Preface, I wrote this as a review of the Orox so that's why it reads a bit weird. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.
Hi, my name is Shaun and I have no idea what I’m doing. I really mean that, I’m no writer, journalist or bike mechanic and I’ve only really taken bikes seriously in the last few years after getting a GSD. Yet nonetheless here I am, living a mostly car free life on the edge of the peak district national park. So, when it was suggested I write a review of my Orox S12, I really had no idea where to start. After trying to do the whole official review type thing I thought, I’ll just take you on one of my random day’s off, and we’ll see how we go.
My day started early Tuesday morning at my home in Deepcar, 10 miles north of Sheffield in the Uk. The normal morning mayhem of getting two kids up, dressed and fed took a little while but it was soon time for my first ride out of the day, I took my 5yo to his Nannan’s and our 2yo to nursery. This is always something the kids look forward to, my daughter actually cries now if my wife picks her up in the car... The Orox fits two kids officially, but we have been known to carry 3 children with ease. The seat pads off the GSD still fit the clubhouse 3 nicely and the old Yepp seat still works, though only in the rear slot due to the high mud guard under the centre slot, other seats fit much better and are safer, but this set up suits our needs nicely. Despite the quite high level at which the cargo sits, the Orox still feels nimble and easy enough to control. The first downside I’ll mention is the centre stand. The Orox stand is just too narrow and even with the feet extenders, lacks the stability I’m used to with my old Gen 2 GSD. The hight of the stand is adjustable but this just means the feet end up twisting around and not sitting flat with the floor.
Anyway…
Kids sorted for the next 7h where on earth (withing a 3 hour radius) am I going to go? After dumping the kids seat, I set off north towards Langsett Reservoir, no idea where I was going to go from there but it seemed a good start. Riding down narrow, gravel strewn country lanes the Orox feels a really solid stable bike. Something I really missed on the GSD was the ability to ride no handed, I know it sounds minor and a little childish but there’s northing better to stretch your back and take some pressure off the wrists and the Orox keeps straight and true with no wobble. Something that really worried me about the massive 4” tyres and 27.5” rims before getting the bike was, surely its going to be hard to pedal all that extra weight and surely the soft fat bike tyres are going to add a lot of drag right? Well in short no, the speeds feel similar to the GSD running 50Psi and I’m running 13 on these Vee snowball tyres. The effort needed actually feels lower than the GSD, why? I’ve no idea, I already told you I don’t know what I’m doing here but let’s keep going.
After 30min of waving at cows a fellow cycle people I’ve arrived at the forest south of Langsett reservoir where I am presented with a lovely, fast, down hill forest trail! Here’s the thing about this bike, you find the most amazing routes and paths that I would never dare to explore with the GSD, worried I could break something and then how am I going to pick up the kids? But anyway, This is where the Orox feels most at home in my opinion. Flying through the trees with relatively smooth earth paths and the occasional rooted sections soaked up in those squishy tyres. Although the Orox seems to take any abuse I can throw at it, this really is the most fun thing to do and I could gladly do it all day, but we have exploring to do. Now climbing the rocky byway to the west of the reservoir my thoughts turn to where am I going to go next. I had been told of a path over the northern Dark peak moorland via Cut Gate that ends up in the upper Derwent valley (of dam busters fame). I have been told this is a difficult path for walkers and really only for proper mountain bikes. Sounds perfect.
Heading due West the maintained paths quickly turn to rocky uneven gritstone cuts in the moorland. Theres no one up here other than the odd sheep or grouse jumping out from the vibrant purple heather, I presume with the sole purpose of keeping me on my toes. As the terrain continues up, I switched to the altitude screen on the Kiox 300 display. I’m at nearly 400m already and still climbing. The Bosch smart system on the Orox is a real jump up from the BES2 system on the GSD. The altitude screen displays the altitude gain, current hight above sea level and your max altitude for this ride. I swapped out the last metric for the graph version because I’m a nerd when it comes to data. Another favourite screen is the power and cadence screen, though I find these absolutely exhausting metrics to have up. I am not a particularly fit person but if is see my average Watts anywhere near 200 then I really want to push that little bit harder to get the nice even 200Watts. Amazing how competitive I can be when it’s me Vs. myself.
