After about a month of using the Tern Orox in a particularly snowy and cold spring in Santa Fe, John has penned a review of the e-cargo platform, which speaks to the bike’s versatility and aligns it firmly in the “car replacement” category. Let’s check it out!

Expensive, but so is vehicle maintenance

When you consider that the average cost of vehicle maintenance in 2023 was $2236.50 (not including gas!), and most Americans use their cars for one-to-five-mile trips, the Orox S12 configuration’s price tag of $6,499 suddenly doesn’t seem to pinch as much. The cost of car maintenance rises with each year of ownership, and most of your car’s wear and tear comes from sub-five mile trips, i.e., inner-city driving.

We’ve been pretty good at almost reducing our around-town car use to once a week in the winter and almost altogether in the warmer months. We have noticed a reduction in the amount of money we spend maintaining them and filling them up with gas. A bike like the Orox is a front-loading expense that could save you money in the long run if you can strike a balance between automobile and e-cargo use.

Bike Taxonomy

The Orox is a longtail cargo bike, assisted by the Bosche e-bike system. It is a dual-wheel size platform offering 29″+ or 27.5″+ wheels and tires and it comes in two sizes. These larger diameter wheel sizes are what make it unique in Tern’s lineup, as the brand has used only 20″ wheels in the past. It is a Class I e-bike, meaning pedal assist up to 20 MPH.

The Orox has the ability to run two batteries, with a claimed distance of 200 miles. Our model shipped with only one battery, so we had no way of testing this claimed distance, but our time with the bike has revealed that 100 miles per charge is accurate for that single battery. For cold climates, you can move the back-of-seat-tube mounted battery to the included frame bag’s mounting location to extend the battery life when the temperature dips.

With a daytime-running rear light and an automatic front light, the Orox is designed for commuting and offers lots of light for remote/rural dirt roads without street lights. Both lights can be turned on or off via integrated light switches on the Magura brakes.

The fact that Orox uses the Bosch system is worth calling attention to as it will extend the life cycle of this bike indefinitely. Bosch’s motors and batteries are some of the best in the business. The batteries are replaceable (even recyclable), and the motors are serviceable. A big no-no when buying e-bikes is buying one with a motor from a non-reputable company. You’re just buying eventual landfill trash…

Marketing vs Use Case: A Brief Tangent

Let me clarify something before we move any further. I was intrigued by how the Tern Orox was marketed, but in use I found it an interesting conundrum. Images of duffle bags strapped to the cargo platform on forest roads, singletrack, or in wilderness-feeling locales brought about feelings of expeditions and electronic bike touring.

All this to say, I didn’t feel like I was going to do the Tern Orox justice in this review because my use case didn’t align with the bike’s marketing, as it’s pictured in many of the marketing images on singletrack trails. I couldn’t even legally use it for trail work here in the Santa Fe National Forest, regardless of whether our trails are still blanketed by snow and will continue to be most likely until May.

TL;DR and the Wrap-Up

Cari and I enjoyed our time with the Orox. It made hauling groceries a cinch and provided hours of entertainment as we cruised around this beautiful place. People loved seeing two adults on a cargo bike, and it was a real conversation starter. I found it to be a proper car replacement. Even in the snow, ice, and slush, the bike handled it all with ease.

While I don’t particularly buy into the marketing of it being an “expedition-minded” vehicle, that’s solely based on where I live, not on the bike itself. In writing this review, I found myself pondering two questions:

Could you take the Orox camping? Most certainly. Could it be used for trail work? Of course.

However, where trail work is needed and where I like to camp here in Santa Fe, the Orox is illegal since it has a motor. Yet, that doesn’t mean the land managers where you live might have different laws. I don’t condone illegal e-bike use, but I also know the bike industry has completely ignored addressing this issue and has done a shit job of educating customers on where e-bikes are legal. Sigh…

Perhaps this just speaks to the Orox’s potential as urban/city transport and rural utility, with a dash of expedition potential thrown in.