Test of this pedal-assisted urban bike with a classic design, light, easy to handle and at a reasonable price, which proved to be very comfortable and profitable both on urban routes and on out-of-town trips. Rear motor and battery with good autonomy make driving easy and intuitive.
The Nilox range of pedal-assisted bikes ranges from the timeless folding model, which recalls the legendary Graziella, up to MTBs designed for heavy-duty use and cargo bikes, arriving at the protagonist of our test, the J5 Plus dedicated to use in the urban.
The Nilox J5 Plus is a simple and practical bike to use, light and easy to handle enough to navigate traffic in the city but also stable and intuitive to ride when tackling dirt roads and paths along river banks on weekends. Low price and sufficient autonomy to cover daily travel make it an attractive product for those looking for a “green” alternative to their car.
Global analysis
The Nilox J5 Plus has a steel frame with classic, sober and elegant shapes, as required of an urban bike. The only size available, thanks to the open frame and 26-inch wheels (with 26×1.75” tyres), allows easy access for cyclists of any height.
The motor is a 250W Bafang with three levels of assistance and integrated braking sensor. The unit, contained in the rear hub, is managed by a small control unit placed on the handlebar, equipped with two buttons for switching on and choosing the assistance levels as well as the standard LEDs for controlling the charge of the 36V – 9.6 Ah battery ( 346 Wh), located in the rear luggage rack. The battery, also equipped with charge control LEDs (more precise than those on the remote control) and blocked by a safety lock with key, can be easily removed from the luggage rack to be charged at home or in the office with the supplied transformer . Charging time is 5 hours. The declared travel range is 65 km.
The control on the handlebar allows you to select the three continuously rotating assistance levels. The first level pushes up to 15 km/h, the second reaches 20 and the third reaches the limit of 25 km/h, the legal value beyond which the engine disengages, just as it disengages when the brakes are applied or you stop pedaling. On the control there is a LED indicator of the battery charge status.
The mechanical sector includes a 6-speed Shimano Tourney transmission with 14-16-18-21-24-28 tooth sprockets and a comfortable and intuitive rotary control on the handlebar. The suspension fork is a classic spring/elastomer with no adjustments and no ordinary maintenance. The front brake is a disc brake with mechanical control while the rear is a V-brake.
At the bike-cyclist contact points we find shaped grips to widen the support area, long brake levers that can be operated with four fingers, flat pedals with sufficient grip and a saddle with generous padding, suitable for a generally upright posture. There is no shortage of essential accessories for urban cycling, such as front and rear LED lights, bell, reflectors and mudguards.
The Nilox J5 Plus is available in one size in gray only at a list price of 999.95 euros. The weight we detected was 22.1 kg (declared 22 kg).
Ranking
Each product subjected to our test receives an opinion on the various objectively determinable functional aspects. Aesthetics and price are not considered, as they are considered parameters resulting from strictly subjective evaluations.
This is our scale of values.
Identikit
The main characteristics are in alphabetical order, with our evaluation resulting from the test.
• Travel autonomy
• Comfort
• Cycling balance
• Engine output
• Finishes (frame, components)
• Fork (overall performance)
• Braking (overall performance)
• Easy handling
• Cycling stability
Our test
Our test was spread over five weeks of intense daily use. During this period the Nilox J5 Plus replaced the family car. We therefore put it to the test in city traffic, both for work trips and for going shopping, on extra-urban transfers and, on weekends, for the most fun outings on dirt roads, dirt roads with few bumps and a few sharp turns. on the shorter climbs that we usually face with the racing bike.
Knowing that battery performance drops in cold weather, we purposely chose an autumn/winter test to verify battery performance in the most difficult conditions. The weather cooperated, alternating days with low clouds and light rain with days of sunshine and bitter cold with temperatures between +3°C and +18°C, conditions in which the battery is put to the test but quite normal for urban cyclists which never stop throughout the year.
