AlmostTrick

Wait... Is this now the "My bike can beat up your bike" thread?

Kapusta

You say that like it is a bad thing.

mackgoo

Just post if you agree.

Doctor Morbius

My dad's bike can definitely beat up your dad's bike!

AlmostTrick

lol

veganbikes

Specialized Sirrus 2.0, Marin Muirwoods, Trek FX3, Jamis Coda S1... I am not saying that these bikes are exceptionally great but I think provide a better value then a 1x at a simialr price.

If you find the bike to be an excellent value then that is your belief and you are welcome to it.

gorillimo

Looking back at both, I get that. I’m a Colnago cranking old school roadie just getting into the non drop thing. Similar frames, completely different setup.I had a neck injury from an MVA that bought me a bone graft, plate, and screws into my neck. No more drops for me! Interesting seeing all the ways to do “alternative” bars that are available now.i chose the VO/Surly/Rivendell all arounder route.

Kapusta

Really?

ALL of those have lower end drivetrains, none come with fenders, and all but the Sirus are more expensive.

Further, the OP clearly wants steel and all those are Al.

And finally... the OP puts some value on style, and the Tern is WAY better looking than any of those.

And they are not even the same kind of bike. The Tern Rally is a classic flat bar roadster style, the one you listed are disc brake, larger (semi-treaded) tires, more upright, fitness hybrids.

Your examples are not very convincing.

chaadster

Oh, I get you now. You were not saying that the $750 price was “gougey” for a 1x because it has Claris and no brand name components and there are other 1x bikes with Nitto bits and Dura Ace for $800. You were saying you prefer a 4dr Toyota Corolla over a Fiat Spider Abarth.

A garden variety hybrid like the Specialized Sirrus 2.0 at $800 is no kind of value to me compared to the Tern Rally; in fact, even if a brand new Sirrus was gifted to me, I’d just give it away to someone else. It’s not the kind of bike I want or need, so it has no value to me, but that’s not an indictment of the Sirrus, and I certainly wouldn’t say Specialized’s pricing on it is “gougey” just because I don’t want it. Looking at the comps— i.e. directly comparable bikes— the Sirrus 2.0 is right in range, and in fact, being one of the biggest brands around, might even be considered the benchmark price in the hybrid category at it’s trim level.

We all have our druthers, but jumping in a thread about deli reubens to slam them because Big Mac’s have “special sauce” is pretty silly, isn’t it?

chaadster

Kapusta you beat me to it! You said what I was wanting to say, and more succinctly, but I’m kinda proud of my Big Mac analogy, so I’mma leave my post up!

veganbikes

No I am saying charging Fiat Spider Abarth Prices for a Toyota Corolla is kind of silly. I like the look of the bike, I think it is just a bit much for what you are getting. I love thumb shifters and silver components and steel frames are quite excellent. it just seems like they could have put a better rear derailleur on it for a 1x and probably geared it a bit better as well or lowered the price a bit since they aren't spec'ing anything special.

I guess if we are doing food comparisons this is a spinach salad with just spinach and some decent dressing but they are charging a similar price for a salad that at least has tomatoes and onion and croutons as well. If they charged less for the salad it would make more sense. Sometimes a simpler salad is quite good but you have to charge accordingly for it. If you use heirloom spinach and a white truffle dressing sure you can charge more but if you are using generic store brand dressing and regular old spinach you really shouldn't.

shelbyfv

Very pretty bike! Even has a proper seat clamp and a good fender line

chaadster

But..and imagine this...what if it’s the fancy salad or the Corolla which are overpriced? One can get a 4dr Kia Forte for $18k...

Point being, this whole thing is rather silly, isn’t it, because value is not absolute, it’s variable based on the buyers needs and wants. Some buyers just want the basic thing at the lowest price, whereas others— and I’d say most buyers of all things— are discriminating on some level, and make value assessments. Maybe it’s the look of a bike that’s worth a premium, the Nike swoosh on shirt that’s worth the premium, or the organic spinach in the salad that’s worth paying more for. Simply being able to get more of something the buyer doesn’t want is not a value proposition. What if I told you, veganbikes , that you could get 4 McDouble cheeseburgers for the same price of one spinach salad. You buyin’ burgers because there’s more of ‘em? I’d bet not, similar to how I was unmoved by a double chainring and derailleur.

Kapusta

If you are going to claim that someone is selling a plain spinach salad but charging the same as a spinach salad with all the toppings, you need to show where the latter is available for the same price. You have not done that.

You keep saying that you should get more than what the Rally offers for $750. But you have not shown either:

a) a comparable bike for less

or

b) more bike like that for the same money.

You seem to be just going on a gut feeling, but it is not backed up by anything.

chaadster

Five months on, I'd thought I'd post a little update on life with the Tern Rally. In sum, it has been pretty nice!

As tempted as a I was to keep it "clean," because I found myself jumping on it so often for those litte utility rides like to the cafe, wine shop, and to friends' houses, I slapped a rear rack on for carrying a bag. It changed the look considerably, but it's been pretty damn handy.

