Originally Posted by
Ron Damon
I suspect the likes of Tern and Dahon have nowhere else to go but upmarket lest they be devoured by the much less expensive gear coming out China in the last decade. A big reason is the easy availability of quality, affordable framesets and parts coming form the likes of FnHon and Litepro, among several others.
I've said this before and I'll say it again at the risk of perturbing the Dahon devotees here. Buying a Dahon today, unless it is the more unique models like the Curl, Vybe, etc., doesn't make sense because for the same money you can buy essentially the same bike from other brands or...or... here's the kick in the chin...you can build or have built a better specced bike based on an FnHon or Litepro frame for the same and perhaps even less money. That applies too to the crowd favorite the Dahon K3/K3+.
Oh I agree. The question is, Dahon is manufacturing in China (yes? not just taiwan and macau?). If true, aren't Dahon's and competitor's manufacturing costs the same? Or do the copies have a huge advantage in no development costs, just "reverse engineering" Dahon models?
Going up-market can work, if you have premium features that others cannot implement, or a very high brand value, like Hermes, Ferrari, etc. I don't see Dahon having that. Tern has carved out a premium perception with the GSD, but it's based on superiority of features, I think few are going to pay USD$10,000 for just Tern's brand name, it's the bike, which is a great one. But when copies come on the market for 1/3 the price or less, will Tern keep selling GSDs? A friend of a friend, just bought a full suspension e-bike with outrageous specs on both the motor and battery, 2-3X the power on both of typical on the market, $2000, roaring deal. (I wish I could remember the brand.) If that same brand produces a cargo bike, it won't be that much more.
Ferrari has a premium product. Ford recently produced the GT (2015 I think), absolute world beater, limited production, $400,000. In 2020 GM produced the C8 Corvette, almost as fast as the GT, $60,000. Could not keep them in stock, dealer markups were 100%, still sold. Then a folding hardtop convertible, $6k more, sellout. Now the Z06, 35% more power, twice the price, still selling out. All incredible bargains in the supercar market.
Dahon needs to have great designs, at a *slight* premium, for a known brand, coming fully assembled and not parts, and, *they need to provide excellent customer service, WHICH. THEY. DON'T.* I had a cracked frame, ridden totally on smooth roads, and they blew me off, said the seatpost was too high (it wasn't, I'm short for an american), and I was too heavy (not, I was 50 lbs less than their rated max. The FRAME. On the interwebby, word travels at the speed of electrons. That'll kill Dahon as much as anything else.