problem really, same as northern England or Scotland

Änngården in the city is much more ‘enduro’ (sorry) orientated , but the trails are short . That is where they have one of the Sweden enduro series races so it’s tech but The longest best runs are 2 mins Max .It doesn’t have the height really but it is sandy so you can ride there all year.

Vallåsen is two hours away, a fun Little bike park that makes the most of the lack of height, and Hafjäll in Norway is 4 hours away, viable for a long weekend.

The scene there is decent and there are some good riders there . If you want any contact jist email me.

Åre however is world class, move here instead ! But then you are probably going to chalmers?

This might be of interest http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-trails/photo-essay-this-is-gothenburg/

Hi howsyourdad!

Thanks a lot for all that… no i’m not going there for university, actually going job hunting (know anyone in the architecture business?!). I used to live in Trondheim, I went to uni there, so I know åre as we made the trip over a couple of times and it is great!

I like the sound of what you have written anyway, sounds like there is plenty of riding around! And thanks for the link to Hillside Cycling i’ve just found their website and to be honest until your response I was very sceptical of how much decent riding there would be but it looks like i’m wrong!

I’ll send you an email as well as it would be great to be in touch with a few local riders up there as I only know a couple of people in the city, none of which ride.

There’s a lot of trails around Falun. The company I work for is based there, every time I go out there I hire a bike a get out with my colleagues. I believe that Jenny Rissveds lives/is from there. Just checked google maps, it’s a lot further north.

I do actually know a few architects there yes . I work in Civil Engineering so yes email away !

You could actually give me some tips on Trondheim and around too . I’ve been thinking about trying the 80/20 enduro series as well. So much riding so little time.

Edit yes falun, gesunda and dalarna are good too

I would love to get involved in both the enduro series in Sweden and Norway next year! I’ve been doing a fair few down here in France (where I live at the moment) and love doing them!

Regarding Trondheim – you could have a flick through some of the posts on my blog for an idea of the riding. There is plenty riding near the city but the biggest hill is around 500m (you can ride to sea level almost), there is a load of riding down in Oppdal which is another 2hrs south if you fancy that. Otherwise likewise, I could probably put you in touch with some locals who could show you around!

Trondheim Riding

About half of the posts on that page are around Trondheim area

Hey anus, I only know GBG riding vaguely and howsyourdad seems to have main areas covered on that front. I’d say (as an outsider) it seems to have a pretty decent scene that makes the most of the rocky and rooty terrain available. Obviously there’s not much vertical to work with and if you’re comparing to Norway/Alps/N of the UK then it might not seem to exciting. Riding is possible year round, climate is like northern UK, not very much winter, reasonably damp (for Sweden – not for NO or Scotland). It’s all about what you’re after and expecting really – having said that I would no way swap a job in Trondheim for one in Gothenburg simply for access to mountains year round (or any Norwegian city for any Swedish one in fact).

As for architecture jobs – apart from Stockholm (which is by far and away the biggest pool of jobs) and Malmo/Lund, Gothenburg has probably the most architecture offices/jobs in the country and a thriving uni churning out graduates with a decent reputation. Generally the situation is positive at the moment with a lot of recruitment going on (albeit with some post-brexit induced and general euro/econo-anxieties). Certainly better than UK outside London in outlook. I know a lot of architects there but not great at keeping in touch with them so not sure if any are recruiting at the moment – and if I did, it’s not clear what you’re after to suggest some that might suit. Most obvious thing to note is that the range of jobs is (I guess) a little different to the UK (if you’re familiar with that) in as much as a greater percentage of people are employed in the public sector. As such the range of jobs on offer (and what the roles entail) are a little different from some other places – that may or may not suit you. That said the situation may be changing (for better or worse) as practice becomes increasingly globalised. My copy of arkitekten (the magazine of the Swedish architects’ association) is in the other room but I’m fairly sure you’d find some practices to approach in their jobs pages at the back – check their webbside for the latest.

As an aside, everyone I know in GBG seems to be going on and on about how expensive it is getting to live there. I know that if you’re used to Norway you might think it’s nothing new, but it does seem to be getting unsustainable, especially for young people starting out. Same is true (or worse) across large urban centres in the country, and there is a massive difference between these and their opposing effects in rural/northern areas.

My advice – ask for recommendations/guides on happymtb, stalk some tracks on strava, go there for a few days riding around and see if it’s viable (autumn is a good time for getting a sense of the west coast climate), check out the Swedish architects’ association for advice on jobs etc. And if you’re set on Sweden (but not Gothenburg) you might find less competition for jobs, cheaper living, and more hills (and snow) the further north and closer to Norway you stay.

[edit] Just curious, why you have Gothenburg (in particular) in mind as a city to base yourself in if good riding is a prerequisite?

Hey bajsyckel, thanks a lot for all the info!

Well i’ve been a bit all over the place in the last few years, working in London, studying in Grenoble and studying in Norway, working also in Slovenia and i’m originally from Northumberland and the time has finally come that I finished my masters degree and I can choose where I would like to try find work. I would ideally go back to Norway and find a job there as I really liked the way of life there, the landscape, the weather (yes I know i’m crazy), the architecture, the people I met, the riding etc. I was in Sweden at the beginning of the summer for a friend’s wedding and I met a Swedish girl there (yes it all boils down to a girl) and we’ve been seeing each other since, so i’m still keen on moving to Scandinavia just the location has been diverted a little and who knows what will happen in the future, maybe i’ll continue on to Norway, maybe i’ll like Sweden a lot. But for now i’m going to go spend some time in Gothenburg, this girl is there, I have some friends there, it seems like a cool city architecturally and socially, (after some research) it seems like there’s some good riding around and we’ll see how it goes…

Since I finished my masters in June i’ve been living in Chatel working/biking and then again in Slovenia working/biking and just enjoying the sort of freedom you have when you are not tied down by any job or family and I suppose I need a bit of focus on where to look for a ‘real’ job, that was already Norway (Scandinavia) and meeting someone gave me particular reason to go to Gothenburg. I would quite like to find myself an architecture job there and earn some real money for a while but i’m also quite open to just apply for bike shop/cafe type jobs too until I find something proper, I don’t expect an architecture job will just fall into my lap straight away!

anyway enough of the life story haha, I ended up writing way more than I thought I would!

So I am not swapping Trondheim for Gothenburg but Slovenia and Alpine riding for Gothenburg haha, but i’m always open to something new riding wise! I just like exploring! What you are saying about the jobs sounds great and thanks for the extra info, perhaps you wouldn’t mind if i sent you an email regarding that and I could ask a few more questions because it is also a bit of an unknown for me?

Where in Sweden are you based? Assuming you are from Sweden…

As an aside, everyone I know in GBG seems to be going on and on about how expensive it is getting to live there.

While it is getting more expensive. It still really really isn’t *actually* expensive. Compared to any other major city with an equivalent quality of life, it’s really rather reasonable. Unless you want a 300 square meter penthouse apartment within 2 minutes walking distance of the city centre. Then it’s not reasonable anymore.

It’s also incredibly easy to commute some quite significant distances. Which the locals seem to be extremely resistant to.
So I (along with a lot of others) live in a belt 30-80 km out from GBG. Pick a good location 80km out and it’s 40 or so minutes to the centre of GBG by train/bus. Pick a bad one and is still only an hour in the car. And you save 50+% on your rent/mortgage compared to the city centre and can claim travel expenses back…….

And the riding is really good. You can ride pretty much anywhere.
Most running clubs will have a few trails for a quick blast. Most cities and towns will have some facilities somewhere that you can just turn up and use. Not much altitude but they make the most of what there is.