Tern HSD

Electrically assisted bikes, trikes, etc. that are legal in the UK
hemo
Posts: 1438
Joined: 16 Nov 2017, 5:40pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by hemo »

The cadence magnet disc PAS delay depends of the brand of controller used, all my hub bikes react within an 1/4th rotation with good KT electronics.
UpWrong
Posts: 2409
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by UpWrong »

Jdsk wrote: 11 Apr 2021, 4:42pm HSD with belt drive due next week.

Jonathan
Any news? Interested to hear your thoughts 🤗
Jdsk
Posts: 24636
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by Jdsk »

It's my daughter's, not mine!

I've asked her for her comments after one week, and I'll remind her.

Jonathan
forzavelo
Posts: 2
Joined: 25 Apr 2021, 6:37pm
Location: UK

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by forzavelo »

Dear all
May I interject (hijack) with my experience having owned my HSD S8i for two weeks now. I have been commuting to work & back (14mls) for some years now. I also had a car for those days when I just wasnt feeling it or made excuses because the weather was bad etc. But I recently gave my car to my daughter on the understanding that I could have an ebike and that it would allow me to use it in a similar way (ish) to my car. To my mind there was only the Tern HSD or GSD. I chose the HSD as it was less expensive and I didnt need quite as much load capacity. I also thought for the difference in cost I would benefit from the carbon drive and internal hub of the S8i so that was my choice.

If I had to give a brief description of the bike. Its a rediscovery of why I love cycling and why its fun going downhill. And uphill too now :D
Its a bit of a two wheeled HGV but also very flickable. Its a genuinely lovely ride and that Bosch motor is virtually silent. Im finding my average speed is just over 16mph in sport mode but a spirited ride home on Friday had me averaging 18-20mph.

I wasnt getting on with the Tern 37L panniers so im exchanging for some Thule variants.
IMG_4232.JPG

Being able to carry loads like this is just why I bought it :D
IMG_4245.JPG
Jdsk
Posts: 24636
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by Jdsk »

Jdsk wrote: 11 Apr 2021, 4:42pm HSD with belt drive due next week.
And after one week's ownership the owner writes...

Generally v pleased. Quite heavy and very wide. Motor very smooth and feels well powered for everything I’ve done so far.

Have an issue with one of the Velcro straps for the pannier slipping off rack so for commuting have switched back to old pannier (I like being able to take with me!)

I’d agree with the general consensus that the motor control panel feels a bit basic for the price- most annoyingly it doesn’t have a clock!

I really like the upright riding position in traffic- much higher than on my tourer


Jonathan
UpWrong
Posts: 2409
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by UpWrong »

Thanks. Can someone measure the height of the BB above the ground, from centre of the spindle. A GSD first generation review reported a lofty 30cm and thought it too high making it difficult to support a heavily loaded bike. Wondering if they changed it with the HSD.
Jdsk
Posts: 24636
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by Jdsk »

I'll ask.

Here's an early loaded trip:
signal-2021-04-24-140445.jpg

... took two people to load it although I think I could have done it alone, it stayed on its kick stand quite easily
... very stable and barely noticed the weight on turbo!


Jonathan
Jdsk
Posts: 24636
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by Jdsk »

UpWrong wrote: 26 Apr 2021, 7:04amCan someone measure the height of the BB above the ground, from centre of the spindle. A GSD first generation review reported a lofty 30cm and thought it too high making it difficult to support a heavily loaded bike. Wondering if they changed it with the HSD.
HSD 295mm.

Jonathan
UpWrong
Posts: 2409
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by UpWrong »

Jdsk wrote: 26 Apr 2021, 1:11pm
UpWrong wrote: 26 Apr 2021, 7:04amCan someone measure the height of the BB above the ground, from centre of the spindle. A GSD first generation review reported a lofty 30cm and thought it too high making it difficult to support a heavily loaded bike. Wondering if they changed it with the HSD.
HSD 295mm.

