Yes, that’s right! DJI, the popular drone manufacturer, have unveiled their first eMTB motor system, the Avinox. This is built around a 120 Nm mid-drive motor and relies on a big bunch of proprietary components. The manufacturer also developed their own batteries, smart touch display and a comprehensive app – and managed to keep the system weight unbelievably low. We had the chance to test the system on the trail.
DJI have more than proven that they know how to build small, powerful electric motors. The Chinese tech giant has long held a dominant position in the drone business and has a wealth of experience and know-how in the development of batteries, connectivity and app development. Plus, DJI can avail themselves of immense resources from the tech industry. That’s a very promising basis for a company that wants to develop their own motor system for e-mountainbikes.
The DJI Avinox motor system has been introduced to the eMTB world at the beginning of Eurobike 2024 in Frankfurt. At the heart of the system lies a 120 Nm mid-drive motor, which can be combined with DJI’s proprietary 600 Wh and 800 Wh batteries. The Avinox motor system is controlled by two small wireless remotes, and a touchscreen display integrated into the top tube. This includes a 4G LTE interface, which allows you to track your rides even without carrying a smartphone in your pocket. There’s also a dedicated app that allows you to adjust the motor’s characteristics, as well as offering a range of riding statistics and safety features.
But the new DJI Avinox motor system won’t get you far without an actual bike! To make this happen, DJI teamed up with newly-founded bike brand AMFLOW as an exclusive partner to present a powerful e-mountainbike in two different versions, both of which rely on the DJI system. The AMFLOW PL relies on a carbon frame and generates 160/150 mm of travel front and rear. The version we tested is the AMFLOW PL Carbon Pro flagship model, which tips the scales at just 20.3 kg despite using a big 800 Wh battery, and delivers up to 120 Nm of torque.
What is the DJI Avinox motor system capable of?
The motor of the DJI Avinox drive system
The DJI Avinox motor system is built around a compact mid-drive motor with a simple design. In the special Boost mode, it churns out up to 120 Nm of torque and 1000 watts peak power. In the normal support mode, on the other hand, it delivers 105 Nm of torque and 850 watts peak power. Of course, the continuous power output remains at 250 watts across the board in order to comply with EU regulations. Nevertheless, on paper, the DJI Avinox motor is significantly more powerful than its direct competitors from Bosch and Shimano, both of which deliver 85 Nm and up to 600 watts peak power. Moreover, according to the manufacturer, the DJI Avinox motor weighs just 2.52 kg, making it several hundred grams lighter than its direct competitors – a Bosch CX motor, for example, weighs in at 2.9 kg. If you’re into stats and want to compare the DJI Avinox’s hard numbers with the competition, you should take a look at our detailed motor comparison test. In addition, the DJI Avinox motor is very compact, thus enabling manufacturers to develop slim, competitive bike frames.
The 600 Wh and 800 Wh batteries of the DJI Avinox motor system
The motor draws its power from either a 600 Wh or 800 Wh battery, which are both developed in-house by DJI and weigh in at 2.9 kg and 3.7 kg, respectively. These are the manufacturer’s weight specifications, and we only had a chance to test the whole bike rather than individual components. However, if the specifications are correct – and judging by the weight of our test bike, they are – both batteries are very light. For comparison’s sake, a 750 Wh Bosch battery tips the scales at a whopping 4.38 kg, which is nearly 700 grams more for 50 Wh less capacity. Orbea’s 630 Wh battery on the other hand, can keep up, weighing in at a very reasonable 2.9 kg. The DJI batteries can be charged using two different chargers: a standard charger which will charge the 800 Wh battery in around 6 hours, and DJI’s High Performance Charger, which will do the same job in around 3 hours – half the time of the conventional charger. Before the test ride, we also had the chance to witness the charging speed of the High Performance Charger first hand, which added nearly 20% capacity in just 20-25 minutes. A range extender is not yet available.
