oivavoi

Hey folks. First question here on the folding forum!

I bought a Tern Node D7i some months ago. Bought it used, I think it's probably from around 2016 (not sure), it's first generation. Really loved it. But then it nearly caused me to die.

I rode it in the middle of busy city traffic, and suddenly the bike disappeared under me. What happened was that the front hinge (for the head tube) had opened up, just like that. I fell down and got lots of scratches, but didn't hit my head or break anything. Luckily the car behind me managed to stop. Otherwise I'm not sure if I would be here to write these lines.

I assumed that it was human error, and that I had forgotten to properly lock the hinge. I rode it again, much more carefully and slowly this time. And lo and behold - same thing happened again. More scratches.

So the hinge doesn't seem to work properly. When I inspected it, it did seem looser than when I got the bike.

My question now: What to do? Can I try to tighten it and assume that I'm good, or is it possible that something in the hinge needs to be replaced?

I tried to tighten the hinge. Can't find anything about it in the manual. As far as I can see there is just one place I can tighten it. But I don't perceive the tightening to really work, the hinge is still not as tight as when I got it.

Does anybody know if there is an online tutorial for these hinges? And is this covered by the extended 10 year Tern warranty? (even though it's used, Tern warranty should still be in place, under the consumer laws of my country)

I took photos of the hinge, but apparently I need to write more posts on the forum before I can post them.

mue

A visit to a professional bike mechanic can sort this.

EVlove

Scary stuff. You can upload pictures to your personal gallery before you have 10 posts and I can grab them to display here.

oivavoi

Probably. Then I'd have to locate a mechanic who knows these tern hinges, though, but I guess that's doable. I'd still be interested in knowing before whether it can probably be fixed, though, cause if the hinge is broken in any case I'm not sure there's much the mechanic can do.

Thanks a lot! I uploaded some pictures to a gallery know, let me know if it works.

Nyah

It appears that you're talking about the hinge on the handlepost,
rather than on the frame. If you don't know how to tighten it, and no one
else here does, contact Tern customer service and ask them
how to tighten the hinge of the handlepost.

Nyah

My guess is that you're supposed to turn that long barrel with the flat sides until it tightens up. Are you turning it in the proper direction? What happens when you turn it?

EVlove

I'm not familiar with that style of folding joint but it looks like the only way to adjust it is by rotating the long shiny strut. It's out of focus but I think it's hexagonal so you can get a wrench on it? One end is threaded and has what looks like blue Loctite on it. Does the lock button click reliably when you close the hinge?

A little googling seems to indicate that you're not the only one with this problem.

EVlove

https://www.bikeforums.net/folding-b...le-riding.html

EVlove

By the way, I would NOT recommend this as your only solution, but once the hinge is properly adjusted, consider wrapping a simple Velcro strap over the lever after you close it. Cheap and easy additional layer of safety. On my Zizzo, I can actually do this with the same kind of strap that I use for my right pant leg.

oivavoi

Thanks a lot for all the helpful replies! It actually didn't occur to me that I could try to rotate the long shiny thingy in the middle. I only tried tightening the thing on the side, as that was more intuitive to me. I'll try rotating the middle-thingy tomorrow. And yes, adding a velco strap seems smart.

Ron Damon

You need to tighten this till it requires a bit of pulling force to fold down its latch. What I don't understand is that these handle posts have a security slider. The thing won't open unless you slide the security slider.

john m flores 

As others have said, try turning the hexagonal barrel until it requires a fair amount of hand force to lock it in place, similar to what you'd do with a quick release skewer on a wheel or seat.

And it might be easier to adjust with the stem partially folded; that might expose the hexagonal barrel more to your fingers or a pair of pliers.

Ron Damon

The OP might be in need too of a camera that focuses properly.

50PlusCycling

If all else fails, a couple wraps of duck tape will hold it in place. I have a similar hinge lever on my Birdy which sometimes moves after riding over rougher terrain. To keep it in place I use a thick rubber band cut from a piece of inner tube. It works, and it’s almost invisible.

RCMoeur 

Perhaps I'm spoiled by having a Bike Friday where all hinges are to some degree fail-safe and fool-resistant, but any folder with a hinge that can cause such painful asphalt-encountering failures seems to be a product liability lawsuit in waiting.

Ron Damon

You need not pay through-the-nose BF or Birdy prices to have a safe handle post that won't kill or maim you. $35 buys you a solid, safe Litepro or FnHon handle post.

Jipe

Yes, no risks with Litepro, Fnhon or any other parts bought online directly in China: if you have any problem, there won't be any liability nor any possible lawsuit against the seller !

Ron Damon

With BF, you pay through the nose and get Litepro. With Birdy, you pay through the nose and get a handle post and other proprietary parts that perform no better or more reliably than Litepro. 😂😂😂

Joe Remi

Nobody mentioned buying a folding Birdy post, BF doesn't even make one. You're off topic.

sweeks

See video. The "Physis" handlepost is quite safe and trouble-free *if* it is adjusted properly.
Mine has survived thousands of folding operations, requiring occasional tweaking.