Thoughts on the Tern Cargo Node?
 

This project just passed its Kickstarter funding goal, with 15 days to go:

kickstarter.com/projects/tern-xtracycle/cargo-node-worlds-most-useful-bike-now-fits-in-you

It's a full-size cargo bike that folds, unlike the Bike Friday, which compresses slightly...

Thoughts?

Not on the bike, but on kickstarter, which is nothing but public begging; this is a gross abuse. Here is an established company trying to use kickstarter to fund a development and tooling effort.

Remember, you are not investing when you spend money on a kickstarter project. I would love to be able to invest on a project like that one; but I am not going to give them money via kickstarter.

Tern, on their single Bikes , had a recall, their hinge welding QC not being adequate, apparently.

Its Aluminum, not Steel, So bear that in mind.


But Taipei is closer to Shanghai , than getting a BiFri shipped from the USA.

Its a collaboration between Tern and Xtracycle - details of the new 26" folding cargo bike can be seen in this photo:


http://brimages.bikeboardmedia.netdn...attachment.jpg

Can be yours for the Kickstarter price of $1675.00 USD:

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...62HeJwAZWvQ7ug

Cost of all the recalls made them get someone else to pay for their product development ?

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.

@Nightdiver, thanks for pointing that out. In my defense, I'm reasonably certain that info wasn't there the first few days the kickstarter was posted because I scoured their site and the xtracycle site (in the days leading up to the launch) and couldn't find it. Anyway, that seems like a good component set for the price. I was initially drawn to it because it has some good features that you only find in the higher-end Edgerunners--specifically the dynamo and the front rack capability--at a much lower price, at least for the Kickstarter.

The Haul-a-Day was actually available well before the Kickstarter effort. The prototype was "on tour" around the Pacific Northwest at a number of events, including the Seattle Bike Expo before they started taking orders in Spring 2014, so people were able to see, touch and ride it before ordering. The asserted purpose of the Kickstarter, and I believe it, was to provide Bike Friday the capital to start a production line of the bike.

By contrast, the Cargo Node Kickstarter seems to me more like a marketing gimmick--Xtracycle was going to produce and sell this bike whether or not the Kickstarter "pledge" was met, so why not let people test ride before they commit to a $1600 purchase (I realize that many people have no choice but to buy cargo bikes sight-unseen due to the dearth of dealers, but I happen to live in an area rich in both Xtracycle and Bike Friday dealers)? As far as I can tell, Interbike was the first and only place that anyone has actually seen/ridden the Cargo Node (as a side note, it seems strange that with so many people awaiting the Leap as the successor to the Free Radical, the Leap is being made available first as part of the Cargo Node).

With all that said, our friends who have a Cargo Joe have been very happy with it and this looks like a major improvement on that concept, so I don't think you can go too wrong with purchasing one.

It seems like it's actually two established companies, Tern and Xtracycle, doing the begging as a joint venture. I had a similar thought, why would they do this, but it's clear that Kickstarter has reached a level of success and trust where it is actually cheap marketing with no real stigma of being a start-up. That said, if they are giving a price break to the early backers then I think it's a win-win. So I do hope that the price that they give the Cargo Node backers is at least a few hundred bucks lower than what the retail price will be. Otherwise they will be setting a precedent that will make it harder to get projects like this funded in the future because people won't have an incentive to get in early.

The Haul-a-Day is lighter, but also has a lower cargo capacity (200lb vs. 350lb). So I think each of these have their place in the market, which is a good thing. If you need the folding and/or the extra cargo capacity, the Node is the right choice. But otherwise I would tend to go with the BF haul-a-day.

But this is the norm for Kickstarter. Ideally you get a significant price break (over the eventual retail price) for taking the chance on a new product. Note that BF sells their bikes direct also (including the Haul-a-Day which was a kickstarter project too) so it's not really that strange. I would expect shops that specialize in folders and/or cargo bikes to stock these once they are fully in production.

All fair points, and I don't want to seem to be picking arguments with you, but various iterations of the Cargo Node have been at consumer/trade events for the past year, with the "official" launch at Eurobike this year, where demos were available. I remember seeing a precursor to the Cargo Node at last year's Interbike mobile social, where I believe a media type was riding it.

And just to make my own stance clear, I fairly well despise the current uptick of established companies using Kickstarter as either a marketing tool or as a substitute for direct to consumer sales/pre-orders. But that disgust is pretty pointless, since consumers are continuing to fund such projects. I assumed consumers would speak with their dollars, but I was expecting a different reaction.