The Tern Orox features a long-tail design with plenty of carrying capacity behind the rider. They refer to their other cargo e-bikes as “compact cargo” as they aren’t as long as other long-tail designs; the Orox is a bit longer than their popular HSD model.
In addition to its long-tail design and fat tires, the Orox is built with Bosch’s Performance Line CX motor and electronics, and either a 12- or 14-speed drivetrain and powerful disc brakes. Let’s start looking at the details.
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Like almost all of their models, Tern produces two different versions of the Orox. There’s the S12, which goes for less than $7000, and the R14, which comes in a bit less than $9000. Yes, they are pricey, but the Orox is meant to excel where other all-terrain e-bikes falter.
Most of the build for the Tern Orox S12 and R14 is the same, but they differ with regard to which battery comes standard and which drivetrain they are equipped with. Both versions use Bosch’s Performance Line CX motor, which limits assist speeds to a maximum of 20 mph, making this a Class 1 e-bike. That’s a selling point that we will dig into later.
One interesting feature of the Tern Orox frame is its ability to tow a trailer or another bike, making it versatile beyond the carrying capacity of the frame itself.
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Tern Orox Review: Specs & Features
Frame and fork
The Orox frame is made from heat-treated 6061 aluminum and features a long-tail design to allow the rider to carry loads or even a passenger. The fork is made from chromoly steel.
Tern Produces the Orox in two different sizes, medium and large. They suggest that the medium will accommodate riders from 5 feet 1 up to 6 feet 1, while the large should fit riders from 5 feet 5 up to 6 feet 5. In our experience, claiming that a design will work for a 12-inch range of height is rather optimistic. In our experience, most frames work for a 5- to 6-in. range of height, which means that the riders at the edges of those ranges may struggle to find comfort.
Both the frame and the fork include a variety of mounting points for everything from child seats to saddle bags and more.
The Atlas X rear rack features an unusual design that includes six attachment points. This gives the buyer two benefits: First, the Atlas X comes with a 220-lb. weight rating, making it one of the strongest rear racks we’ve seen. Second, to make a rear rack with six mounting points work, both the frame and rack must have perfect alignment, otherwise the six bolts won’t pass through the rack and into the frame threads, and good alignment always suggests that the manufacturing standards were high.
Not only is the Atlas X rear rack rated to 220 lbs., the Orox’s total weight capacity is a whopping 462 lbs. on the road and 396 lbs. in off-road use.
The back of the Orox frame features Tern’s TowBar. Tern says the TowBar will allow someone to pull most trailer designs. Add Tern’s TailHitch XL and its possible to tow a second bike, effectively turning a kid’s existing bike into a trail-a-bike.
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Motor and battery
Tern chose the Bosch Performance Line CX mid-drive motor. This is one of Bosch’s most-respected motors, and is often chosen for high-performance eMTBs. It produces 250W and a maximum of 85Nm of torque.
Thanks to its torque sensor, this motor is very responsive to rider input and can handle dramatic changes in terrain. It comes with some other notable features such as a walk assist and hill hold, as well as security features that allow the owner to lock and unlock the motor using Bosch’s Smart System smartphone app.
The Tern Orox S12 comes with a 725Wh battery, which can be upgraded to an 800Wh battery. The Tern Orox R14 comes standard with the 800Wh battery. Both models come ready for riding with dual batteries. The first battery is mounted inside the frame bag in the front triangle of the frame. The second battery mount sits behind the seat tube; thanks to the long-tail design, there’s plenty of room for a full-size battery there.
The Bosch Performance Line CX system comes with the Kiox 300 display and is certified to UL 2849, which governs the entire system, not just the battery.
Tern estimates that riders will see between 52 and 91 mi. per charge with the 725Wh battery. With the 800Wh battery, riders can expect somewhere between 58 and 100 mi. Add a second battery and riders may see as much as 200 mi. per charge.
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Componentry
With the Orox, Tern has gone to some trouble to make sure that this e-bike is the heavyweight champion they mean it to be. They’ve conducted extensive testing and have even confirmed that the Ergon saddle and 800mm-wide alloy handlebar will perform for riders weighing up to 286 lbs.