All signs of human life have well and truly disappeared behind me. Theres still plenty to keep me entertained though. Buzzards sore on the thermals overhead, rabbits and hares dart across the path ahead and the idea of ticks (and associated Lyme’s disease) keep me moving. I’m now traveling on the side of a valley with a large drop to a quiet stream on my right and a rather unstable earth cliff to my left, the path is becoming rougher and rockier, and I am still climbing. It is also becoming very narrow and rather rutted. Another pretty special feature comes into play here. The stow decks that are supporting my 72L panniers can be locked in several positions, I have them at 45deg. currently which is keeping them away from the edges of the path and sharp gorse. The path is so narrow now my pedals are catching each side of the rut I’m riding in. The Orox has quite a wide pedal width due to the fat rear tyre and the need for the chain to be clear of it, I hear this is the Q-factor? Anyway this did take a little getting used to and was giving me cause to concentrate a little harder though the path eventually opened up again.
We’re approaching the summit with just a few miles to go and it’s getting very technical, so many boulders, rocks and narrow gaps to negotiate. Another technical miracle Tern have worked here is in the frame design and geometry. How can a cargo bike capable of hauling 210Kg have this kind of rock crawling ability with such a practical, usable ground clearance? As I continue up, I can see evidence of the thousands of pedal strikes carved into the boulders and rocky steps from decades of mountain bike use, but its not a problem for me. The Orox has the extended boost feature in Emtb mode, with this I can give the pedals a little quarter of a turn and the motor will continue to power me for around half a meter, meaning it will power you over that rock while you keep the cranks level, avoiding a nasty pedal strike. Its so smooth and intuitive you really don’t notice it until you need it, and I really needed it a lot out here. Now the altimeter clicks over 500m In the distance the land seems to just end and all I can see is blue sky.
I have no idea where I am but its beautiful, no picture I can take on my phone would ever do this justice. The green/brown moorland accented with purple heather and occasional rocky crags extends before me for as far as I can see. No people and no human infrastructure other than a mostly collapsed cairn to my right and the old pack trail I’m currently sat on now extends directly down the valley side to a vanishing point beyond my visual range. Oh and the Orox looking very retro with its matt green frame and army motorcycle aesthetic sitting to my left. I hate to admit it, up until this point I had been listening to radio 4 on my headphones (I can’t miss woman’s hour and gardeners question time after all) so out with the headphones and time to immerse myself in the silence. After sitting here for around 15 min of what felt like meditation, I was rudely interrupted by a massive, shiny black beetle crawling over my knee I was suddenly inspired to leave.
From here, the highest point at 525m, it was all down hill, all the way to ladybower reservoir hidden behind the crags in the far distance. Now here’s where the whole bike changes, those wide bars, that mountain bike stance and endless grip gives you far too much confidence. The initial smooth gravel turns into harsh uneven flag stones, the bike bounces and shakes but still going at a fair old lick it still feels planted. The stand is rattling, my cargo is falling apart in my panniers and all that extra fat around my arms is vigorously reminding me that I’m no athlete and I should probably tone it down a little. Soon enough the path became super narrow again and its hard on the brakes. The Magura MT5s, although the same as the ones fitted to the GSD feel so much sharper and affective, the bigger 203mm discs help but I really think the change to solid lever blades had taken out all that free play the brake light switch used to take up. Overall, a big improvement and again gives me far too much confidence. Now for the last section, this is 45deg down and super technical. The path literally drops away from you 50m into the valley bottom. I’m lent so far back while descending that I am literally sat in the clubhouse. I have a quick thought about the total lack of people and phone service and think better than to tackle the large foot and a half stepped drops in front of me and around halfway down dismount and walk the bike over the worst of it.
