Originally Posted by kamtsa

Interesting reading, and I naively believed that Dahon bikes were already perfect, long lasting, stiff and with plenty of spare parts available.

The wind clearly changed direction ;-)

Originally Posted by brakemeister

You will be surprised what Dahon will show at the upcoming shows..... which will be different than Tern... not better or worse just different.

Originally Posted by jur

The first Tern in Australia:

Originally Posted by chagzuki

It's not a given that raw material costs will be rising and should market speculators view a global recession on the cards commodity prices will drop massively. Oil has come down a long way recently. So inflation isn't happening accross the board. But far eastern labour costs will keep rising. . . perhaps Tern's manufacturing base being in Eastern Europe is a good move.

Originally Posted by kamtsa

Thor, check the PDF in the link I posed earlier. The agreement is titled "CONTRACT BETWEEN DAHON CHINA AND DAHON TAIWAN", not Dahon China and Dahon Global.

As for the legal documents, they are actually very useful to see beyond the PR smoke screen. For example, that the split started more than 15 years ago or that the new Tern/Biologic distributor Stile Products is actually a subsidiary of Dahon Taiwan (90% ownership by MH).

Originally Posted by brakemeister

I should be very much more concerned than most as I am a Dahon Dealer and I will be a Tern Dealer as fast as the first bikes will be available over here. I have much more at stake than a customer who is not sure if he wants to buy one bike ... its basically my lifelyhood..... and I can assure you.. I am not worried ... for either one of the two companies.

Originally Posted by pacificcyclist

Don't pay too much attention on the legal issues with Dahon and Tern as this is normal operation even in other companies as well. We are living in difficult economic times and there are people out there who abuse the innovations that others made by just simply copying to make it cheaper. Just look at Apple Inc. and their continual fight against intellectual property infringements and how far they are willing to go to stop their competitors from even copying some of their designs. You see Apple Inc. floundering even against their fight with Samsung?!? You see Samsung struggling?

Do not be fooled by hearsay and opinions from the web. They come from individual opinions which are hardly facts! Listen to those who work in the industry and they will say the truth, even though it is a little difficult to swallow at times.

Unfortunately for you and for a lot of us, prices for many things like bikes and most electronic items are going to go anywhere but UP and UP and UP, no thanks to the over usage of governments use of quantitative easing initiatives. In this day and age, waiting is not a good game to play unless of course you are in Las Vegas or Florida, waiting for home prices to drop even more. It's depressing to see homes in Vegas going no where but down. Shara has closed and on liquidation sale, except the only thing you'll see on Interbike is prices are not going the way of Las Vegas homes; well at least most of them. If you are expecting hot prices, well expect hot temperature of 106 to 109 F at noon at Vegas now to Sept would be a better bet!

Having said that. Let's clear up some B.S about folding bikes in general. There are a lot of general classification on folding bikes, but roughly they can be differentiated into 3 class.

1, Compact fold
2, Quick fold
3, Travel fold

The Brompton falls more on the compact fold, whereas the Dahon on the Quick fold and the Bike Friday as well as the Xootr Swift on the travel fold end. They all have pros and cons, which were the reasons they were created. To serve a purpose, your propose!
Most folding bikes suffer a similar problem. Design a bike to fold nicely, but suffer some on ride quality. Design a folding bike that rides really nice but suffer some on the ease and quickness of the fold.
Notice I didn't list Tern in there?

Because with Tern, they are providing the best of both worlds. Being able to fold quickly PLUS providing the stiffness ratio that yields the ride quality that may perhaps surpasses current generation folding bikes that does not fold that nice and quick.
Do you see why the competitors are nervous? Do you see why Apple Inc. succeed where others fail.
In this current economy, the market demands to own the best of the best at a fair price. It's going to be expensive, but if Tern can replace 2 to 3 folding bikes with just 1 bike, that person will be willing to part with a significant amount of cash outlay to buy that and amortize it over the years, it will prove itself to be cost effective in the end. Apple Inc. proved it very nicely as their used products can still command a higher price than typical PC laptops. I believe Tern can do this.

So what to do now for the original poster. Well, determine what you need from a bike. If you need more speeds than what you've got, there are a number of options available from Dahon now, but options are limited as most items are already sold out.
I think it would be wise to wait for Tern if you are willing to accept the unique value that Tern provides. But if you are looking solely to save money and upgrade from your Boardwalk, The Dahon Speed P8 or the Mu P8 are a good start if you can find one in stock. A good online dealer that provides exceptional service on this forum can lend assistance to your needs.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Dynocoaster

I would get a Dahon now before the price increase in the middle of September.

Originally Posted by Dynocoaster

I just bought a used Speed 8 and tuned it a bit. I didnt care for the Big Apple tires and installed Marathon Racers and what a difference going from 20x2.0 to 20x1.50.

Originally Posted by Dynocoaster

I would get a Dahon now before the price increase in the middle of September.