The world's longest e-bike jump

BMX athlete and welder Jed Mildon sets a new world record – powered by Bosch Professional.

Going the distance

Bikes can't fly, but Jed Mildon makes them anyway. After months of anticipation, the five-time Guinness World Record holder from New Zealand just landed the world's longest e-bike jump. A professional BMX athlete and a former welder, Mildon not only pulled off the unprecedented distance of 24.37m (80 feet) on a Bosch-powered eBike – he built the 13m-long ramp with power and measuring tools from Bosch Professional. And he's not going to stop there: Mildon plans to return later this year and attempt an official Guinness World Record for 30m (100 feet).

Making history is tough work. But it's easier with Bosch Professional.

Nine months in the making and a whole lot of sleepless nights! Today, I pulled off the biggest jump that I ever have. I feel like a child at Christmas. Dreams come true daily if you make 'em.

Jed Mildon, Professional BMX Athlete and Welder

Jed Mildon's crash helmet perched on the handles of his Bosch eBike.

The big day

ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND – It's the morning of the jump and Jed Mildon hasn't slept well in some time. After nine months of planning, he's about to attempt the biggest jump of his life. Out on the green, rolling hills of New Zealand, a 13m-long ramp waits for him to make history. A crowd and camera crew have been buzzing on-site since 5am. Mildon gets onto his Bosch eBike and squints through his visor at the run-in he built. The tension is electrifying. After a few minutes, the BMX star gets off his bike. "I can't see the ramp," says Mildon. The sun was too bright.

The ramp was built at Dirt World, a private farm just south of Rotorua, New Zealand.

The perfect jump site

The five-time Guinness World Record holder has been dreaming of this day for years and was delighted to partner up with Bosch eBike Systems and Bosch Professional on the jump. On a private farm south of Rotorua, Mildon found the perfect jump site: a large hill to reach 90 kmph on the run-in, a flat valley for a 13m-long, 3.5m-high take-off ramp, and an adjacent hill for safe landings. "It's all about finding the right spot for the bike to get fast enough," says Mildon, who builds his own ramps. "Then putting in a take-off and a right-sized landing so I feel safe enough to let loose and fly." Mildon teamed up with trail designer Jeff Carter from South Star Trails to undertake the earthworks, creating a 300m-long by 4m-wide run-in and to shape a massive landing area.

People assume I'm not afraid of crashing, but hell yeah, I'm scared all the time.

Jed Mildon, Professional BMX Athlete and Welder

Working as a welder was what made me into a great rider. I loved staring at the blue flame. It let me blank off and create new tricks in my head. For me, welding is a form of meditation.

Jed Mildon, Professional BMX Athlete and Welder

A former welder, Jed Mildon has built many of his own ramps, including this one for the world record.

Welding his way up

Mildon may be the first BMX rider in the world to land triple and quadruple backflips, but he's done much more than that. "I grew up welding," he says. Mildon used to sit staring into blue flames, coming up with crazy new bike stunts. "It was meditative," Mildon says. Before his career took off, Mildon worked as a welder for nine months in the year, using the money he earned to compete during the other three months. "Those years working as a welder were really what made me such a great rider," he says. "You have to perfectly visualise the trick beforehand if you hope to land it."

Jed Mildon used Bosch Professional tools and measuring devices to build the perfect ramp.

Prepping for the big day

Mildon, who now travels the world as a professional BMX rider, draws on his metal fabrication skills to build his own take-off ramps. "I based my career on doing things nobody else wanted to do," he says of his early years. "I grew up welding. And I built a lot of ramps." For the last nine months, Mildon used a range of Bosch Professional tools to prepare for the big day: The GLM 150 C Professional laser measure was invaluable in selecting the perfect jump site and power tools from our Professional 18V System were essential to build the perfect ramp in a location without any mains power supply.

It was great to have the team from Bosch behind the idea, we got to work and were able to put a great plan in place to make this jump happen.

Jed Mildon, Professional BMX Athlete and Welder

Jed Mildon using the BITURBO GKS 18V-68 GC Professional circular saw to cut wooden planks to size.

Power for pros

Long before the jump site had been identified, Mildon was already ahead of the game. He would use the GDX 18V-200 C Professional impact driver/wrench and Impact Tough screwdriver bits to modify the ramps at his training compound and practise jumps on his Bosch-powered Trek Rail 9 eBike. Once the jump site had been secured, Mildon needed high-perfomance power tools with long battery runtimes. With high-performance BITURBO tools such as the GKS 18V-68 GC Professional cordless circular saw, Mildon took on the ramp-building with an equivalent corded power of up to 1,800W – all with just one ProCORE18V battery.

From build to jump, the GLM 150 C Professional laser measure was invaluable for accurate and easy measurements.

Measuring up

Power is nothing without precision. From build to jump, Mildon and team relied on Bosch Professional measuring devices. The GLM 150 C Professional laser measure was key in identifying the perfect jump site. To build the set-up for the record attempt, Mildon used the same laser measure and the GWM 32 Professional measuring wheel to ensure that the run-in, ramp-up and landing were situated accurately for the stunt. And finally, on the big day, the laser measure came into action to measure the ground-breaking jump distances, confirmed by registered surveyor Rupert Hasting.

I’ve been working on this idea for several years now so I’m really happy. Who knew an e-bike could fly so well, aye?

Jed Mildon, Professional BMX Athlete and Welder

Jed Mildon speeding down the 300m-long run-in on his Bosch-powered Trek Rail 9 eBike.

Bosch eBike

Mildon is used to nimble BMX bikes that can be flipped and spun with relative ease. But for this jump, he chose a Trek Rail 9 eBike with a powerful Bosch Performance Line CX motor, set up "mullet style" with a 29-inch wheel in the front and a 27.5-inch wheel in the rear. Mildon worked with mountain-bike expert Jono Church from The Suspension Lab to perfect the set-up for the record attempt, changing out and tuning the forks and the rear shock to maximise speed and to handle the repeated impact of landing fast-rolling tyres. Speed tests were conducted with the Bosch Kiox display, a compact on-board computer for e-bikes.

Jed Mildon reached the longest jump distance ever on an e-bike at 24.37m (80 feet).

The 100-ft dream

When visibility improved enough for Mildon to see the ramp, he started by steadily increasing the speed on each jump. Over three total attempts, he moved up from 20.7m to 22.6m, and finally beat his personal best at an exhilarating 24.37m (80 feet). The team is following up with formal ratification of an official world record, understanding it as the longest jump distance ever recorded on an e-bike. The BMX star is now back on tour, but plans to return to the jump site to outdo his record this year. "It's always been a dream to jump a 100 feet," says Mildon, with a twinkle in his eye. "Every part of the process is nerve-wracking. But overcoming those fears... that's the exhilarating part. That's why we do it."

Every part of the process is nerve-wracking. But overcoming those fears... that's the exhilarating part. That's why we do it.

Jed Mildon, Professional BMX Athlete and Welder

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