Could This Innovative Urban Commuter Be the Two-Wheeled Game Changer Cars Need?

While many cars nowadays leverage forward-thinking ADAS tech like blindspot detection, automatic emergency braking and cross-traffic monitoring to maximize pedestrian and cyclist safety, they’re still far from perfect solutions.

Namely, because it’s a unilateral prevention that only communicates with the driver. In other words, if you’re the other party on the move, it’s still up to you to keep your head on a swivel.

Welcome to Moonshots: A series exploring the big ideas that could reshape the future of products. Discover more here.

With this in mind, Canyon has created a new e-bike concept called the Roadlite:ON V2X. Thanks to the integration of some forward-thinking tech, it heralds a new dimension in two-wheeled safety.

Canyon

A universal language

I’m talking specifically about V2X, or Vehicle-to-Everything technology. Canyon is claiming that the Roadlite:ON V2X is the first bike to implement the standard in a production-ready package. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it’s essentially a form of wireless connectivity that allows vehicles, pedestrians and infrastructure to communicate in real time.

Canyon

Needless to say, within the vulnerable two-wheeled world, the standard offers huge advantages. Thanks to the integration of a V2X nano board in the downtube and an antenna in the head tube, Canyon says the concept allows for detection without direct visual contact.

As such, along with sending in-car notifications to prompt driver attention, the connectivity simultaneously allows for on-bike rider alerts. Between haptic vibration at the handlebar grips and information displayed on devices like bike computers, it promises much more focused seat time.

Canyon

Urban advantages

However, that’s not the only way in which the Roadlite:ON V2X has the potential to be a difference-maker, both for commuters and for cars.

In keeping with the bike’s focus on safety, it touts a Bosch battery that’s designed to provide reserve power to the V2X system. As such, even if it doesn’t have juice for the motor, it will continue to ping others on the road to make them aware of your proximity.

Canyon

Towards that end, Canyon also equipped the Roadlite:ON V2X with a dynamic tail light and radar. Much like some of the standalone systems you’ll find today, it varies its flashing frequency relative to proximity to keep drivers abreast of a rider’s braking and other intended behaviors.

Perhaps the coolest plus of V2X, though, is the compatibility that the standard has with smart infrastructure. 

For instance, in Germany and the Netherlands, some cities are now trialing bike-specific ‘green waves.’ It’s smart stuff, as it involves the timing and coordination of traffic lights to reduce road congestion and get everyone home faster and more safely.

Canyon

More to come

The Roadlite:ON V2X is just a concept, though it’s hardly removed from reality. If you’d like to catch it in person, it’ll be on display at Eurobike this week.

Furthermore, beyond Canyon’s assertions that it’s a “production-ready” design, V2X is already rolling out in some Volkswagens, Fords and various other vehicles.

To that end, as much as the tech has the potential to make roads safer, its ability to do so ultimately depends on car and bicycle manufacturers collectively embracing it. 

After all, this kind of communication is great in theory, but it only delivers if it actually results in visibility of everyone, for everyone.

Canyon

Canyon Roadlite:ON V2X

• Learn More

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add Gear Patrol as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Related Topics