Tern d8 upgrades :)
 

Hello All!

I've done a bit of digging around the Internet and it does not appear that many people do much upgrading to this bike, for obvious reasons im starting to understand :lol:

My intentions are to use this bike to do some climbing in the Andes near where I live. With the ability to hitchhike or put it in buses easily if I have to.

My two questions are;

1. I'd like to upgrade the cassette to something to make it more easy to conquer the mountains nearby these are the parts I'm looking at purchasing and I was wondering if anyone could give any input. I found these parts from someones blog.

• Shimano Zee Short-cage Rear Mech (Freeride)
• Shimano XT 11-36 Cogs
• Shimano XT I-Spec type 10 Speed Shifter
• Tern Rear Mech Adapter because my bike has the exciting neos derailleur
• Some new grips with bar ends so I can have an extra hand position
• Ten speed chain

2. My second question was if anyone has any experience with putting racks for other bicycles on 20 inch folding bikes. Like the Topeak Uni explorer. Would I just have to bend the metal arms that attach to the seat stay? Or find extra long extenders?

Thank you all in advance!

You will need the Tern rear mech adapter before you can do anything to the rear cassette..I think the standard derailleur will only work with a 30 tooth cassette..It might be easier and cheaper to change the chainwheel to a 42 or 44 ..That would give you a low gear and a reasonable top gear..
Bar ends are easy enough to fit..Use small ones though because they may cause trouble with the fold..
Dahon make a pannier that should fit your bike..I would think Tern do also..A pannier rack bag may be better because you may catch any panniers with your heels..A front pannier rack from Dahon may fit..Do not bend any alloy arms on the rack..alloy /aluminium does not like being bent!
You should find one ..Perhaps looks for one to fit a 24 inch wheel bike and then you may be able to fit full size panniers..

Thank you for your reply tudorowen1. I am aware that i need the tern rear mech adapter. Which is fine. I had not thought about just switching the main chainwheel/sprocket. That could be a good idea. I'm ok with the idea of more gears though and a better shifting system. Which is why I had come up with the parts I posted.

I'm living in Chile and unfortunately a lot of the Tern/DAhon parts that can be found elsewhere cannot be found here. Like their big racks for panniers. The cargo rack etc etc etc. The "tern traveler rack" would be perfect. But they dont carry that here in Chile. Which is why I was curious about racks that fit 24" or 26" tires and seeing if i could make fit. Even if it sits a little higher. Which is fine because it will make panniers a little higher up :)

Hi Abu. Thanks for your reply I'm currently running the stock 11-28. Yeah I'm being intentionally vague about exact GI ranges mostly because, honestly, I'm new to this and dont understand it all. I'm more concerned about making sure that I can fit these parts on the bike and peoples opinions on said parts and compatibility with the Tern D8.

The Shimano XT 11-36 also comes in 11-34, 11-32, and 11-28. I just know I need a bigger top gear for spinning up the Andes! Not exactly sure which one would be perfect.

Option 1
50/34T, 11-34T

Option 2
47T, SRAM DualDrive, 11-36T

Option 3
50T, 11-46T

I've been in the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, and have toured in the (lower altitude) Guatemalan Highlands so I know the grades (and the altitude!). Depending on your the load, I think you may want the low gear-inches in the very high teens, very low twenties range. The common unsurfaced roads add friction and zap momentum on uphils so you want to be prepared for spinning seated rather than mashing or relying on standing up.

See my three options below.

Like I had in my original post. The 11-36 seems to be good. The front chainring is just one. And I'm not looking into getting a front derailleur. Gotta make sure the new derauiller would work with my tern rear mech adapter etc etc.

Notice that Option 2 calls for an internally geared hub (IGH). It is not just a 1x setup with a 11-36T. A 50T chainring with a 36T cog sans an IGH will give you only a 27GI low. IOW, a 11-36T cogset with a single chainring may not give you the range you need/want.

What tires up to the punishing task of Andes touring are you taking? You're looking at Schwalbe or Continental touring tires.

Wpuld love to join you. Hit the Atacama in the North, ride to Laguna Colorada, or the Carretera Austral in the South. Depending on how far offroad you want to get, I'd consider a 26er or a 29er.

Hi Abu or anyone else reading. Do you know if I can just upgrade to another 8 speed cassette and will the neos derauiller work with that? like a Shimano Acera HG41 8 Speed MTB Cassette? (link below)

Thanks!

I am not familiar with the Neos RD, sorry. I can't say. It would depend on the max/min size cog the Neos RD can wrap, and the max/min cog of the cogset.