After stopping to take a picture over a particularly pretty brook, I was back on the official bridleway and back to civilisation. Turning the corner to Slippery Stones, right at the top of the upper Derwent valley I was actually flagged down by an Australian couple who were sat chilling by the river Derwent with their folding ebikes. They didn’t need anything other than to know what on earth I was riding. We had a good long chat about bikes, the countryside and the meaning of life (and indexing gears) this really is another feature of the Orox, you better enjoy talking bikes with strangers because folk just gravitate towards you.
From here it’s a leisurely ride following the west side of Howden, Derwent and Ladybower reservoirs in turn. A quick stop at the old Tin Town to take some more pics but before I could get out of the tree line, a huge Atlas C.1 came screaming down the valley, below the level of the crags, banking hard left and right over Derwent dam head and off into the distance. This is the second time I have been lucky enough to see this but no pictures this time. After some lunch its time to head home with plenty of time to pick the kids back up. Pretty much all by road this time and I’m not going to bore you with that. All in all, this ride was 53Km with just over a Kilometre in altitude gain and I averaged 187w, I used very nearly 800Wh so I could technically have done it on battery. I have added a link to the ride on Strava below.
What a day and what an experience that I would never have had without a bike like this. If like me, you only really have the space and cash for one bike, you need to take the kids to school, the rubbish to the tip, the wife to the pub ect. but you still need the bike to be there for your daily commute, then there are quite a few bikes on the market these days built specifically for that, obviously I think the GSD or the quick haul long are the best of the best but I’m clearly biased.
But.. I believe there’s only one that can do all that, take you well out of your comfort zone and truly into the wilderness. And that’s the Tern Orox.
Here’s a link to my strava ride,
<div class="strava-embed-placeholder" data-embed-type="activity" data-embed-id="12136993938" data-style="standard"></div><script src="https://strava-embeds.com/embed.js"></script>
And here’s my Instagram where I post all my adventures, give me a follow over there.
www.instagram.com
d.fish/
Hi, my name is Shaun and I have no idea what I’m doing. I really mean that, I’m no writer, journalist or bike mechanic and I’ve only really taken bikes seriously in the last few years after getting a GSD. Yet nonetheless here I am, living a mostly car free life on the edge of the peak district national park. So, when it was suggested I write a review of my Orox S12, I really had no idea where to start. After trying to do the whole official review type thing I thought, I’ll just take you on one of my random day’s off, and we’ll see how we go.
My day started early Tuesday morning at my home in Deepcar, 10 miles north of Sheffield in the Uk. The normal morning mayhem of getting two kids up, dressed and fed took a little while but it was soon time for my first ride out of the day, I took my 5yo to his Nannan’s and our 2yo to nursery. This is always something the kids look forward to, my daughter actually cries now if my wife picks her up in the car... The Orox fits two kids officially, but we have been known to carry 3 children with ease. The seat pads off the GSD still fit the clubhouse 3 nicely and the old Yepp seat still works, though only in the rear slot due to the high mud guard under the centre slot, other seats fit much better and are safer, but this set up suits our needs nicely. Despite the quite high level at which the cargo sits, the Orox still feels nimble and easy enough to control. The first downside I’ll mention is the centre stand. The Orox stand is just too narrow and even with the feet extenders, lacks the stability I’m used to with my old Gen 2 GSD. The hight of the stand is adjustable but this just means the feet end up twisting around and not sitting flat with the floor.
