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

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.