MONDRAKER CRAFTY R W/BOSCH E-BIKE ABS

£TBC 29in bosch-ebike.com | Anti-lock braking is more than just techie grandstanding: it works fantastically well

- Alan Muldoon

NEED TO KNOW

Bosch and Magura join forces to offer unrivalled braking control with their latest ABS system for e-bikes

Speed sensors on both rotors detect skidding or rear wheel lift, but only the front braking is modulated by the ABS system

The second-generation design is 55% lighter and 77% smaller than the original

Four modes customise the braking characteristics for cargo, touring, allroad and trail bikes

Only available as original equipment on Bosch e-bikes

Short for Anti-lock Braking System, ABS is not an acronym, it’s an initialisation, because you don’t pronounce it as a word like NASA. That doesn’t make it any less hi-tech or exciting though. But what exactly is ABS?

In short, it’s a feedback loop within the brake system that stops the wheels locking up and losing traction when braking hard. Most modern cars have it fitted as standard as it’s been shown to dramatically reduce stopping distances and increase safety.

Pressure sensors on the brake lines and speed sensors on the brake rotors/ wheels allow the system to know when the wheels are locked and how much hydraulic pressure is being applied.

Then, with some clever mathematics and decouplers, an algorithm calculates how much the line pressure needs to be reduced to allow the rotor and ultimately the wheel to rotate slower while still generating maximum stopping force where the rubber meets the ground. This all happens repeatedly and in the blink of an eye when you slam on the brakes.