Reddleman

After spending some time and money, I thought I should pass on my experiences with the range of head tube mounted luggage brackets on the market for Terns, Dahons and most 20" wheeled folding bikes.

Exhibit A: Mark 1 Tern Luggage Truss


This design is made of cast aluminium and has quite a heft to it. Definitely no issues with its carrying capability! It comes with a lock built in. However, it has one major flaw - it sticks up and away from the bike when it is folded, and protrudes above the hinge on the handle post. This makes it more awkward to fit a bike when folded into a small space or a travelling bag. It also has quite sharp edges to it. Although it's supposed to have been replaced by the later Mark 2 version, in some nations the local distributor appears to have stocks of these leftover that they want to shift before ordering in the new version.

Exhibit B: Rixen and Kaul Luggage Truss


Made of plastic, it has a low profile design that can be fitted to both Bromptons as well as the 20" folders. It's much lighter than the Tern luggage truss, but it has a flaw too - at speed and on some surfaces with a heavier bag (within its 5kg limit) I've found that it vibrates and causes the front wheel to shimmy, which is most unpleasant. It doesn't come with a lock as standard but they can be fitted as an extra apparently.

Exhibit C: Mark 2 Tern Luggage Truss



Like the Rixen and Kaul truss, this one has a lower profile that keeps luggage closer to the frame and reduces the total bulk of the bike when folded, keeping its maximum folded height down to the top of the folded handle post. This has meant that we've had to adjust the positioning of the plate on a basket so that it could be fitted without pressing on the mudguard/fender of the front wheel. Made of metal tubing, it has more heft to it and so far it seems to avoid the vibration issues found with Exhibit B, but some more testing under load and at speed may be necessary here. It comes with the lock as well as a velcro strap to tuck cables out of the way if that's what you want to do.

Anyone else want to chip in with their experiences?

pinholecam

Nice post and useful info.

I have used Exhibit A: Mark 1 Tern Luggage Truss

and to me the major flaw is that it can be mounted flush with the mounting post on the bike and in rough terrain the vibrations can cause it to loosen and wobble.

Another tip is to make sure the tool that secures it or dismantles it for travel is the tool that you bring with you on the trip.
Not all tools got the clearance to reach into the area to properly tighten the screw.

Reddleman

Good point - a 5mm Allen key is needed for all of them, and as you say it needs to be longer than the usual multi tool. I found I had to take off Exhibit A for bagging up or squeezing a bike into a hatchback car, but Exhibit B avoided this hassle.

Ron Damon

I've used the Tern Luggage Truss gen.1 and 2 sans problems. But i take it off the bike when it's packed for traveling.