Originally Posted by
tapash
Hi
i am in a similar situation as you were and i value quality than money. So which one you ended up getting....?
I ended up getting the Joe P24. If I had it to do over though, I would probably go with the Montague Paratrooper. I've had nothing but problems with the Tern since I bought it. The first day, the magnet popped off and the breaks rubbed, minor issues, probably due to the local bike shop not putting it together well, took it back and they repaired it, no big deal. 3rd day in (under 40 miles on the bike) the 7th gear on the back shattered into pieces, under light load for no apparent reason. The bike shop repaired it, but now I have a non-OEM gear that isn't nearly as smooth as the other gears. The hinge creaks under load, the bike is really stiff and going over bumps is not fun.
The Paratrooper doesn't fold as nicely (i.e., it's not a 50/50 fold, so you have to pop the front tire off to make it compact). But the hinge placement is smarter, more durable, and it has shock absorbers (the bike paths around me aren't great, lots of bumps).
I may have just had really bad luck with the Tern, but based on my experience, I can't recommend it.