The 2″ OLED touchscreen display of the DJI Avinox motor system
The 2″ OLED display is integrated into the top tube of the e-mountainbike, similar to the TQ system. The DJI drive, however, relies on a touchscreen, and offers the possibility to insert a SIM card to locate or access the bike remotely. Unfortunately, we weren’t yet able to test how good the connection is through the carbon frame. The display comes equipped with a GPS sensor, gyro sensors, a barometer and countless more connectivity features like ANT+ and Bluetooth 5.1. The system also enables you to track your rides precisely and save them on the internal 8 GB memory and the partner app. The display can also show metrics such as heart rate and calorie consumption, when paired with an external device like a chest strap. The touch display itself works extremely well and is comparable to a modern mobile phone in terms of sensitivity. Even the sweat drops and the mud that splashed on the display while riding didn’t affect the touch display’s sensitivity. You can easily switch between pages and adjust settings with your finger. How well it works with bike gloves remains to be seen. There’s a USB-C charging port at the top of the display which, according to DJI, is also capable of charging laptops and bigger electronic devices.
The two handlebar remotes of the DJI Avinox motor system
What’s unusual is that DJI use not one but two small remotes, with one on each side of the handlebars. Both come in a simple, minimalist design and rely on a wireless Bluetooth connection, featuring simple labelling with arrows and symbols. The left-hand side remote allows you to switch between riding modes and activate the walk and boost modes, which are labelled with a shoe and a rocket, respectively. The right remote, on the other hand, lets you operate the system’s smart features and flick through the menu options. Both the ergonomics and haptic feedback are high quality. The latter makes you clearly feel when you’ve pressed a button, and is complemented by a loud beeping noise to remove any doubt. According to DJI, the remotes’ replaceable batteries should last 2 years.
The Avinox App of the DJI Avinox motor system
DJI have already proved with their drone control system that they know how to develop a user-friendly and well-functioning app. The same applies to the connection setup and the transfer speed between the system and app. We already had the chance to browse through the app and test some of its functions – like the different settings of the support modes – and can say that it’s very user-friendly and immensely diverse. Amongst other things, the app allows you to customise different parameters of the riding modes – torque, length of the sustained assistance, pedal sensitivity and motor power at setoff – and to display the statistics of your recorded rides. Thanks to the integrated GPS tracking function, you can track your bike and customise the look of your touch display with countless functions. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg – we’ve never seen a motor app that offers so many customisation options.
The support modes of the DJI Avinox motor system
The DJI Avinox motor system offers 5 different support modes, and you can also keep the system turned on without any assistance. There are the classic Eco, Trail and Turbo modes, which can be configured further in the app. By holding the rocket button on the left remote, you can activate the special Boost mode, which calls up the maximum 120 Nm of torque and 1000 watts peak power for 30 seconds. This is a little bit like the Boost mode of the Fazua Ride 60 motor system. Boost mode can also be overridden manually by simply changing the support mode. Shortly before Boost mode turns off, the system lets you know that it’s switching back to the normal support mode by beeping several times. If you still want to grind your way up the mountain in Boost mode, you can activate it again, and get another 30 seconds of extra power. At some point, the software will intervene to prevent the motor from overheating and suspend Boost mode temporarily, though we haven’t yet been able to make this happen. The sixth mode is Auto mode, which is designed to continually adapt the assistance level to the riding situation. To make this possible, DJI rely on a tilt sensor and a sophisticated system that always knows which gear you’re in.
Our first riding impressions of the DJI Avinox motor system
We already had the exclusive opportunity to test the DJI Avinox motor system extensively, with two test riders on the trails around the Feldberg, near Frankfurt. The trails provided the ideal setting for a wide variety of scenarios, from steep climbs to technical, tight downhills with roots, rock gardens and high-speed sections. In addition, both the roots and most trails were still very damp, ensuring extra-challenging conditions – especially in terms of motor sensitivity.
