brakemeister

here as promised
this is somewhat a crude listing of the current Dahon and Tern prices for the US market.
Websites will be brought up to date as fast as possible with much more details of course.


https://www.thorusa.com/dahon/current/news.htm

jur

Prices look all right to me.

CSG

Shooting themselves in the foot if you ask me (which you didn't! ).

Dynocoaster 

When do the Terns arrive?

kamtsa

Thanks Thor.

Are the Dahon bikes in the list from Dahon China or Dahon Taiwan?

sudoshift

You're the man Thor! Damn that Verge S11i is $2k!

merry2

really?

jur

Yes, really. I am comparing Tern prices against other top class folders. Nothing wrong with them.

Azreal911

The prices do look good and much better than the singapore prices that someone posted earlier. But with the dahon prices so similar and up there i would choose a tern anyday for parts and frame reliability. And yeah the tern quality you should be comparing them in riding quality to the higher end stuff instead of just dahon. Cant wait for a real bikeforumer review of one of these babies!

And the verge s11i for 2k isnt bad for a folder cause someone said the cheapest non folder with that hub costs 1600. Folders usually cost more cause of extra engineering needed.

Diode100

With all this extra money being generated by the increase in Dahon prices for old bikes and the frenzy to be first on the block with a Tern, any Tern, do you think Dahon / Tern will spend some of it on an improved spares holding and distribution service, even to the extent of issuing dealers / repairers with spare parts lists and model identification information ?

Azreal911

Parts and disribution was terns main business model! Thats why im very interested in them. But for dahon i have no clue.

mulleady

I think Joshua Hon is very forward looking and will seek to improve on the older Dahon business model. I will reserve judgement on the pricing points until I see the new bike range in person.

merry2

really?

that's not marketing/pr talk?

often, the more diffuse technology becomes, the more inexpensive and accessible it becomes for others as far as price goes. this is the case for cars, cellphones, mp3 players, etc. even other companies have dahonesque folds -citizen bike, schwinn, downtube... their bikes are more inexpensive, but is it because dahon possesses better folding technology?

obviously, dahon has grown a lot since its earlier days (biggest folding co. on the block now) but the fold is pretty much the same, isn't it?

why would people still need to pay, a lot imo, for so-called extra engineering? engineering that has not really changed all that much in the last 20 years. has the engineering involved in creating that fold changed all that much?

i can understand costs going up because of materials, using better quality components, x-tra r/d, and even labor. but i don't really understand prices being extra high because of engineering that is essentially the same and unchanged for years. they have this down pat.

but, maybe you have worked in bike manufacturing and have a better grasp of it that i do.

CSG

Seems like a little shilling going on here...

merry2

which top class folders?

molton
pacific cycles - reach, birdy
swift
bike friday

Azreal911

If you dont think so then why are bike fridays and bromptons over 1k? Its been the same frame all these years but needs more work to put together. Bromptons parts arent exactly super high end disk brakes and only 3 speed sturmey archers. You put the bf or brompton parts on a nonfolder and you would probably end up with a $500-$700 bike. The frame isnt free. Just because its folded the same theres alot of testing to make sure it is a better ride than the competitors and their previous generations, bet you there is a TON of safety tests done on the frames! Lawsuits can get expensive when your bike decides to fold up on customers. That in itself has extra overhead fixed frame bike makers dont have as much of. Im not a bike sales or maker or anything so take it as you will. Else all folders should cost the same as any fixed frame because its more "diffuse" but we dont see it in the higher end folder markets and their prices are all going up!

The big companies dahon, bf and brompton actually DO improve their frames and hinges year after year to make it better and safer. Im not sure how citizen kept it cheap but their parts are very low end and the dahon hinge is several generations old. Downtube i am just guessing seems to be licensing from dahon the newer hinges so they save quite a bit from R&D? Someone chime in to correct me i can only explain so much.

BearLite

Maybe OT, but are there any Dahon/Tern resellers in Las Vegas? And will there be bikes (2012's?) available in early October?

Harorld

I'm in NYC and just spoke with a local Dahon seller. I am looking for a Dahon with the midtown mini frame, specifically the Dash P18 and X20. The guy at the store told me that the P18 and X20 never even made it to the USA and that he's not even sure if they went into production. His shop received a prototype of the P18 but then the Dahon/Tern thing happened and, according to him, they are trying to figure out which of the higher-end Dahon models will stay with Dahon or go with Tern.

frank13

These price increases have nothing to do with material prices or exchange rates, that excuse is a load of BS. For example, those reasons could not possibly justify the over 50% price increase of the Mu Uno from $589 to $899.

This has everything to do with supply and demand. Demand for folders has skyrocketed due to this horrible economy, unemployment and people not being able to afford gas/driving. Biking is the cheapest way to get places and spend time having fun. Not to mention baby boomers looking for get in better shape.

Dahon sold out many models like the Mu Uno, had trouble keeping up with demand, so decided to jack prices 50% and profit per unit way up. Good luck with that now that they have entered hand made in USA and Europe prices. Hope they are shooting themselves in the foot in the long run. As I know many like me will be looking much harder at the other brands. Hope some smart investors figure out its a good time to start mass manufacturing in the USA again, as it would be much cheaper and more profitable than hand building bikes. Bet USA/Europe companies that don't jack prices way up will gain in popularity and market share.

chagzuki

I think you're right frank13 so perhaps large bike companies will expand their folding ranges and increase competition.

badrad

+1 definitely consider all the alternatives when i am looking at another folder.

Diode100

The impression I get is that when large, or mainstream companies want to put out a folder it is usually some kind of bought in Dahon derivative, or clone of a phased out model that hits the showrooms with the mainstream company's name on it. I'm thinking Ridgeway, Raleigh, Bickerton even. Are the Kansei's not in fact Dahons ?

Dynocoaster 

Well this made me get off the fence and get my Speed Uno ordered. Thanks, Thor.

jur

Yeah those are some good examples...
Our Reach had quite humdrum parts on it, but cost $1500 and that was a special.
The Moultons were about the same, with entry-level parts.
The Swift is about $750 ATM, and also has very so-so parts on it.
AFAIK there is only one BF under $1k.
My entry-level Birdy was also about $1600.
Brompton also enters well above $1k.

chagzuki

Looking for comparable models the Dahon Vitesse D7HG is $950 and the Tern Link D7i is $900. They're very similar bikes, however I think Tern have made some sort of mistake as the Link models seem ridiculously heavy according to their stats, the Link D7i being a whopping 14.4kg. For me that's just too heavy and defeats the purpose of having a highly portable bike. If you added a thudbuster or sprung saddle saddle the bike would be approaching 15kg.