The biggest benefit IMO would be the ability to apply maximum braking in a panic stop situation without fear of going over the bars. I’ve hit two cars before on my regular bikes. If you think you can perfectly modulate your brake power in a panic stop situation
good luck with that one...
Actually, most of the braking (like 80+%) is done by the front wheel as the weight shifts forward. As far as only working on the front wheel that just requires you to train yourself only to use the front brake in a panic stop. Many people already do that on regular bikes since they run into the same issue of locking up the rear tire if they apply maximum brake pressure to both brakes in a panic stop situation. Sheldon Brown explains the technique here:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html
I work hard in practicing fast stops.
My CCS still has a 180mm rotor because the fork cannot accept a 203mm disc.
But I have replaced the front brake with the four-piston Magura MT 5 and I have replaced the rear 180mm disc with one of 160mm, for reduced braking torque at the rear.
Goal is to more nearly equalize the grip pressure needed to make a fast stop.
Thoughts so far: My bike is much easier to modulate to a very fast stop on dry pavement than it was when stock; the Magura MT5 (and the more adjustable MT7 get votes for excellent brake modulation.
The faster the
rate of braking, the more weight transfer to the front wheel. A very fast stop requires shifting body weight to the rear, and even then, the bike begins to do an endo. Again, I practice making fast stops and need to practice a whole lot more.
But with my present purposely mis-matched front and rear brakes it is much easier to stop fast in a panic situation without sliding the rear tire, although at near max braking deceleration the rear wheel should not get any braking at all!
An ABS for bikes will be a great help for all. But, with the normal high center of gravity of a rider on a bike, the untrained rider will still be at risk of an endo unless the ABS dumbs down the fast braking on dry pavement, and controls not just wheel skid on poor, wet or sandy conditions but also deceleration, reducing front wheel braking efficiency on grippy dry pavement, in favor of not endo'ing a hapless cyclist.
This could be done with a tilt sensor, perhaps strain gauges measuring front/rear dynamic weight distribution changes and providing automatic brake modulation cues in consequence to to the ABS circuit. And if a rider does not know or does not act to shift her or his weight back, the bike would contrive to simply not brake fast enough to effect an endo.
I am no expert rider or braker. But I want to be better at braking and my unequal brakes and a little practice have made great gains. I know by now to slide back and duck down when stopping fast, for the endo risk is present on dry pavement. There is no discernable risk of skidding a front tire (of my bike, at least) in a fast stop on dry pavement, because of the weight transfer: the tire adhesion in the front increases proportional to rate of braking, opposite to what happens at the rear. So far in my timid trials, with me sitting all the way rearward on the CCS luggage rack, as low as can be, I cannot break the grip of the Michelin Protek Urban 38C tire up front. But man, it does stop pretty fast under that crazy condition! The torque from the brake disk mounted far off to the left side of the bike wheel dramatically visibly
twists the front wheel structure; the disk torque springs the front wheel away off to one side, out from under the center of the fork crown!
But yes! ABS for bikes will be a reality someday if ebikes continue to grow in popularity. In my opinion, bike ABS should address the endo issue, foremost.