Anyway…
Kids sorted for the next 7h where on earth (withing a 3 hour radius) am I going to go? After dumping the kids seat, I set off north towards Langsett Reservoir, no idea where I was going to go from there but it seemed a good start. Riding down narrow, gravel strewn country lanes the Orox feels a really solid stable bike. Something I really missed on the GSD was the ability to ride no handed, I know it sounds minor and a little childish but there’s northing better to stretch your back and take some pressure off the wrists and the Orox keeps straight and true with no wobble. Something that really worried me about the massive 4” tyres and 27.5” rims before getting the bike was, surely its going to be hard to pedal all that extra weight and surely the soft fat bike tyres are going to add a lot of drag right? Well in short no, the speeds feel similar to the GSD running 50Psi and I’m running 13 on these Vee snowball tyres. The effort needed actually feels lower than the GSD, why? I’ve no idea, I already told you I don’t know what I’m doing here but let’s keep going.
After 30min of waving at cows a fellow cycle people I’ve arrived at the forest south of Langsett reservoir where I am presented with a lovely, fast, down hill forest trail! Here’s the thing about this bike, you find the most amazing routes and paths that I would never dare to explore with the GSD, worried I could break something and then how am I going to pick up the kids? But anyway, This is where the Orox feels most at home in my opinion. Flying through the trees with relatively smooth earth paths and the occasional rooted sections soaked up in those squishy tyres. Although the Orox seems to take any abuse I can throw at it, this really is the most fun thing to do and I could gladly do it all day, but we have exploring to do. Now climbing the rocky byway to the west of the reservoir my thoughts turn to where am I going to go next. I had been told of a path over the northern Dark peak moorland via Cut Gate that ends up in the upper Derwent valley (of dam busters fame). I have been told this is a difficult path for walkers and really only for proper mountain bikes. Sounds perfect.
Heading due West the maintained paths quickly turn to rocky uneven gritstone cuts in the moorland. Theres no one up here other than the odd sheep or grouse jumping out from the vibrant purple heather, I presume with the sole purpose of keeping me on my toes. As the terrain continues up, I switched to the altitude screen on the Kiox 300 display. I’m at nearly 400m already and still climbing. The Bosch smart system on the Orox is a real jump up from the BES2 system on the GSD. The altitude screen displays the altitude gain, current hight above sea level and your max altitude for this ride. I swapped out the last metric for the graph version because I’m a nerd when it comes to data. Another favourite screen is the power and cadence screen, though I find these absolutely exhausting metrics to have up. I am not a particularly fit person but if is see my average Watts anywhere near 200 then I really want to push that little bit harder to get the nice even 200Watts. Amazing how competitive I can be when it’s me Vs. myself.
All signs of human life have well and truly disappeared behind me. Theres still plenty to keep me entertained though. Buzzards sore on the thermals overhead, rabbits and hares dart across the path ahead and the idea of ticks (and associated Lyme’s disease) keep me moving. I’m now traveling on the side of a valley with a large drop to a quiet stream on my right and a rather unstable earth cliff to my left, the path is becoming rougher and rockier, and I am still climbing. It is also becoming very narrow and rather rutted. Another pretty special feature comes into play here. The stow decks that are supporting my 72L panniers can be locked in several positions, I have them at 45deg. currently which is keeping them away from the edges of the path and sharp gorse. The path is so narrow now my pedals are catching each side of the rut I’m riding in. The Orox has quite a wide pedal width due to the fat rear tyre and the need for the chain to be clear of it, I hear this is the Q-factor? Anyway this did take a little getting used to and was giving me cause to concentrate a little harder though the path eventually opened up again.
We’re approaching the summit with just a few miles to go and it’s getting very technical, so many boulders, rocks and narrow gaps to negotiate. Another technical miracle Tern have worked here is in the frame design and geometry. How can a cargo bike capable of hauling 210Kg have this kind of rock crawling ability with such a practical, usable ground clearance? As I continue up, I can see evidence of the thousands of pedal strikes carved into the boulders and rocky steps from decades of mountain bike use, but its not a problem for me. The Orox has the extended boost feature in Emtb mode, with this I can give the pedals a little quarter of a turn and the motor will continue to power me for around half a meter, meaning it will power you over that rock while you keep the cranks level, avoiding a nasty pedal strike. Its so smooth and intuitive you really don’t notice it until you need it, and I really needed it a lot out here. Now the altimeter clicks over 500m In the distance the land seems to just end and all I can see is blue sky.
