Tern Bikes

Joshua Hon left Dahon, the family folding bike business, to start Tern in 2011 after a bitter split. The competition that followed pushed both companies to build better bikes. Tern has since proven the departure was about engineering ambition rather than family politics.

The folding bikes established credibility. Quick folds that actually work in real commuting scenarios. Compact enough to pass train conductors without argument. Ride quality that surprises people who assume small wheels mean compromised cycling. The BYB and Verge demonstrate what focused engineering can achieve when folding is the primary design consideration.

What makes Tern interesting now is how they extended that compact thinking into cargo bikes. The GSD and HSD prove that family transport need not mean enormous Dutch bakfiets that barely fit through doorways. Compact cargo bikes that fold narrowly for storage, carry children and shopping, and work in British terraced houses. Electric versions add motor assistance without sacrificing the compactness that makes urban cycling practical. For families trying to make cycling work in actual cities with actual storage constraints, Tern thinks harder about the problem than most.

Tern bikes currently start from £0 across the marketplace.