saltdeancyclist

is this a kit I can buy?
I just bought a used Tern Link D8 and find the hinge bolt is sheared!

rhenning

I believe you have to go theough a dealer to get the repair kit. You may have to let the dealer install the kit for recall reasons. Roger

tds101 

You need to take it to a Tern dealer,...DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REPAIR AND RIDE THE BIKE!!!

downtube

I recall reading that this can cause a frame failure...even after repair. Does anyone recall this stuff??? I think Mark Bickerton was a reference...not sure.

Thanks
Yan

Kabuto

You're not sure, but you'll throw the FUD out there anyway. I guess all's fair in love and war... and business competition, eh

AFAIK there's two types of frame failures:

* frame cracking around the weld at the frame joint > rectified with a beefed up frame around the frame joint
* hinge bolt shearing > rectified by changing from a two bolt to single bolt design

Hopefully Mark Bickerton will see these posts and clear up any residual FUD for us.

dahoneezz

downtube

What happens when the FUD is real?

I was contacted by a Tern dealer that knew of the bolt failure causing the frame failures.

Thanks
Yan

tds101 

Too bad damaged goods are still being sold out there, even after the "problems" were rectified. Tern's reputation is still crap,...and I'm a TernJoeP24 owner.

Mark Bickerton

Hi All,
I see my name appearing again as a helpful contact! (Yes, I still believe in old fashioned customer service!)
Here is my advice.
Tern have comprehensive and robust processes for fully dealing with these issues.
If it is a service issue, please contact your supplying retailer.
This is also true of warranty and recall issues.
You can find out a lot more here:
for normal service issues: https://www.ternbicycles.com/support
for recall issues: https://www.ternbicycles.com/support/product-alerts
If for any reason you find that the normal process is not working for you, you can email contact Tern directly though this link:
https://www.ternbicycles.com/contact

Best wishes,

Mark Bickerton Cyclemotion
UK Representation - Tern Bicycles

P.S. As a last resort if you are not getting anywhere with a bona-fide issue, you are welcome to contact me directly through this forum.

downtube

Mark,

Is there a connection between the hinge failures and the frame failures?

Has Tern diagnosed the cause of frame failures from multiple factories?

Thanks
Yan

downtube

Tern started with a recall. Then it went to two, then that was extended ( so it's really three ). Frames are still failing after three recalls. They don't have the serial number of recalled bikes defined...you need to contact them. This is just shady. Given all the shady behavior I would not be surprised if they added serial #'s to the list of recalled bikes after they learn of a failure. Why else would they not publicly define the serial #'s that are recalled?

As of today they have never diagnosed the problem, nor provided their solution. Many people have asked and all we get is silence....for years. Many customers ride these bikes in fear of becoming another statistic. All the while they claim they provide "great customer service" a direct quote from Mr. Bickerton.

This is so comically ridiculous....I don't know where to start. I guess the "bee in my bonnet must be buzzing". ( this is another quote from Mr. Bickerton )

Thanks,
Yan

saltdeancyclist

I have no affiliation to Tern, I just like the bikes. But I feel I could develop a loyalty to the brand under this heavy fire from Yan. "The British love an underdog"!
Just to remind him and bring this back down to earth; my post was not about another recent frame failure. It was about the discovery of a sheared hinge bolt on a worn-out old bike. Equally, the chain could bend in all directions, the rear cassette was missing teeth and the rims were worn. It was sold as being in poor condition. Universal advice to people buying any folding bike is that the hinge takes a lot of strain and should be checked regularly. Tern have modified the hinge and hopefully this will make them as good as any other. I feel safe on my Verge P18 with replacement frame and would hesitate to buy a Downtube, having had a glimpse of the personality behind the business. Just sayin! That is to say; this is a personal opinion, his bikes may be fantastic. I'm going to disengage from this thread now and get on with enjoying the ride.

wesgreen

I'm not going to miss you. Thanks to Yan for standing up for riders.

tds101 

​​​​​​Better have good insurance,...