Other changes include swapping out the hard-assed, stock, wound-leather grips for rubber Ourys, and replacing the chain with a gold anodized KMC X10, just to dress up the look a bit. I think the narrower 10spd chain doesn't shift quite as well as the properly spec'd OE 9spd did, but it ain't bad. I also fitted a bronzed water bottle cage, a tool roll, and gold wheel QR skewers.

The handling is quick and lively, so it has been fun to kick around on. The handlebar seems unforgiving and uncomfortable, which is my main criticism; I may look at replacing it with a good quality, slighter wider, low rise unit. Maybe. I also have a feeling the tires are kind of junky, as the ride is not very supple. I think they're probably stiff, heavy, wire bead, CST knockoffs of the Panaracer Pasela, at least in terms of tread pattern. Those'll probably go at some point, but I'm assuming that they're at least durable, which has some value in this application.

Lastly, the brake pads are junky. They don't grab well and they throw rubber dust all over the place. Replacements on order.

So it's set up pretty decently for my needs at this point, and I continue to enjoy it and can recommend it to folks looking for a sporty, roadster style bike.

blakcloud

Still looks great. I hope you don't have to spend ten posts defending yourself AGAIN.

Brake pads wear out and replacing is a good idea. I know you put Oury grips but I wonder if you try Ergon grips if that would help with comfort before going through all the trouble of new bars. As for tires, durability or comfort had to get both but changing them wouldn't hurt.

Thanks for posting an update, much appreciated.

hsuBM

Level TT, non-mtb/bmx stem, (mostly) silver hardware, fenders, REAL bicycle brakes (!), only $750?

Amazing.


I would only try to change to a silver derailer and a full coverage front fender.

thats a great looking bike!

Maelochs

I was enjoying the debate there .... creative and logical.

The bike is a thing in itself ... not a lot of comparable bikes I have seen except "boutique" bikes which are equally or more expensive and often offer less .... and still don't have quite the style.

To me that is a "town" bike. With pretty straight bar, minimal sweep, and minimal extras, it is not necessarily designed for long comfortable commutes or light touring .... though it could do either adequately (I rode a Bridgestone MB4 for quite a while, which other than the paint and 3x8 drivetrain was very similar.) To me the tern is an around-town, light errand, go to the cafe, sort of bike. And it looks the part, and to me, it looks sharp.

A lot of people buy cars based on looks .... try to tell the guy buying the Camaro that he can get the same absolute performance figures from a hot hatch or a 4-door Civic with the right options for half the price ... see how that conversation goes.

A couple years back, Ford sold (I think) a version of the Fiesta---one of its small cars---with a I4 turbo which quite literally put down performance numbers on par with or better than Porsche's legendary 930 Turbo when that was new (well, that was back in 1975 or so.)

The point is the supercar had amazing numbers back then and the run of the mill hot hatch has similar numbers now. And the best part? Almost no one who buys those cars takes them to track days or ever uses half the handling or the top third of the speed. You can buy a basic Fiat 500 and thrash it and for the type of driving you can actually do on public roads, keep up with the supercars.

I saw a guy leave a 7-11 in a Lamborghini, pulled right around the corner and onto the highway. He ripped that sucker all through first gear and it was glorious to hear ... and then he dropped it into second at 2000 rpm and cruised along with the 65 mph traffic. My 2004 Civic wouldn't have kept up .... up the on-ramp. I would have caught him five seconds after he shifted into second, though.

The OP doesn't need a triple, or suspension, or a 17-pound bike .... probably he can ride the same routes at he same speeds on his Tern as he could on a brand new Emonda or Pinarello F10 or whatever. So ... why not buy exactly what he wants, which does exactly what he wants, and does it exactly the way he wants to do it?

I give three thumbs up on behalf of the mutant society.

chaadster

Good suggestion blakcloud on the Ergons! I really got the Oury only because I know them and they were available in brown; I see there are cork Ergons, so maybe I'll give those a go...I might even throw a set with the little stubby bar ends. I love bar ends! Thanks!

chaadster

Maelochs you're exactly right about the "use case" for this bike. I doubt I've taken it more than 4 miles one-way; it's just for shooting around town, and I can hit all my favorite spots, from grocery to wine shop to bar to restaurant, within 3 miles of the house. So yeah, the style quotient is prime.

cycletheworld78

very nice!

mstateglfr 

Ann Arbor- one of the few places where people people are often taking trips to cafes, wine shops, and friends' houses via bike in 2020.
More power man. That is certainly a bike that fits a niche.

chaadster

Hmm, I’d have thought bike trips were up everywhere in pandemic times. But yeah, I do agree that while the bike itself isn’t basically niche, unlike say, a Cannondale Hooligan, Tern definitely fine tuned this roadster and hit a niche segment dead-on.

I’d wanted to up the niche-y factor a couple of notches with their Gleam model, but man, I could not find one anywhere.