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TECH NEWS
Bosch eShift 1Bosch demonstrates eShift automatic transmission for eBikes + video
Cyclist in North America got the chance to see Bosch’s eShift automatic transmission gear for eBikes at the recent Sea Otter Expo in California. It’s technology that Bosch first demonstrated in autumn last year but we’ve not had the chance to show it to you before. It’ll be available on bikes later in the year.
eShift is an electronic system for three different gear shifting systems: Shimano, SRAM and Nuvinci. The idea is that the system that automatically shifts into the right gear at all times.
“What the solutions have in common is that the components are not only supplied with electricity and operated electronically but that a genuine data interchange takes place via a CAN bus,” say Bosch. “This data interchange enables perfectly coordinated and optimised gear shifting and shows the gear or cadence that is currently in use on the Intuvia display. All three solutions are intuitive to use and enhance the cyclist’s comfort and safety.”
If you use a NuVinci H|Sync system, you can use the Bosch Intuvia on-board computer to set the cadence (pedal revolutions per minute) at which you'd like the shifting system to operate, from 30 to 80. The gear ratio will be adjusted automatically to your preferred cadence.
Alternatively, the system also allows manual gear selection, in which a defined gradation can be adjusted.
With the SRAM Dual Drive 3 Pulse, the shifting operations are automatically controlled across three levels based on your current speed. The DD3 hub is combined with a cassette with up to 10 sprockets and switches automatically in three stages. The gear you’re using is shown on the Bosch on-board computer.
With Shimano, the Alfine Di2 hub gear system and the gearbox hub Nexus 8 are operated with a shift paddle independently of speed and cadence. A servo motor near the hub makes the gear selection you choose. The on-board computer also recommends the most efficient gear in an additional indicator on the Intuvia display.
For more info go to www.bosch-ebike.de/en/produkte_neu/eshift/eshift_text.php
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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21 comments
Did ANY of the above actually read the article? It appears to be about automatically shifting to achieve the desired cadence range, as happens to be demonstrated by using an eBike. It can only be a matter of time before intelligent auto-cadence shifting becomes the next "must have" for any "serious" cyclist, this could - and in my opinion will - revolutionise the sport
If it gets people out of cars and onto bikes, reducing what is an already hugely over congested country, then it's a great achievement.
One
Less
Car
"I asked my customer on Saturday about this and his comment was that many of his UK colleagues seem obsessed with "sports bikes" whilst many of his colleagues at home and friends / family simply see bikes as practical transport"
Like motorcycles, most bikes in this country are playthings, not proper transport. That underlines the whole discussion about provision / safety on the road. After all, why should tax payers shell out for people to play with their toys...
When we all start taking it seriously, and actually using them as practical transport, then we'll gain momentum. At the moment we're just another bunch of loonies, dressed in Lycra, going too fast and breaking rules, just like leather clad bikers...
Catch22, would you ride a bike on many of the UKs roads as transport? You do have to have a screw loose to use many of the roads and paths, disjointed, badly designed, badly maintained. To get the momentum you need "normal" people to ride bikes, but normal people, wrongly IMO*, believe the risks are great, that they will get hit by a car and killed.
*There is a risk, but it is't that great, certainly no worse than many other things people do without thinking.
i am in two minds on this, any bike good, a fast electric bike being ridden recklessly on pavement bad. You just know that they are going to get chipped regardless of spec sheet numbers.
If you want to use a moped i believe you have to complete CBT, insurance etc, yet these you don't. If you have mobility issues then good, it keeps you active, out of cars etc. From a MTB point of view, there are enough issues without blurring what is a motorbike and what is a pedal bike.
On balance, cars bad, ebikes good. Just needs decisions about where they are legally as regards training and modding. And who is going to enforce the rules....
Brian Robinson one of our past Tour de France stage winners rides an e-bike so he can still get out and enjoy the sport he loves. Say no more.
Anything that increases cycling with or without a motor is a great thing. My mum at 72 this summer only sits on her exercise bike as she isn't fast enough to feel safe in traffic and her arthritis doesn't help. I am thinking of clubbing together with my brother to get her an e-bike for her birthday this summer so I love the innovation that allows more people to ride. Long live innovation.
Anything that increases cycling with or without a motor is a great thing. My mum at 72 this summer only sits on her exercise bike as she isn't fast enough to feel safe in traffic and her arthritis doesn't help. I am thinking of clubbing together with my brother to get her an e-bike for her birthday this summer so I love the innovation that allows more people to ride. Long live innovation.
I too love pushing myself hard on a road bike but I can't understand why there are guys (and/or gals) out there that think that it's like fighting the Taliban. You're as pathetic as the parents watching their kids playing weekend sports, whilst shouting abuse at the referee and getting into fisty cuffs with parents from the opposing team. CHILLAX !!! Even the pros (whose livelihoods depend on it) don't act like that. This isn't about who's got the biggest... ego!... It's about another form of urban transport. Surely even you scrawny, alopecic, lycra clad whippets are gonna be happy to have less cars on the road. I know I am. Whippet versus e-bike... a lot better than whippet versus car.
cadence 30 to 80... says it all really
Having recently spent some time test riding quality electric bikes, I can actually see the appeal.
Before test riding these bikes, I was prepared to poo-poo the idea entirely, as I am a regular cyclist who goes mountain biking most mornings before doing my 30km daily commute to work and back on my road bike.
For an older rider, an unfit rider, an injured rider, an overweight rider looking to do some exercise, for a motorist who has been banned from driving, or someone wanting independent transport, it makes real sense.
I had a European customer into our store on Saturday who came in on a high end road bike wearing full lycra. He was happy to spend £1400 on an electric hybrid bike just to get to work in the City in his suit, without getting sweaty.
From conversations with customers from Europe it seems uptake and ownership of electric bikes is growing, in the UK we still seem to resist.
I asked my customer on Saturday about this and his comment was that many of his UK colleagues seem obsessed with "sports bikes" whilst many of his colleagues at home and friends / family simply see bikes as practical transport and will choose a suitable bike for everyday use wearing regular clothing.
Ebikes are great - especially in awful-infrastructured uk, as they give you an extra couple of mph just where you need it in town traffic and get a wider range of physiques up hills without making the cycling the issue at hand.
I wish everyone were on ebikes rather than cars or buses because they are nicer for the other people on the street too.
motorcycle not bicycle
With you Barry, the great thing about cycling is that anyone can do it and if some need help then fine they will still be doing exercise.
For more serious cyclists this will not appeal obviously.
The death of cycling. This will appeal to fat puffers who can't be bothered to actually exert themselves. You may as well just buy a moped.
and old cyclists who don't quite have it on the hills any more. and people who live in hilly places and just want to bike to work without arriving a sweaty mess. and disabled riders with low leg strength. and a whole big pile of other use cases.
you're no doubt a fit male cyclist, whooppee shit for you. not everyone's like you, or wants to be, so grow up.
For your own wellbeing I suggest you do not repeat this comment to my lady, who uses exclusively electric bikes to help her worn-out knees.
...
That's absolutely correct - and for my 10 year old son with a heart condition who struggles a bit on the hills. I can't wait for a good, light weight electric assist to become available to give him a wee help when he needs it.
Electric bikes allow some people to cycle who currently can't, and extend the cycling usage of others. They get cars off the road, reduce pollution, and provide exercise. What exactly is wrong with any of that? Nothing stopping you, or me, getting on our nice simple fixed wheel bikes and ignoring all the fancy stuff.