From the very first crank spin, the DJI Avinox packs a real punch, launching you forward with great eagerness, but at the same time making it easy to control the bike. It doesn’t feel too abrupt, instead impressing with a natural ride feeling, especially when setting off from a standstill. If you do this in Turbo mode, the motor feels tame at first and only develops its full power when you’re already rolling slightly. This means that the bike doesn’t jolt forward abruptly if you press on the pedals unintentionally. On the other hand, you can also set off on a steep ramp without the rear wheel spinning out of control, or the front end lifting off the ground.
There are 6 support modes to choose from. In turbo mode, the DJI pushes you up steep ramps without breaking a sweat and skilfully overtakes the current competition with its brute power. On your way to the trailhead, you can leave your mates behind in a cloud of dust with the help of the DJI Avinox motor system.
Thanks to a speed sensor with 42 magnets, which are detected by the sensor, the DJI Avinox motor system reacts sensitively to the rider’s input. The motor also reacts sensitively when the rear wheel spins out of control on technical climbs. Even on loose ground and wet roots, the DJI Avinox motor transfers the power to the ground reliably and without slipping, pushing you towards the summit eagerly and with great consistency – very impressive!
While in Eco mode, the DJI Avinox motor system isn’t any louder than the noise of the tires on the dirt, under full load you can clearly hear an electronic hiss, which is perfectly acceptable both in terms of volume and pitch, and reminiscent of the Bosch CX and Shimano EP801 drives. Unfortunately, the Avinox system isn’t totally silent downhill, with a metallic clunking noise coming from the motor freewheel area. DJI were already aware of the problem and have promised to find a solution in the near future.
DJI’s comprehensive app allows you to quickly adapt the support levels to suit your preferences, even while riding. For example, you can adjust the length of the sustained assistance from barely noticeable to very long. On technical climbs in particular, the long overrun helps to push you over rocks and ledges when you have to stop pedalling. Both while coasting and beyond the 25 km/h threshold, the motor assistance never ends abruptly, fading out discreetly.
What can we expect from the DJI Avinox motor system?
New competition invigorates the market, and that’s exactly what we expect from the new DJI Avinox motor system. Based on what we’ve seen and experienced so far, DJI’s eMTB motor debut is promising, and the Chinese manufacturer’s extensive know-how and resources are a guarantee. Moreover, their first contact with the cycling world, with a major presentation at the Eurobike in Frankfurt, has been a real success. However, despite showing great potential and taking on the competition with countless features, a low system weight and plenty of power, the DJI Avinox motor system won’t be the only motor system to be launched this summer. Manufacturers like ZF, Delta and Preeto have unveiled new motors too, and the top dogs in this segment, like Bosch, Shimano and Brose, aren’t sleeping either.
As DJI’s launch partner, AMFLOW make a solid impression with their PL bike and, despite our initial scepticism about the weight specifications, after weighing our test bike ourselves, we know they’re correct. With its 120 Nm of torque, 800 Wh battery and a trail-oriented spec, our test bike in size L tips the scales at just 20.3 kg. The AMFLOW PL carbon bike will soon be available from selected DJI dealers. For servicing and maintenance, DJI are drawing on their existing and globally available network, which was built up through their drone and power bank business. Based on our initial impressions, we strongly believe that it’s only a matter of time before other bike manufacturers jump on board with the DJI Avinox motor system.
Our conclusion about the new DJI Avinox motor system
Wow! Rarely have the unveiling and first ride test of a new ebike system looked as promising as that of the DJI Avinox motor system. With the Avinox, DJI have made a successful debut in the eMTB sector, aiming straight for a big slice of the market. The manufacturer’s extensive know-how with compact electric motors, their existing connectivity and app development expertise, as well as the resources of a huge tech brand are bearing fruit: the DJI Avinox is set to be a real asset to the ebike world, both in terms of features and riding performance, and has the potential to change the market. Chapeau DJI! 脱帽致敬
Tops
- Plenty of power and great modulation
- Sensitive response behaviour
- Extremely versatile app and software
- Cool and well thought-out features
- Coherent overall concept
Flops
- Metallic clunking noise when riding downhill
For more info about the new DJI Avinox motor system, visit DJI’s website.
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Words: Peter Walker, Mike Hunger Photos: Peter Walker
