The Consumer Electronics Show’s timing is perfect: just when you’ve got over your New Year’s Eve hangover, the tech industry wallops you in the face with its most innovative tech for the coming year. There’s always some pretty cool stuff peppered with some questionable products that may or may not work.
Segway has utterly ruled Vegas this year with e-bikes that include enough tech to have their own CES: clever radars, automatic dropper seatposts, and practical, attractive bikes. Meanwhile, some interesting things are happening in the world of solid-state batteries, and Bosch has very kindly added remote security to its existing systems.
Here are our Vegas favourites this year:
Segway sheds more light on Myon
We got a glimpse of Segway’s new Myon e-bike ($1,999.99) late last year, but the Ninebot-owned company revealed the bike in full at CES — and it’s packed with tech. The Myon’s frame is a step-through design, but you can add an optional removable top tube for an extra $99.99.
The Myon’s proprietary electronic shifting links to a Shimano CUES drivetrain, with its TurboTuned tech optimizing motor and battery performance so it ramps up gently when you start pedalling and automatically delivers more power when you begin an ascent.
If the bike is stolen, Segway has your back. It includes Apple FindMy baked in, with remote locking and a Lost Mode so you can locate the bike on a map.
…and Muxi with optional extras
The Muxi ($1,699.99), meanwhile, is Segway’s take on the short-tail compact cargo e-bike. While it lacks some of the Myon’s high-tech goodies, and it only packs a single-speed drivetrain, it does include features that make it more suited to heavy loads and passengers easier, such as hill start assist, hill descent control, and traction control. Its braking is regenerative, so you don’t have to worry about red-hot brake pads when you’ve just completed a steep descent.
Optional extras for both the Myon and Muxi include Segway’s Xiro dropper seatpost ($229.99), which automatically lowers when you come to a stop and makes it easier to plant your feet on the ground, and the RearView Radar ($99.99)
There’s no word on whether these bikes will make it to UK shores — the Myon and Muxi’s 500W and 750W motors will need to be reined in to comply with the UK’s 250W regulations. But compared to Segway’s previous, more aggressive US-only models, they are more elegant e-bikes for a more civilized age, and they’d be a welcome sight on UK streets.
…and the Xaber 300
Finally, Segway has also unveiled the Xaber 300 ($5,299.99), a powered-up electric dirt bike with three power modes plus a virtual electronic clutch and, enticingly, the ability to set a maximum wheelie angle so you don’t land on your coccyx when you pull a manual.
But it’s not all fun! Segway is very keen to point out that the Xaber 300 is for off-road riding by riders aged 18-plus only, and there’s a geofencing setting in the app so it can’t be ridden on roads.
Bosch kiboshes bike thieves (but not everyone’s impressed)
Segway isn’t the only company that’s making strides in bike security. Bosch eBike Systems, which makes a lot of motors for e-bikes, has introduced a “Mark as Stolen” button in its eBike Flow app.
If your Bosch-powered bike is nicked, you can hit the button and it will be flagged as stolen. If the thief or a buyer tries to link the bike to the app the connection will be blocked and warnings displayed, and if it’s taken into a bike shop the Bosch DiagnosticTool will also flag it up.
What’s neat here is that it’s not just the motor that’s marked as nabbed — it also applies to the battery, which will be flagged if it’s connected to another Bosch-equipped eBike system, and the display.
The resale value of e-bikes has made them hugely attractive to thieves, but Bosch’s update essentially bricks them if they’re taken without permission. The update applies to Bosch e-bikes running Smart System, which was introduced in 2022… although, not everyone’s impressed.
Tech website iFixit awarded Bosch a ‘worst in show’ award for its Flow App for ‘enshittification’, the argument being that by tying you into an agreement where all parts are paired into Bosch’s security system, you could potentially end up in legal trouble by sourcing non-official replacement parts to fix your bike; or Bosch could just change the agreement down the line. We recommend watching this video from 2.25 onwards for a deeper explanation.
Solid-state batteries make a statement
Big, heavy, and potentially unsafe e-bike batteries could be a thing of the past thanks to new solid-state tech. Battery company ProLogium announced its partnership with Darfon Energy Tech, an OEM e-bike company (that also makes keyboards).
The ProLogium batteries use “4th-generation superfluidized all-inorganic solid-state battery technology,” which essentially translates to smaller batteries that charge faster and won’t suffer from thermal runaway.
…and Verge Motorcycles makes them work
Finnish firm Verge Motorcycles has put its money where its mouth is by integrating a solid-state battery with its TS Pro and TS Ultra bikes. Making use of the company’s Donut motor, a rear wheel without a hub or spokes, the battery is said to pack a whopping 33.3 kWh that will keep the bike going for up to 370 miles.
This is obviously more of an electric motorcycle than an e-bike – and at £33,000 it is a very expensive one. But it is a demonstration that the tech can work in the real world, and could even be making its way to an e-bike near you — once the world has worked out how to produce solid-state batteries at scale.
Hello Space’s Mag Drive recharges while you ride. Wait, what?
Hello Space’s Mag Drive is said to negate “range anxiety” by recharging your battery while you’re riding. The system consists of two batteries, one of which powers the bike motor, while the other recharges via a zero magnetic resistance system as you pedal. Once the first battery is empty, the system switches motor power to the second battery and starts charging the first from your pedalling, so in theory you always have a full battery ready to go.
Hold on. Even if it is a system with “zero magnetic resistance,” (which sounds a little perpetual motion-y in and of itself), it’s still going to be sucking power from your legs. Which begs the question, why not just cut out all the charging tech and just let your legs drive it directly? Maybe you could call it something like “bicycle.”
Hello Space has already partnered with India’s Xero e-bikes, so presumably there’s some sense behind the idea – but it’s best approached with healthy scepticism.
As always, we’ll keep you updated about these products as and when they become available.
