Bosch eBike has announced a new partnership with the brake manufacturer Tektro to offer a second brake option for the Bosch ABS system.
Bosch eBike worked with Magura to release the ABS system last year. Aimed at all electrically powered bikes from the best electric mountain bikes to urban haulers, the anti-lock braking system has the potential to greatly improve safety as Bosch Accident Research attributes up to 29 percent of all accidents involving e-bikes could be mitigated or completely prevented each year if all e-bikes were equipped with ABS.
"We are firmly convinced that e-bike ABS will become established on all e-bike types in the long term and will become standard on high-quality e-bikes," explains Claus Fleischer, CEO of Bosch eBike Systems. "Alongside Magura, we are now working with another renowned brake manufacturer, Tektro, who are particularly concerned about the safety of e-bikers. We are looking forward to working together."
Tektro will produce ABS-compatible brakes to cover all e-bike types – from the eCity and eTrekking bike to the eCargo bike and eMTB – optimized for specially developed ABS modes (ABS Touring, ABS Allroad, ABS Cargo, and ABS Trail).
Tektro's performance mountain bike brake brand TRP will also be compatible with the Bosch eBike ABS system and is expected to produce e-MTB ABS brakes for the trail and enduro markets.
Bringing a second brake manufacturer on board is a big step for Bosch as they try to integrate the ABS system into the e-MTB markets as brands now have the choice of speccing either Magura or Tektro/TRP.
Even with two brake manufacturers on board, the ABS technology is still very much in its infancy and while the benefits of anti-lock brakes on urban bikes are clear, ABS still has some work to convince MTB markets. We have a brief experience test riding the ABS system using Magura brakes and while we were a little skeptical at first, the system showed that there are tangible performance benefits for new and experienced riders alike.
Don't expect to see Tektro/TRP ABS systems soon though as the first e-bikes with the Bosch eBike ABS and Tektro brake components aren't expected until the third quarter of 2023.
