Originally Posted by
sweeks
That may be true. However, there are reports of other frames of other brands failing in various ways. These don't always result in recalls. It seems to be a part of the "background", especially when weight reduction is a priority... this puts folding bikes, almost by design, in a high-risk group.
Tern had a terrible problem, which could be described (charitably) as a "black eye". I'm not privy to the details of the problem itself or its management (I'm not in the bike trade), but the people in the Tern organization that I have dealt with have impressed me as honest and honorable. This has led me to believe that they have done their best to resolve the original problem and prevent its recurrence. If there's another recall of more recent frames, I'll reconsider my position. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying my bike.
I'm happy that you're enjoying your bike, but tern was far from honorable when the failures occurred, and how they deal with the situation now has no impact on their prior mistreatment of their customers in general. Either you failed to read all the horror stories, or simply choose to disregard them. I'm not going to recommend a tern bike to anyone,...and saying other companies had the same happen doesn't change the fact terns situation was in far larger numbers. And the other companies didn't deny the occurrence, nor did they lock customers out of forums OR attempt to discredit the customers who sustained injuries the way tern did. Tern is still not worth the risk,... And as you've said yourself, tern has been the subject of "recalls", while others haven't. Doesn't that mean that the other brands are safer, while tern is still unreliable? I'd say so,...