If you’re already familiar with Tern, then it’s likely from the company’s critically-acclaimed urban cargo e-bikes, often see in cities shuttling children to school behind parents or whisking home an entire family’s grocery load. But now the premium electric bike maker is tackling an entirely new market and heading off-road with its latest unveiling: the Tern Orox adventure cargo e-bike.
The new e-bike, just unveiled today, harnesses the same quality design and premium engineering that we’ve come to expect from Tern, yet applies it to a very different type of ride.
That means a focus on off-road riding that still employs many of our favorite Tern features, such as the passenger seating, dual battery options, and of course the incredibly high attention to detail when it comes to overbuilding for robustness and safety.
And applying those concepts that the company has honed on previous urban models is exactly the path Tern had hoped to follow, explained Tern Team Captain Josh Hon:
“Six years ago, we introduced the GSD with the belief that a compact and easy-to-ride bike capable of carrying passengers and cargo would get people out of their cars and onto bikes. We were right, and we love seeing all the amazing things people are doing with the GSD in crowded cities. But we also realized that there are plenty of places people want to go that are unpaved. And they want to bring their gear. For those trips, we made the Orox.”
A big part of the Orox’s design is centered around giving riders the choice of where they want to explore, from city bike lanes to unkept nature trails. That even includes a wide range of tire sizes to fit different types of riding. Orox’s frame and fork are designed to let riders swap in their choice of 26 x 5”, 27.5 x 4” or 29 x 3” wheels/tires.
The bike is rated to carry an impressive 180 to 210 kg (397 to 462 lb) of load in off-road and on-road riding, respectively, meaning riders can bring just about the entire campsite or a significant portion of their kid’s kindergarten class along for the ride. And with two frame sizes and styles, the Tern Orox can fit riders from 155 to 195 cm in height (5’1″ to 6’5″), or up to 130 kg (286 lb).
The Orox uses Bosch’s Performance Line CX motor with 85 Nm of torque and up to 340% assistance. When outfitted with two of Bosch’s massive 800 Wh batteries, the bike offers a maximum range of over 300 km (186 miles). Plus riders get to take advantage of all the other Bosch system perks, such as the eBike Flow app for bike locking, anti-theft alarm, and GPS-tracking.
Riders will be able to choose from different component loadouts as well, including options for a Gates Carbon Drive belt-drive system with a Rohloff 14-speed internal geared hub or a Shimano Deore XT 1×12 chain drive system. A set of powerful 4-piston Magura hydraulic disc brakes will also offer impressive stopping performance.
A set of 14 braze-ons around the frame provides plenty of cargo-mounting and accessory options, and riders also get to take advantage of the heavy-duty Atlast Kickstand XL for easier cargo loading.
Riders in Europe and North America will see the Tern Orox enter bike shops in April of this year, with other markets set to follow. Pricing will start at $6,499 / €6,799 / £5,900 in various markets, positioning the bike as a premium off-roader in line with some of Tern’s highest-rated bikes yet.
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