Is This The World's Most Advanced eBike?

eBikes have been progressing rapidly since their conception, but recently it seems like there's been a plateau in eBike technology. Steve Jones met up with Claus Fleische to talk about his prototype Nicolai bike. This bike is jam-packed with all the latest tech such as ABS braking, internal hub gears with a belt drive and much more!

⏱ Timestamps ⏱
00:00 - Welcome To Another EMBN Video!
00:16 - Introducing Claus Fleischer & His Prototype Bike
00:36 - The Motor & The Batteries
05:45 - The Hub Gearing
11:13 - Let’s Talk About ABS

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What do you think of ABS braking? Let us know in the comments below!

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What do you think of ABS braking? Let us know in the comments below!

[davidloucks]

Gears in the motor and in the heavy hub. The Pinion MGU is a better solution. Put all the gearing and the weight in one place at the BB. Perhaps the Pinion system is not completely optimized, but that approach seems to be superior with less total weight, less unsprung weight, one gear case, and more centralized weight.

[recumbentrocks]

What a great interview. Claus knows what he is talking about. Very exciting times.

[johnchristopher]

Interesting. So the choice is gonna come down between the MGU of Pinion and the rear hub gear of Bosch and Rohloff. Let battle commence. Also interesting to see that both systems are employing the Gates Belt drive as their primary means of transmission.

I can see a load of people (me included) ditching their derailers for a more reliable easier to maintain rear internal gear hub. Just a shame Rohloff couldn’t bring down their prices but maybe that’s for the future.

[bruce.KAY-bike-drifter]

I have been riding my 2017 S-Works Levo Turbo 6 Fattie with its motor re-conditioned, with much stronger bearings and much better seals for more than a year. At the same time as re-conditioning the motor, the rear hub was replaced with a 14-speed Rohloff internal gear box. My bike performs and handles far better than it ever did with its original Sram 11-speed derailleur gear set. I cannot recall ever noticing a difference in braking or rear suspension handling, even though the Rohloff hub gears are heavier than the Sram. The wider range of gears enable me to climb hills I could not previously climb. My battery consumption in Eco mode seems to be about the same as it was with the original drive train. I regularly achieve 120-to-140 km on a single charge of my 540 Wh battery. With the Rohloff my maintenance routine is simply performing an oil change once a year. That’s all. My rear wheel is stronger now with its shorter spokes. I have never had to true the rear wheel.
Internal gearboxes are the future of eMTBs.

[holger_ger]

It has all the advantages of the Pinion MGU except the heavy weight at the rear. I think Bosch is looking for comparable technology and sees this solution as a bridge technology.

[Magoo]

I guess I don't not understand the reason for the rear hub. What is wrong with the Pinion MGU where they house 12 gears? Why the complexity when Pinion has it already figured difference was really not explained

[userzyx]

Like the modularity idea, especially reg. batteries ; i'm interested on more detail on this 3x3 internal gearing hub variant.
Btw ABS-braking has also been around for longer than that ; as a mechanical non-electric hydraulic-braking version.

[jeanmarc_in_Hudson]

Very interesting interview. Nice to hear from big boys of the e-bike industry!
Innovation coming from every corner. Exciting times! 👍

[Nomads_Rowing]

Claus, a man after Mr Jones’ heart😆. Great to see that he’s not sitting behind a desk but getting out there and using and developing these products to enable the mechanical tech and electronic tech blend and fine tune. Of course we mere mortals cannot afford such a piece of kit but know it will improve and filter down 😎

[patdennehy]

My next emtb will be a belt drive bike. Glad to see that Bosch, Pinion and other companies are moving this way. Hopefully they can be affordable.

[Rich.enDorseit]

Interesting what Bosch is prototyping. Steve, did you get the bike off the ground? How balanced did it feel in the air?
I cannot help but think this prototype is a way of researching how Bosch is going to integrate gears with the motor? We all know this has to be the future?

[tomsan]

i would luv to see a video comparing the MGU of Pinion and the rear hub gear of Bosch and Rohloff.

[thim]

Amazing bike, I've bashed my derailer hanger so many times, I bought a tool to straighten them. That rear hub gearbox is brilliant.

[MrVaderino]

Amazing developments going on guys - thx for sharing!
a bit of "elephant in the room question": could we all expect an integrated motor/gearbox from Bosch anytime soon?

[FIGHTTHECABLE]

Forward thinking would be creating industry standards on battery pack mounting, motors and communication standards between them. Allowing to ride a shimano motor with a bosch battery pack.

[tomcagle]

I'm a proponent of IGH... lightweight ones (the Kindernay 7 spd) but the 3x3 is way too heavy. Too much unsprung mass reduces efficiency of braking and sus travel...the tradeoff isn't worth it yet. It can't be any heavier than current Sram Transmission to really be a true breakthrough. Otherwise, go with the geared motor like Pinion and put the weight at the BB for lower CG. But it's still too heavy currently. Plus, each motor company has to make their Pinion version....so time. Conclusion: Wolftooth Or Oneup, buy Kindernay IGH tech and improve it.👊

[shaunmarston]

What do you think is the best gear set up that bike or the pinion 12 speed set up

[sarcritchlow]

Soo sick! I wonder how much this would weigh w just the 400w in tube battery?

[chivolavale]

Good to hear that development is running...but what about opening the Bosch system to third party Garmin computer for data sharing for example?