DJI’s Avinox is the ebike motor of the future

Amflow PL Carbon Pro vs Whyte ELyte EVO Stag Works ride impressions

The latest SRAM gearing has proven pretty tough. Andy Lloyd / Our Media

Assistance kicks in almost instantaneously as you press on the Amflow PL's pedals, feeding in power naturally and matching your efforts seamlessly. In fact, when it comes to feel, the Avinox drive unit is the smoothest I've used. Even the way in which it accelerates up to full speed is slick, without any of that whiplash-inducing abruptness you might expect with the torque levels on offer.

What's really different about the Amflow PL is how little effort is required to zip along at the motor's cut-off limit.

These stubby 155mm cranks compliment the low bottom bracket of the Whyte perfectly. Andy Lloyd / Our Media

On the climbs, even in the Turbo mode, hitting that max speed doesn't require much effort at all. Sit alongside a friend on a full-power eMTB with the Bosch equivalent and the Amflow PL will more than comfortably keep pace in Trail mode while they're hoofing along in Turbo. Switch the Amflow into Turbo and put some effort in and you'll leave your friend way behind - the difference is massive.

And you won't even be breaking a sweat. Bump it into the 30-second Boost mode and you can blitz steep sections at pace. However, throughout testing, I rarely felt the need for this feature because Turbo was almost always enough.

When faced with a steep, root-riddled climb that twists and weaves its way through tight trees, the Amflow PL made life easier than expected.

Uphill, the Avinox motor shone the brightest and impressed with how controlled it felt. Andy Lloyd / Our Media

As I made my way up and over the wet roots, easing on and off the power, or pausing completely to avoid spinning up the rear wheel, the way in which the Amplow PL delivered assistance was incredibly predictable. The way it closely mimics your inputs makes tackling tricky climbs very intuitive and more achievable. It's totally in sync with your efforts - you don't need to learn and adapt to the motor's behaviour as it adapts to yours.

It feels as though the usable cadence window is far broader than most others, too. Despite the ability to tune things such as overrun in the Avinox app, I left it as standard and had no issues with how assistance was being delivered.

Despite the Amflow PL being the pick of the two bikes on the climbs, the Whyte felt incredibly capable when working against gravity. Andy Lloyd / Our Media

In Turbo, even with all of that assistance on tap, I was able to control it just as I wanted, whether crawling along at a snail's pace or blitzing smooth but steep sections. Unlike other motors, I found I could stick to one mode and just ride, regardless of the traction on offer beneath my tyres.

The lower weight and fast-rolling tyres help to make the Amflow PL feel quite sprightly should you exceed the motor's limit on flatter sections. The rear suspension remains calm as you spin the cranks when seated and the seat tube angle feels steep enough that it perches you far enough forwards to keep things efficient when pointed skywards. The Whyte's proportions feel equally comfortable when climbing and it's just as competent when things get really steep - although the Avinox motor sets the standard here.

There's a second remote on the Amflow, which is handy for switching display screens. Andy Lloyd / Our Media

The new Bosch motor is a step up from its predecessor, yet retains control across a wide range of speeds - critical when clawing up something slow and technical.

It's responsive, too, although it can't quite match the pick-up of the DJI unit. This is most notable when exiting turns, where you've paused pedalling before getting back on the gas, or when delicately pedalling up slippery root spreads. On the same technical climb, it took more brain power and mode-toggling to ensure I could clear complex uphill sections.

Switching from Turbo down into eMTB mode feels like more of a marked difference in assistance (as standard) compared to the previous motor iteration. However, it does enable you to wind on the power more delicately - a real plus to prevent rear-wheel spin when you least want it. Should you falter, features such as the hill hold can make getting going that bit easier, though.

On really chunky climbs, the taller bottom bracket of the Amflow PL means you can pedal through pretty much anything without fear of clipping a pedal.

Both brands have specced the same SRAM Transmission gearing, which works really well on an eMTB. Andy Lloyd / Our Media

Whyte's low-slung approach - even with the stubby 155mm cranks fitted - still leads to the odd pedal collision, but that's something I'm more than willing to deal with. In terms of range, I rode both bikes in their Turbo modes (on the same day, in the same conditions) and managed 1,524m of elevation on the Amflow PL until it hit 5 per cent battery and the assistance dropped off. I managed a little less on the Whyte, clocking 1,458m of climbing.

Although the Amflow PL only just beats the Whyte in this regard, I was able to ride at a higher average speed, but with close to the same heart rate throughout.