BromptonINrio

Loyalty to Tern os something unheard off...

jollynut

The hinge thread removal instructions on this thread are really helpful. Could have done with that a few years ago.

tcs

You only have three posts on this board, so we'll cut you some slack. I'll tell you those of us who have been around have more than glimpsed the personalities behind Tern. Tern was created by a small group of Dahon employees who set their company up while they were drawing Dahon salaries and went out the door with a Dahon 'Rolodex' and a bunch of Dahon blueprints. As they left, they locked their old employer out of their own website - nice guys, huh? They subsequently got a Baltic states patent on a bike Dahon had developed and had been building for a year, and used that patent to get a temporary injunction against Dahon from continuing to sell that model in the EU. The lawsuit settlement between Dahon and Tern was never made public, but industry observers and folding bike fans noted Dahon seemed to walk away with everything they wanted. Then there were the infamous frame failures - both an engineering and customer service debacle! Oh, and do you know about the totally bogus 'patent infringement' lawsuits Terns has filed on other folding bike companies, including Downtube? Probably not. Yan posted links to the actual court filings, and they didn't make Tern look so wonderful.

Anyway, glad you like your Tern, and hope you get years of enjoyable (and safe) service from it.

PTLFHG

My brother purchased a Tern foldable bike and when he rode the bicycle to work the next day, the frame of the bicycle collapsed causing him to fall. As a result, my brother sustained a serious brain injury. He had to undergo a craniotomy to remove a blood clot that impaired his cognitive ability and a cranioplasty six months later.

The police conducted metallurgy testing of the front fork and identified that a welded joint was of poor quality and had caused weakness to the joint. The failed welded joint was manually welded and is the primary reason why the fork failed.

It is unthinkable that a bicycle could collapse on the day after the purchase and has changed the life of my brother and his family. He is now unable to work and has to be rehabilitated.

Bonzo Banana

That's pretty horrific to say the least. Many frames and forks are manually welded normally by skilled welders. Robot welded frames and forks seems to be more common with high tensile steel for mass produced lower end bikes as there is less customization of basic bikes and steel is easier to automate the welding process. There are bikes that fail on the first ride due to manufacturing quality but these are normally extremely rare it's when you get a more significant percentage of failures that the company is forced to offer a recall. I'm sad enough to look at the weld beading on bikes in showrooms to see the overall quality of construction although I accept this is only a very general indicator of quality and doesn't mean a frame is definitely poorly made but you see poor beading on some frames especially children's frames where I believe many welders in factories start before moving to adult frames which require more consistent high quality welds.

Like many western brands who do not manufacture themselves or manufacture very low volumes of frames themselves often they are trying to find the cheapest factory so their bikes remain competitively priced and that process often means some product may come from a lower quality factory at times. Personally I think this leads to a quality lottery on what you are buying so tend to actually prefer brands that either manufacture bikes themselves or wholly import complete bicycles from good quality factories on a long term relationship. Tern to me do not represent a quality product they are more of a lifestyle product, stylish and expensive for what you are getting. Not something I personally would want. The obsession with bicycle weight and keeping costs as low as possible often leads to weak designs in my opinion.

dahoneezz

Duncan Kennedy

Dear all,

I have found this forum after googling Tern frame failures as I have just experienced one.
On Wednesday 29th January whilst riding my Tern C7 Link (Frame No. AA40517369) which I purchased From Evans Cycles on 17/9/2015, one of the main welds on the frame, the rear weld at the frame hinge, failed catastrophically and the bike ended up in two halves which meant I was thrown on to the road. Thankfully it was a quite road and I was not going fast at the time and I therefore only suffered cuts, grazes and bruises. However, if I had been on in of the busier or faster stretches of my commute it could have been far worse, potentially fatal.

The bike has been used frequently, but has been serviced and no issues with the frame have been reported.
I have never been informed of any recall from either Tern or Evans.

I have Just sent a message to Tern through there website, but see that they have a representative on this forum. Dear M ark Bickerton am I able to contact you directly?

wesgreen

Thank you for posting; I'm glad you're ok, relatively! Unfortunately, Tern has proved again and again that skilled marketing and advertising can overcome these never ending reports. It will probably take a criminal trial to eventually take them down.

Joe Remi

That company shouldn't be selling bicycles. They're bad at it.

wesgreen

Well, the problem is they're great at the selling and PR part, but don't care much about the health of their customers.

Joe Remi

Well, I think my point was clear.