guym458

I can get one for a good price, owned by one person since 2013 and appears to be in excellent condition, What risk am i running into purchasing a second hand X30 in specific? i'm basically looking for a nice bike to ride around the park on weekends, Is the ride comfortable on the X30? Would you guys recommend the model? i'd appreciate any input,

Thank you in advance.

Joe Remi

Stay away. It's a good price because Tern had a big problem with broken frames and the recall program was spotty at best. Unless you can see paperwork proving the frame was replaced, forget it. If they tell you it wasn't part of the recall, forget it. I wouldn't trust any Tern from before about 2016 that hasn't had a frame replacement from the company.

guym458

Oh wow that changed my entire perspective, i was dead set on purchasing the bike this weekend but i guess i won't be getting it now, the seller has been claiming its an extremely solid and durable bike and stands very proud with his words praising the bike and had mentioned nothing about a recall of any sort, So i should stay away 100% even if i can get this pristine X30 for a really good price? the seller said he had the bike serviced last month and all checked out in excellent condition, i had to negotiate on the price with the seller quite a bit and the seller didn't seem to be in any rush to sell it so i felt good being able to negotiate it down to a good price but the entire reason for me wanting to purchase a Tern was because of the quality they are known for and the ability to have a great folding bike incase i ever decide to store it aside but i had no clue they had quality issues especially on this super high end bike model (the verge X30 is considered high end right?)

Joe Remi

Yes it's a high end model, but that frame was shared on a bunch of them. You can't just take my word for it, though, so search "Tern recall" and decide for yourself. Personally I can't do it; I was around for the whole drama at the time and I couldn't bring myself to ride that thing while worrying if it's going to snap. I think it's borderline criminal that a folding bike company had so little control of the build quality of their frames.

guym458

Nightdiver

Tern has somewhere that you can check your serial number to see if it is part of the bad batch affected by the recall. Or if you want even more detailed info, contact the US Tern distributor. They are good guys and will give you a no-BS assessment. You can ask them for opinions/options about frame replacement.

dahoneezz

guym458

BruceMetras

$950 is high for a 2013 X30. There were a number of recalls on the frame extending into 2016. If you are looking for things to consider, consider the low spoke count front wheel. There were many problems with broken spokes and cracked rims. Although a very good hub, the SRAM dual drive hub is discontinued. The bike will be a hard riding bike due to the high pressure tires with limited tire clearance for larger tires due to the caliper brakes. So consider the types of roads you will be riding.

Have you test ridden this X30 for any distance?

https://www.bikefolded.com/tern-verg...ikes-recalled/

guym458

Joe Remi

"Rare gem" is hogwash, it's just a folding bike with fiddly wheels, an obsolete (and heavy) shifting system and a horrendous reputation for that company. It's worth maybe $500, which I still wouldn't pay. IMO you'd be better off with something like a Dahon Speed 8 or Mariner, which are also in the $500 range.

mkatz

Another perspective: I had one and found it to ride impressively... fast and responsive. Unfortunately, for my age and body (much abused 70 y.o) it was too stiff so I gave it to my son. He found the components to be of a pleasingly high quality. The frame was replaced without difficulty under warranty. My son still rides the bike when he needs access to a "folder".

I have no comment to offer about pricing.

guym458

rhenning

The Dahon is a better deal if the bike fits you. Deals are worthless if the bike doesn't fit. Roger

guym458

tds101 

There is no difference, other than mistrust of the Tern branding. Both folders are size adjustable.

guym458

BruceMetras

Here's a Tern recall on the Link series .

https://www.ternbicycles.com/2014-li...ry-recall-faqs

The Dahon Mu series has been reliable through the years. The 'P' designation indicates Dahon's Premium component group..

What model year(s) are these bikes?

What's your location? For a couple hundred more dollars, you're into brand new bikes from either manufacturer.

berlinonaut

Possibly because a bunch of people here in the forum like Dahon over Tern (not for technical but personal and subjective reasons) and some are almost hysterical about the past issues with breaking Tern frames and consider buying or riding a Tern equal to comitting suicide. So asking here for differences or which one is better may quickly end up in a flame war w/o any use to the original question...

As far as I can judge Dahon and Tern seem to be more or less par on what you get for your money.

Dahon has a far longer history and a very confusing lineup of models, not only over the years but also in parallel and even more if you look at different countries - the same models are often not the same models, technical data ist vague (at best), plain wrong (somtimes) or missing (often). The quality seems not always to be as good as some people here in the forum claim but generally they seem to be good bang for the buck - still you get what you pay for.
Tern on the other hand wanted to be more innovative and customer oriented than Dahon. They shoot themselves in the foot with the breaking frames shortly after their market entry and their far-from-perfect dealing with that. The number of bikes affected seems to be only a fraction of their production. However - many Tern riders have been in fear for years if their bike will brake at some point. Still today I'd have no issues buying a (new) Tern, if one would suit me - I'd assume they have learned their lesson. In general Terns often seem to be slightly more expensive than Dahon and their model range is smaller. If you stay in the mainstream range of the two companies - 20" geared folders like Tern Link, Dahon Speed, Dahon Vybe Tern Verge and Dahon Vitesse they should be pretty comparable. If one of those fits you sizewise the others will probably as well.

Still even within these models quality may differ vastly depending on the submodel. But for a "ride around the park" there should be no issues with any of the bikes. The Dahon model range is very confusing - one recent addition that looks interesting if you like the Dahon/Tern style of folders is the Hemingway: DAHON Hemingway D9 20? |

BruceMetras

That Hemingway D9 looks good! Not on the USA site yet, maybe next year.

guym458

berlinonaut

As I said before: Some people consider ANY Tern a bad buy. No rationals involved. However: Even I would have doubts buying a used Tern from that early period when frames were braking - for the simple reasons that the recalls have been extended several times and it seems that there were issues outside the recalls as well and some even with bikes that got clearance from Tern before. Probably there will be no issue in reality with the bike in question but I would still have a slightly uncomfortable feeling as the issues have not been cleared out fully and transparently. Not even if you spent considerable time digging through the net to find out what's up. I did that, so I know what I'm talking about. So why bother with that when there are plenty of alternatives?

So IF the X30 in question dates from that period I personally would stay away. So this is the first thing you should clarify: When was this thing built? (Built, not bought)

​​​​​​Other than that if I remember correctly the X30 is a bit of a perfomance bike which seems unneccesary for what you intend to do with it. Often the highest spec bikes from Tern and Dahon have i.e. 20-spoke front wheels which are less longlasting than the normal ones and you may face issues getting a new rim. Stuff like that. If you are willing and able to pay 950$ for your folder you could easily get a brand new one for that money that is not even close to low spec. In my eyes probably the better deal in your case. I'm more at home in the Brompton world, so I cannot provide you with specific models or experiendes with those.

BruceMetras

IMHO, a used 5 or 6 year old X30 is not a good buy at anything over $500 due to the multiple frame recalls on the X30 model. Some frames outside of the production number recalls also failed. First hand user reports and pictures were on the Tern message message site before it was revamped. All of the x30s didn't break, but enough did to cause serious concern. So you might be okay with a frame that won't fail at the hinge and break in two, but I certainly wouldn't pay a premium price on a roll of the dice.

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/reca...s#.W7j9biNVkV0

Joe Remi

Berlinaut, you can't call people hysterical and not rational about Tern fears, then agree with them. Pick a lane.

Joe Remi

To the OP: If you're willing to spend around $1000, you might find a nice used Brompton which would be perfect for the kind of riding you want to do. I use mine for shortish town rides and shopping runs, then fold it up nice and compact in my apartment.