The J5 Plus in our test arrived already assembled and ready to go. Once in the saddle you are in an upright position with your back quite vertical, which facilitates maneuverability and visibility in every direction. The cranks are at the correct height for pedaling but also for putting your foot on the ground without problems. The weight distribution, due to the position of the battery and the motor, is slightly shifted to the rear but does not affect the control of the bike.
The handling in tight spaces – with the short and high handlebars, the weight of the battery placed in the luggage rack which raises the center of gravity and the reduced speed – requires some more attention when driving. When you manage to relax the pedaling in the smooth sections, the J5 Plus proves to be well set up with excellent steering control, the fork helps to absorb a large part of the road roughness, at the rear the saddle/tyre combination makes any route comfortable, as long as to avoid the deepest holes.
The Nilox J5 is designed for urban use but does not disdain dirt roads or not too demanding paths, the handling allows you to maneuver even on dirt roads and the engine smoothes out any hills.
The fork has a soft calibration, a little fast in sinking while in the return phase it is slower, which is quite normal for a spring and elastomer shock-absorbing unit, without adjustments, a feature that makes it maintenance-free. Downhill, during more vigorous braking, small twists are felt which, however, do not affect the driving precision and control of the front wheel.
The front disc brake is powerful enough to allow good modulation. Combined with the rear V-brake, it guarantees stopping distances suitable for urban driving.
The lights are suitable for night use, with the front LED light guaranteeing excellent visibility, both in width and depth, and the rear one clearly visible. For daytime use we would have preferred lights with more power, even just at the rear. On the web it is however possible to purchase at reasonable prices a red daytime spotlight to be applied to the roof rack to further increase passive safety.
The engine, when pedaling at cruising speed, offers good thrust and constant, homogeneous assistance, without jerks in delivery. The first level of assistance leaves room for muscular effort. The second level is the one we used most often as it allows you to proceed at an average speed of around 18-20 km/h, both on asphalt and dirt roads, with very minimal effort. The third level pushes you to slightly higher speeds, sometimes even slightly higher than the limit of 25 km/h (27-28 km/h read on our GPS cycle computer), useful values for home-office transfers or uphill but a little too fast for a relaxing walk.
The engine is not equipped with torque sensors and therefore has a sudden and somewhat abrupt engagement at start-up. On a cheap electric bike this is a feature that takes getting used to and can be mitigated with appropriate use of the gear. At each stop it is advisable to insert a more agile gear, in practice one or two larger sprockets, in this way at the next start it will be necessary to give half a turn of the pedal more before feeling the thrust of the engine and it will also be easier to reach a highest speed when pushing will begin. With this technique we managed to make calm starts by mitigating the exuberant engagement of the engine.
In mixed terrain and low-speed manoeuvres, engagement is always decisive and noticeable even with the lowest level of assistance. In these situations it is a good idea to keep a couple of fingers on the brake levers to avoid sudden thrusts. Unfortunately, pulling the brake deactivates the engine and exposes you to a new push but that’s how the bike is made, with a bit of getting used to it you can manage it without problems.
Battery life, as always, is influenced by various external factors, in our test we tried to reproduce the same conditions several times on the same route. The 65 km of autonomy declared by Nilox should be considered as a value that can be reached on flat routes with minimal assistance. In our tests we detected average distances exceeding 55 km. Considering the low temperatures which reduce the performance of the batteries, this is to be considered a very respectable value for urban, home-work use.
Autonomy is significantly reduced in the case of uphill journeys which must be tackled with the highest level of assistance. The engine is powerful enough to tackle climbs with gradients greater than 6% without tiring the cyclist, on steeper gradients further muscular effort will be required.
In the conditions of greatest consumption, with the maximum level of assistance always on, lights on, cold temperature and route with a 4 km climb at an average gradient of 6% with a peak of 10%, we covered 32 km before having to resort to pedaling exclusively muscular. Without a motor, the Nilox J5 Plus, thanks to its low weight and agile gear ratios, allows you to pedal with limited effort and within everyone’s reach.
– Nilox website
Article and photos by Sergio Doria