Originally Posted by
mel2012
We seriously considered it, but ended up ordering a Haul-a-Day instead, for a few reasons:
(1) Weight -- the Node is 52 lbs, vs. a comparably equipped Haul-a-Day at 35lbs
(2) The utter lack of information in the informational materials about the technical components of the bike--what type of disk brakes does it have, who makes the dynamo hub, what kind of drivetrain does it have?
(3) The presentation -- I agree that it seems weird for two established bike companies to have a kickstarter project, rather than put it out the bike out in the market for people to test ride before they buy -- dropping $1600 on a bike based on one or two reviews from real world testers feels strange.
(4) Our friends who have a Cargo Joe, the earlier iteration of this bike, report that they very rarely using the folding capability.
Regarding your second point, they actually have all that info on their Kickstarter page under "technical specs". The brake spec is a little vague, but I think "Promax" is all the info most will need. And regarding your third, did you know the Haul-a-day was a Kickstarter funded bike? Sure, BF might not sell as many bikes as Tern, but they are quite a bit older and more established.