We were glad to see that different size stems were spec’d for the medium and large frames. The medium is paired with a 45mm stem while the large receives a 65mm stem to increase the reach for larger riders.
The Tern Orox comes well-outfitted for riding, right out of the box. Both the S12 and R14 models come with the same complement of accessories. They begin with a 700 lumens front light, a rear light that doubles as a brake light; the aforementioned Atlas X rack; a bash guard for the Bosch motor; a dual-leg, motorcycle-style kickstand; a brass bell; heavy-duty aluminum fenders; Tough Shield film on the top and down tubes for paint protection, plus a few tools.
Drivetrain, brakes and wheels
One of the biggest differences between the Tern Orox S12 and R14 models comes in the drivetrain. They take two very different approaches to gearing.
With the Tern Orox S12 the buyer gets a 12-speed drivetrain featuring a mix of Shimano Deore and Deore XT parts. The 10-51t cassette gives riders a whopping 510 percent gear range; this is a cassette we normally see on mountain bikes and eMTBs.
The Tern Orox R14 goes even higher-end with the selection of a Rohloff 14-speed internally geared hub. It’s like those old internal 3-speeds, but with an extra 11 gears. While it’s hard to improve upon the 510 percent range of the Shimano drivetrain, the Rohloff 14-speed hub gives riders a 526 percent range, and with two more gears than the Shimano drivetrain, that means that each step between gears is a little smaller. And because the Rohloff hub is internally geared, Tern was able to build the Orox R14 with a Gates belt rather than a chain. This will virtually eliminate most maintenance.
Both versions of the Tern Orox are built with Magura MT5 4-piston hydraulic disc brakes. These are some of the most powerful disc brakes we’ve encountered and they are paired with 203mm rotors, the largest we’ve seen spec’d on ebikes.
The Tern Orox is built around 27.5-in. wheels and 4-in.-wide tires; most fat-tire e-bikes are based on 26-in. wheels. The larger wheels on the Orox will help it roll over rocks and bumps with a little more ease and riders can afford to run a little less pressure in the tires as well. How low can a rider go with pressure? Tern suggests you can run the 27.5 x 4-in. Schwalbe Johnny Watts tires at 5 psi.
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EBR’s Tern Orox First Look Review:
We see lots of all-terrain and fat-tire e-bikes. The marketing always implies that they can go anywhere and tame any terrain. While we think most of the designs out there offer a quality experience, it’s also true that many of them oversell their abilities. We know what it takes to ascend steep fire and logging roads and we don’t often see designs that really are that capable. The Tern Orox is a notable departure. This e-bike really can go most anywhere someone would want to explore thanks to the high-quality drivetrains they spec’d.
The Tern Orox isn’t without limitations. The folks at Tern chose not to include suspension, and for good reason. For suspension to work well, it has to be set to the weight of the rider and anything they are carrying. Add an extra 40 lbs. and suddenly that suspension bottoms out instead of cushioning the rider and because this is an e-bike meant to carry loads, not including suspension makes sense. That said, without any suspension, there will be a limit to where most riders will want to take the Orox. The combination of a long-tail design and no suspension means that some trails should be left off the menu.
By selecting a Bosch motor, battery and electronics, Tern did riders a solid. First, there’s Bosch’s excellent reputation for reliability and performance. Also, because this is a Class 1 e-bike, it can go anywhere e-bikes are allowed; many trail systems don’t permit e-bikes at all and the ones that do typically only permit Class 1 e-bikes out of consideration for other users and concerns about trail damage.
Of course, a cargo e-bike is only as versatile as the accessories that can be mounted. Tern made sure that the Atlas X accepts a broad array of their accessories. Want to bring a kid (or two) along? They’ve got seats for that. Want to mount some of the largest panniers we’ve ever seen? They’ve got those, too. Very few e-bike makers offer as many accessories to outfit an e-bike as Tern does.
We’re e-bike nerds here at Electric Bike Report. We love e-bikes in general, but every now and then we come across a new e-bike that makes us dream about what we might do with a week off from work and $5k to spend on a vacation. The Tern Orox is an e-bike with touring abilities we don’t often see.
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