Taiwan-based Tern Bicycles has revamped its Vektron folding e-bike range, making these convenient commuters lighter, stronger, quieter, more comfortable and more practical than ever, with a modest price drop to boot.
Folding e-bikes make a fair bit of sense around town. Something like the Vektron line folds down quickly into its own kind of trolley that can be pushed onto a train, thrown in the trunk of a car or sat underneath a desk, making for clean, fun and convenient multi-mode commuting you can do in a shirt and tie without suffering the yellow armpit stains of doom.
Nearly two years after launching the Vektron bikes after a 2016 crowdfunding campaign, Tern has made a sweeping update with small but significant improvements all round.
It starts with the motor, which has been upgraded to the latest Bosch Active Line mid-drive. That makes it smaller and lighter than the previous model, as well as almost totally silent.
The frame has been re-engineered to provide extra strength as well as better comfort for a wider range of riders, especially the taller ones. The battery now tilts backwards to help side-to-side transition handling, and when it's folded up, the bike now stands up by itself, so it's easier to push about.
All the new bikes get a beefed-up rear rack as well, together with a set of expandable Bucketload panniers that fold flat, or expand big enough to take a decent sized backpack, and somehow stay out of the way when the bike's folded up or being rolled around.
Prices have been brought down in the update as well; the three new models will be the US$2995 Vektron Q9, the US$3195 Vektron P7i and the US$3595 Vektron S10.
Having said that, we don't have any further details at this point on battery size, range, power or any further specs for these new models – though as a guide, the outgoing S10 model has a claimed range of 40 – 80 miles. We do know they'll start shipping to the United States in the next few months.
Source: Tern