Bicycle Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) for Cycling Industry

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Nowadays more and more efforts are made to make the road traffic safer. Not just for the cars and trucks, but also for the motorbikes. The European Commission passed a legislation in 2012 that made the fitment of ABS for all new motorcycles above 125cc to be mandatory from 1 January 2016. This clearly demonstrates the trend that two wheeled vehicles must follow. The importance of reliable and effective breaking is also important for bicycles and electronic bikes (e-bikes) whose popularity is constantly growing filling the gap between motorcycles and pedal bikes. We are VIDRASOFT a spin-off company of University of Pannonia established in 2002, specialized in automotive electronics, automotive mechatronics and automotive informatics. To reflect this trend in 2 wheeled transport safety we have developed a game changing hydraulic type anti-lock braking system (ABS) for bicycle applications and have protected it with a patent. The functionality of the prototype system has been verified on several real road surface conditions (such as dry and wet asphalt, gravel and dirt roads) in a relevant environment (TRL6). This clearly demonstrates that we are ready for commercialization. Regarding the market size, over 191 Million pedal bikes produced a year world-wide and it is estimated that by 2018 the global e-bike sales will be close to 50 Million. This clearly demonstrates that the market is huge. Based on our pre-feasibility market findings we are initially targeting race and premium segment of pedal bikes as well as e-bikes. According to our initial business projection we estimate at least 3.9 M€ profit in 5 year time after market entry.