I've had my Tern Node D7i for over a year now. My biggest frustration has been with the V-brakes, there's a not a lot of distance of travel for the pads so they easily rub against the rim or the balloon style tires unless the adjustment is perfect. They are also easily thrown out of adjustment because of the folding process.

They are just generic brand brakes, what are my upgrade options?

I have a Tern Verge S11i, and I can relate. This is a problem caused by wide tires on narrow rims. The angle between the tires and rims is closer to 90 degrees than on wheels with tires that are narrower with respect to the rims. This puts the tire potentially in the arc of travel of the brake shoe. It's worst when the shoes have to be farther from the rim, as when the wheel isn't perfectly true, and when the pads aren't perfectly aligned. Also, with a folder, shoes that are adjusted close to the rim are more likely to be affected by inconsistencies in folding.
Consider yourself lucky: it's worse with smaller diameter wheels!

As for the brakes being affected by folding, I've found that keeping the pivots for the brake arms well lubricated helps. When they're freely moving, the only thing that's likely to make them out of balance is the position of the cables after unfolding the bike. If you can make sure the cables return to the same place after the bike is unfolded, I think you'll have less problem with this.

The brakes on your bike, though generic, are probably fine. You can certainly upgrade them, but as I've said, the main issue is the relatively large discrepancy between the tires and rims. Only wider rims or narrower tires will help.
Steve

Ive used some thin koolpads on mine... works pretty well.... the cartridge models.

curse of v brakes ... little travel at brake long travel at lever ..that's what makes them strong.
on smaller wheels a good shorter than usual pad will help on the Node it is what it is
same as all other bikes. Nothing different on the node than any other bike in that regards


different v brakes .. yeah there are better ones, but all work the same

I've had pretty good luck (on my 20" wheels) with some slightly shorter pads I found at PerformanceBike. What I think would *really* help is a wider rim which would allow the use of the soft-riding wider tires without the "overhang" at the rim edge. That would provide more clearance for the brake pads (and maybe prevent pinch flats a bit!).
Steve

Koolstop thinline have worked excellently for me. I used them with my tektro brakes and just recently went to Avid single digits and they work well with the thinlines also.

Upgrade: Magura hydrostop hydraulic rim brakes mount on V brake posts..

HS 11, 22 & 33.

other than that cable V brakes are Levers, longer lever , more power, but the gap to the rim has to be narrower as a direct result of the increased leverage.

longer caliper lever demands more cable pull , so hand leaver has proportionately lower mechanical advantage to pull more cable.





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#idealmommy

you're the same age as my mom and i can't even get her on a bike...

Awww ..... when I retired I had been commuting by car and was soooooo sick of driving, I couldn't bear driving anymore. I put around 800 miles a year on my car now. I got my son (29 yo) into cycling and now he rides a Jamis and has no car, lol. I started out with an e-bike because I had all those insecurities about getting stranded, etc. Have you talked to your mom about using an e-bike on a MUP away from traffic? Maybe rent one? Sell it as an opportunity to spend time with you, include a very nice lunch stop in the deal =). Maybe having a hobby to share with you will be a good enticement.
After a year or so I sold the e-bike to another recent retiree who wanted to start riding again and I've been on regular bikes ever since. E-bikes are gateway vehicles to regular bikes. However, I'm weird in that I've always like to tinker (built computers in the 70's, etc.).

+1. Starting with e- bike and maybe even 3 wheeled e-bike.

About the tinkering you are wrong. It is the gals who are NOT tinkering that are weird- not us