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Last August Bosch launched the Smart Systema family of electric bike drive components and a new app poised to be the German motor maker’s launchpad towards a more connected e-bike future.
Aside from some new hardware (namely a larger battery), the most notable “smart” feature launched with the new Smart System was its ability to do over-the-air updates, allowing riders to update their bike’s software through the freshly released Bosch eBike Flow app.
Bosch today pushed the first update out to its ridershipmarking the first time Bosch users will be able to utilize one of the most touted features of the new system.
The new smartphone grip mounts in place of the Kiox display.
Alongside the update, Bosch released the new SmartphoneGrip that, with some new additions to the eBike Flow app, turn your smartphone into a handlebar-mounted heads-up display that tracks your metrics and can help navigate.
Increased app functionality and a new mount
The SmartphoneGrip works by clicking into the same mount used by the standard-issue (for Smart System bikes) Kiox 300 display. It’s a small piece of hardware that uses a simple reverse-spring mechanism to hold your phone in a landscape orientation on the handlebars. It does wirelessly charge your phone (which is pretty sweet), but other than that it’s fairly straightforward.
The new grip is designed to be easily interchangeable with the Kiox 300 display so riders can easily swap between the two. Bosch stresses that the SmartphoneGrip is designed for on-road use and shouldn’t be taken off drops larger than six inches. The spring is strong, but any hits larger than that and you’re risking shaking your phone out of the mount.
One of the new screens users of the new SmartphoneGrip will see.
Updated to the eBike Flow app include a handful of new screens that, in conjunction with the new grip, turn your phone into a pretty sizable and functional display. We were given a walkthrough of the new functionality at this year’s Sea Otter Classic, and the most notable features seem to be a very nicely done navigation screen and a display screen that shows all your riding metrics. There are no cords required since the eBike Flow app is synced with the bike, and users will be able to navigate, track and take advantage of a host of other useful features.
Riders using the new screens will be able to start, stop and navigate right from their phones. They’ll also be able to sync the eBike FLow app with Strava and Komoot, so any rides logged in the app will be automatically updated.
Bosch also included a new locking function in the update that turns your smartphone into a key to digitally lock and unlock your bike’s drive system. It doesn’t mechanically lock the drive system, according to Bosch, it instead just disables any motor assist and can be configured to even sound an alarm should the bike be pedaled while locked.
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