With its electric cargo bikes and compact and folding bikes, many of you know Tern as a manufacturer that addresses private customers worldwide. In fact, the Taiwanese company has been working intensively on the commercial use of its bikes for several years. And with noticeable success. Whether leading food suppliers, state postal companies, logistics firms or local SMEs – meanwhile many of them ride Tern bicycles. New accessories, which Tern is now presenting at the Eurobike in Frankfurt, are intended for this sector. One or two of them could prove useful in the private area as well.
More stability
The best example is a pair of additional stands for the Tern GSD. Basically, the manufacturer has several stable bipod stands in its range, such as the Atlas Lockstand. In some cases, you can even upgrade these solutions with parts such as the Lockstand Extensions and thus park the cargo bikes very stably. However, if the goods to be transported protrude considerably beyond the rear carrier or if they come very close to the maximum weight allowed for the carrier, even this variant can reach its limits.
This is where the new stands called Quadstruts come into play. They provide additional support for the rear part of the bicycle. This can help if the load can only be distributed on one side. With the extension and then a total of four contact points to the ground, the four-legged construction can bear a load of up to 100 kilograms. It has to, because the GSD’s rear carrier can take just as much weight.
Use limited to a single bipod stand
The stands can be attached to the Atlas Lockstand with the help of additional braces. This is the only bipod stand on which this is possible. And it only fits the second-generation GSD. The installation is a bit tricky and involves several parts. Therefore, you might want to plan a little more time for it and read the instructions beforehand.
Due to the direct link with the bipod stand, the additional stands fold in and out together with it. During the ride, they are of course completely folded in. If you have a lighter load on the bike, they will not touch the ground. Only a correspondingly heavy load pushes them down. So, they come into play exactly when needed.
Extensively tested
The Quadstruts are primarily intended for use on bicycles that are ridden very frequently and, to a large extent, with a lot of heavy luggage. Therefore, Tern had the system tested by the specialists of EFBE Prüftechnik GmbH. According to the manufacturer, the stand has withstood 30,000 folding and unfolding cycles at maximum load without any problems. If you only use your GSD privately, you should be able to rely on it for years without any worries.
Boxes for professionals
The second novelty for the 2023 season are transport boxes of different sizes. Their solid design underlines the fact that the target group is more likely to be professional mail and parcel deliverers. Riveted metal walls and lockable lids speak for themselves. Secured against theft in this way, weather resistance is a welcome by-product.
For a start, Tern is showing two sizes of the boxes made in France. For some of you, the smaller one might be the more interesting one. With a footprint of 30 centimetres long and 40 centimetres wide, the Cargo Box 37 fits on Tern’s front carrier Transporteur Rack. With the help of the Combo Mount bracket, it can be mounted not only on the GSD, but also on the HSD, Quick Haul and the recently introduced NBD.
The other box is at least two sizes larger. The Cargo Box 300 is supposed to hold around 300 litres. There are shelves for the interior that can be modified. This enables for different set-ups, depending on the size of the goods to be transported.
New adapter for heavy-duty trailers
Is anyone of you planning to transport freight by bike that weighs 150 kilograms or is one and a half cubic metres in size? Yes? Then you should read the rest of this article. Many users who have switched their transport from cars and vans to cargo bikes are now operating in such categories. They use special heavy-duty trailers like the one from the German manufacturer Carla Cargo. These can be used to move things whose weight and volume come close to the values mentioned above. Thanks to a new adapter, you can attach Carla Cargo trailers to a GSD, HSD and Quick Haul from Tern. In some German cities there is already the possibility to rent such a trailer. In this case, a suitable adapter might even be worth considering.
Managing an entire fleet
The fourth innovation from Tern, on the other hand, is exclusively relevant for companies. We are talking about a tracker that can be installed in an entire fleet. Tern developed the FleetTracker together with WeMo. The latter maintains a fleet of 10,000 e-scooters in Taiwan that can be driven via a sharing app.
According to Tern, the products will go on sale in the third quarter of this year. Anyone planning a visit to this year’s Eurobike can take a look at them at the manufacturer’s Business Solutions stand in the Cargo Area in Hall 8.
Pictures: Mobility Holdings, Ltd.
