Summit strikers: The E-MTBs from Nox

The synthesis of metropolitan zeitgeist and rustic alpine mountain world is not only in the bones of the bikes, but literally makes up their backbone. Both the Fully and the Hardtail are convincing all round, both are real mountain companions that don’t mind the occasional urban excursion.

NOX bikes have long enjoyed a good reputation in mountain bike circles (enduro and downhill). By concentrating on the production of e-bikes only, production and testing have now been relocated to Zell am Ziller in addition to the Berlin site, in order to be present right in the centre of the bike playground. Development and design remain in Berlin, very close to the drive partner Brose. NOX calls this “the best of both worlds”. We were allowed to take a quick look at a hardtail and a fully and were thrilled.

Our first contact with NOX bikes was at the Puradies Holzhotel in Leogang, a four-star+ hotel with consistent sustainability standards, where NOX bikes are rented out to guests. So without further ado, we combined our hotel research with a leisurely two-hour ride through Leogang and up to the Knappenstube (show mine) on two Hybrid 5.9 Pro, the brand’s full-suspension all-mountain model.

We were quite taken with this first experience and went straight from the Zillertal to get a Hybrid All Mountain 5.9 Pro (Fully) and a Hybrid XC 5.9 Trail (Hardtail) for a week.

With the hardtail we undertook two shorter jaunts through (hilly) forest and meadows with several root passages, the fully we used for a detour into the Karwendel mountains on the way back to the Zillertal.

And there it was, straight out of the Achental valley, almost one thousand metres of altitude straight uphill on a forest road or forest path that was good at first, but later rather stony. As soon as we reached the ridge, the same route quickly went downhill again. And “quickly” is not an exaggeration, as the bike was as solid as it was confidence-inspiring on the ground. Yes, what can we say? There is simply nothing to complain about, maybe the bike reaches its limits when it comes to higher demands and tricky single trails, ours were below that in any case, we couldn’t really challenge the bikes. The uphill was swift and fluid, the drive, mainly operating in the highest support mode, ran flawlessly and only purred very quietly, as if bored by such alpinism.

The ergonomics were also right, from the riding position to the battery handling, from the braking performance to the tyre grip. So all is well, cloud nine? Yes, quite, as long as we didn’t have much time and so the tests really only scratched the surface.

Both bikes use a Brose Drive S drive, the hardtail the aluminium motor, the full the brand new, lighter, quieter and noticeably more powerful magnesium motor.

In the meantime, NOX offers a choice between Brose and the Sachs RS motor. In addition, there is the Helium series, which is equipped with the Fazua EVATION drive, as well as road-ready trekking and urban bikes There is still a lot to test and experience…

Our bikes cost from EUR 4,899 for the Fully with Brose SMag Drive and EUR 4,299 for the Hardtail.

https://www.noxcycles.com

Text and pictures: Werner Köstle

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