I have no idea where I am but its beautiful, no picture I can take on my phone would ever do this justice. The green/brown moorland accented with purple heather and occasional rocky crags extends before me for as far as I can see. No people and no human infrastructure other than a mostly collapsed cairn to my right and the old pack trail I’m currently sat on now extends directly down the valley side to a vanishing point beyond my visual range. Oh and the Orox looking very retro with its matt green frame and army motorcycle aesthetic sitting to my left. I hate to admit it, up until this point I had been listening to radio 4 on my headphones (I can’t miss woman’s hour and gardeners question time after all) so out with the headphones and time to immerse myself in the silence. After sitting here for around 15 min of what felt like meditation, I was rudely interrupted by a massive, shiny black beetle crawling over my knee I was suddenly inspired to leave.
From here, the highest point at 525m, it was all down hill, all the way to ladybower reservoir hidden behind the crags in the far distance. Now here’s where the whole bike changes, those wide bars, that mountain bike stance and endless grip gives you far too much confidence. The initial smooth gravel turns into harsh uneven flag stones, the bike bounces and shakes but still going at a fair old lick it still feels planted. The stand is rattling, my cargo is falling apart in my panniers and all that extra fat around my arms is vigorously reminding me that I’m no athlete and I should probably tone it down a little. Soon enough the path became super narrow again and its hard on the brakes. The Magura MT5s, although the same as the ones fitted to the GSD feel so much sharper and affective, the bigger 203mm discs help but I really think the change to solid lever blades had taken out all that free play the brake light switch used to take up. Overall, a big improvement and again gives me far too much confidence. Now for the last section, this is 45deg down and super technical. The path literally drops away from you 50m into the valley bottom. I’m lent so far back while descending that I am literally sat in the clubhouse. I have a quick thought about the total lack of people and phone service and think better than to tackle the large foot and a half stepped drops in front of me and around halfway down dismount and walk the bike over the worst of it.
After stopping to take a picture over a particularly pretty brook, I was back on the official bridleway and back to civilisation. Turning the corner to Slippery Stones, right at the top of the upper Derwent valley I was actually flagged down by an Australian couple who were sat chilling by the river Derwent with their folding ebikes. They didn’t need anything other than to know what on earth I was riding. We had a good long chat about bikes, the countryside and the meaning of life (and indexing gears) this really is another feature of the Orox, you better enjoy talking bikes with strangers because folk just gravitate towards you.
From here it’s a leisurely ride following the west side of Howden, Derwent and Ladybower reservoirs in turn. A quick stop at the old Tin Town to take some more pics but before I could get out of the tree line, a huge Atlas C.1 came screaming down the valley, below the level of the crags, banking hard left and right over Derwent dam head and off into the distance. This is the second time I have been lucky enough to see this but no pictures this time. After some lunch its time to head home with plenty of time to pick the kids back up. Pretty much all by road this time and I’m not going to bore you with that. All in all, this ride was 53Km with just over a Kilometre in altitude gain and I averaged 187w, I used very nearly 800Wh so I could technically have done it on battery. I have added a link to the ride on Strava below.
What a day and what an experience that I would never have had without a bike like this. If like me, you only really have the space and cash for one bike, you need to take the kids to school, the rubbish to the tip, the wife to the pub ect. but you still need the bike to be there for your daily commute, then there are quite a few bikes on the market these days built specifically for that, obviously I think the GSD or the quick haul long are the best of the best but I’m clearly biased.
But.. I believe there’s only one that can do all that, take you well out of your comfort zone and truly into the wilderness. And that’s the Tern Orox.
Here’s a link to my strava ride,
<div class="strava-embed-placeholder" data-embed-type="activity" data-embed-id="12136993938" data-style="standard"></div><script src="https://strava-embeds.com/embed.js"></script>
And here’s my Instagram where I post all my adventures, give me a follow over there.
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