Jonathan
Thanks. I went into my garage to measure the BB height on my Spa Wayfarer. It's maybe 290mm so not much difference. And the HSD has a very slack seat tube which will help getting feet on the ground. In fact it's so slack that it's starting to resemble a crank-forward bike. I understand the 2nd gen GSD also features more slack seat tube than the first generation. I think this was done to provide more knee room for taller riders with respect to the handlebars.
forzavelo
Posts: 2
Joined: 25 Apr 2021, 6:37pm
Location: UK

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by forzavelo »

@ Jonathan

Now that is impressive !!

I got my my panniers and im impressed with them.

Image

Image
bohrsatom
Posts: 807
Joined: 20 May 2013, 4:36pm

Re: Family eBike... Tern HSD and GSD... advice, please

Post by bohrsatom »

I’ve had several issues with my HSD - mostly due to it not being fully checked over in the factory - which involved several trips to my LBS and eventually a visit from a mechanic working on behalf of Tern. All sorted now but it did take the shine off an expensive purchase.

I’ve found it to be a really capable workhorse, making light of the short but steep hills in my area of London and carrying pretty much any cargo I throw at it. Last weekend I rode a 20 mile round trip to collect 36 bottles of beer - total weight around 30kgs and I barely noticed it when riding. I also use the HSD to carry my Brompton which was handy on all my visits to the bike shop!

I’ve just switched to the DuoStand and have found it to be a useful upgrade over the standard kickstand.
belgiangoth
Posts: 1657
Joined: 29 Mar 2007, 4:10pm

Tern HSD

Post by belgiangoth »

First thoughts having just got one for my wife:
* Instructions are not great, there are multiple manuals in many languages or a youtube video. An online manual with everything you need for the bike in one place would be better.
* Wheels have Shraeder valves, what's with that?
* Cable run is not great, in my copious spare time I will need to dissasemble and then re-assemble the handlebars to get the cable run to the light right, and even then the brake cables obscure the front light.
* Pedals are incredibly cheap wellgo pedals, over-tight to the point where you need to push hard for them to rotate and they don't have a simple allan key loosening system.
* When first putting it together the folded stem needed lots of loosening to be able to set upright, but then for inexplicable reason was fine with re-tightening almost all the way back. It takes a 6mm spanner, which I think they c/should have provided.
* cables to handlebars are wrapped together and the wrapping can catch - this is just worth knowing as I swore a lot at it but then once I used proper nasty words it magically sorted itself out.
* Bike felt really light compared with the GSD I had a try on, so felt positive ... then picked up the battery, which is a lump!

I'll update when we take it out for a spin and when it gets regular use.

(Also, I don't like the handlebars, but I'm a drop bar rider so this bike is not aimed at me).
(GSD owners have the continually variable gear and belt drive, I went with chain and derailleur gears as they are standard parts what I can fix).
(Aim for the bike is for my wife to commute, which includes dropping my daughter off at school at the top of a very big hill. Not sure what to do about punctures as my daughter will not react well to the faff even if I can teach my wife to swap inner tubes. But I don't want to fit something as awful as M+ tyres - maybe Marathons, but those Big Apples ...)
Last edited by belgiangoth on 22 Jun 2021, 9:15pm, edited 1 time in total.
If I had a baby elephant, I would put it on a recumbent trike so that it would become invisible.
Jdsk
Posts: 24636
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Tern HSD

Post by Jdsk »

There's a recent thread with some very helpful comments and experiences:
[topics merged by moderator]

Jonathan
Jdsk
Posts: 24636
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Tern HSD

Post by Jdsk »

Thanks for that list. I'll work through those when I finally get to see my daughter's HSD.

She's very pleased with it.

Jonathan
drossall
Posts: 6115
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 10:01pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Tern HSD

Post by drossall »

Interesting thread. My only encounter with these was when I saw a GSD outside the local supermarket - it was so unusual that I was drawn to it rather. No need for one myself, but impressive machines. The owner seemed happy :-)
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