ROMA – The arrival of the first e-bike with the stabilizer that will make the falls from the two wheels only a distant memory is missing. A system that works a bit like the Esp, the electronic stability control that revolutionized car safety, but adapted to pedal assisted bicycles thanks to the collaboration between the German brand Gazelle and the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. .
The rapid spread of e-bikes, which are much heavier and faster than traditional bicycles, has led to an increase in accidents and falls by cyclists, especially in the over 55 segment, even in countries that have evolved from the point of view of mobility safety. on two wheels like those of Northern Europe. Starting from Germany which is experiencing a real boom in e-bikes but which in 2020 also recorded an increase in victims of 20% compared to the previous year. Even models of bicycles considered very safe, such as the “Dutch” one which allows riding in an upright position, in the electrified version proved to be more dangerous than the traditional versions. For this reason Gazelle, one of the leading brands on the German market, in partnership with Delft researchers, has been working on a fall protection system since 2016. In 2019 the university presented the first prototype of a bike equipped with the intelligent handlebar assistance system which, thanks to counter-steering, is able to stabilize the two-wheeler in the event of loss of balance or distraction, starting from a speed of more than 4 km. so.
It is the first system in the world able to keep the bicycle in a vertical position thanks to a series of sensors arranged along the frame, which control the 25 physical parameters responsible for falls and when they notice the loss of stability of the bike, they transmit the information. to a chip that processes the information, identifies the type of fall that is occurring and activates the response of an engine, placed in a cylinder under the handlebar, capable of calibrating a correct counter-steering that allows the bicycle to get back on line. The system already worked well two years ago, when it was presented at the Dutch polytechnic but showed two major limitations.
The cylinder with the stabilizer placed under the handlebar was aesthetically bulky and was very expensive for the large volume market but above all it needed to gain experience on the road to gather more information on the different types of falls. Information that is now transformed into algorithms that will allow the processor to give more and more precise commands to the stability motor, to calibrate the best possible anti-fall response. In the meantime, the miniaturization of the cylinder is underway which, according to the latest leaked rumors, should be completely integrated into the upper part of the fork, in a new prototype, probably the final one, which should see the light enters the end of the year.
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