Tern GSD E-Bike Combines A Compact Size With A Cargo-Hauling Design

RIDES

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It’s not the prettiest-looking e-bike around. As far as being one of the most efficient at transporting cargo, however, it’s tough to make an argument against the Tern GSD.

Styled with a seat post that’s a little closer to the handlebars than most standard bicycles, the two-wheeler is able to make more room in the back. That allows it to have a long rear rack that can fit up to two child-sized seats, all while measuring no longer than most common commuter e-bikes at 71 inches. Seriously, this thing is short enough to fit inside the small elevators you find in most apartment buildings, making it quite possibly the only cargo bike we’ve seen with such a compact profile.

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The Tern GSD’s rear rack can be fitted with either panniers, a seat pad (for taking an adult passenger), or two child-sized seats, allowing you to equip it with whatever you need for the day’s errands. You can also use it to strap down a large box or heavy bag, with the bike able to support payloads of up to 400 pounds. Need more storage room? There’s also an optional basket that can mount on the front frame just above the fork, so there’s absolutely no shortage of room to carry all your gear.

As for riding geometry, the bike puts the rider in a comfortable upright position, while swept-back handlebars and ergonomic grips take stress off your neck, shoulders, and wrists. A long wheelbase, small wheels, and a low frame enable balanced handling and a low center of gravity, ensuring you can ride it confidently no matter how much cargo you’re carrying. To provide sure-footed stability, the bike uses custom-designed 65mm Schwalbe Super Moto-X tires, which the outfit claims is designed to resist flats while riding seamlessly over the nastiest roads.

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Propulsion is provided by a Bosch motor and battery system, so you get a proven and reliable system to keep your Tern GSD chugging on the road. It’s also fitted with Bosch’s Dual-Battery tech, allowing you to hook up a pair of batteries on the bike, giving it a range of over 150 miles. Unless you ride for hours on end every day, chances are, a single full charge will be enough to keep it humming for several days at a time. The motor is available in 400-watt and 900-watt versions.

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While it doesn’t fold into a compact file like many modern bicycles, the Tern GSD does have folding handlebars that enable to pack it down into a narrower profile, making it possible to fit it in the back of most SUVs. The bike’s rear rack is designed such that it allows the bike to stand upright on its rear, ensuring it takes up minimal floor space when stashed away in your apartment. Other features include Magura four-piston disc brakes, Boost thru-axle hubs, adjustable seat post and handlebars (so it can accommodate riders of all heights), and four color options.

Slated to come out early 2018, the Tern GSD is priced starting at $4,000.

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9 Responses

  1. Utility bicycles often don’t look as stylish as other bikes, but they still look good when you understand their intended purpose. It is like saying that a pickup truck does not look as nice as a Chevy Corvette.

    The handlebars being closer to the stem won’t help you win the Tour De France bike race, but it will help you to sit in a more upright position which many older people find more comfortable. It is also a much more comfortable position to be in when you come to a hill and are lugging stuff around on the bicycle that helps to weigh you down. The purpose of the stem being closer though is so that the bike is the same length as a regular bike, yet is still a cargo bicycle.

    I would have no problems lugging a lot of weight around on this bicycle on a relatively flat area, but with any big hills, I would want to carry a lot less. Are your kids fat, sorry, can’t ride with me on the hills unless you switch to Diet Soda and lose some weight. Seriously though, lugging one kid around and groceries would be a breeze with this bike. With the electric bike system motor activated, you could haul 2 fat twin boys who are the same age as Dale and Brennan in the classic movie Step Brothers. 400 pounds is going to be a breeze to carry with the electric bicycle motor.

    The tires might be flat-resistant, but I would still add slime into the tires as well as a thorn resistant tube. The combination of Slime and a thorn resistant tube will make flats occur very rarely.

    The tubes are more durable with the thorn resistant ones, and the Slime will instantly seal and punctures that do occur as long as the tires are spinning. If the tire does go flat, just add some air, spin the tire, and then finish airing it up. Slime works amazingly well, even on utility bicycles such as the Tern GSD.
    150-mile range with the extra battery is pretty amazing. Many Urban riders will never come close to riding this on their daily commute, but it does help that you are not forced to charge the battery every day.

    The bike is expensive, but with bicycles, you get what you pay for. The Tern cargo bike will allow you to save in fuel costs and wear and tear on your vehicle because you can not only commute to work on it, but use it to haul your groceries home.

    I am a huge fan of cargo bicycles designed for utility uses such as hauling items, but most of them are longer than a regular bicycle. The Tern is unique in that it is a true utility bicycle, but is the same length as a standard bicycle. I am definitely interested but want to test ride one first. $4,000 is a fair price for a bicycle such as this and will last a long time, but I want to ensure that the shorter cargo bike style will work for me just as well or better than my long cargo bike that I have been using for a few years.

    1. In addition to saving on fuel and the expensive car repairs, an electric bicycle also does not need insurance or to pay for parking. If you live in an urban city and can get rid of your car because of an electric cargo bike, the money you can potentially save will be huge.

  2. Most cargo bikes come in a few different sizes like the Tern dows, but the easily adjustable stem will help to get a much more custom-fit regardless of your size.

    On their website, they show that it is elevator friendly. This is a huge benefit for a cargo bicycle in a heavily populated urban area such as New York City.

    What is the frame made of? If it is high tensile steel I definitely don’t want it. I can’t imagine they would use high-tensile steel on an otherwise perfect cargo bike, but I can’t find it on their website. Does anyone know what the frame is made of?

    1. That is really strange that they don’t share what the frame is made of. It does have a 10-year warranty though, so even if it was high-tensile steel it should be covered. I highly doubt they’d use the inferior and easy to be high-tensile steel. I am guessing aluminum.

      1. Yeah it is strange, but perhaps the poster left out those details, or it can be found on the site – not sure. However, a ten year warranty is pretty solid, and I missed that part. Most bikes do not offer that kind of coverage, even Trinx offers I think only one-year ‘manufacturer warranty’ which is pretty standard, and I hate the idea of shipping my mountain bike away, or leaving it somewhere for weeks at a time – that’s my baby! haha. I’m not sure as to what the warranty range is for more premium bicycles though, like Diamondback for example – but I doubt even they would stand behind their product for ten years – though I could be wrong! What’s the price for this bike?

        1. It’s suspicious though where they didn’t list the frame material on their website, in the press release, or even in the product description they gave out to their vendors.

          Diamondback is not a premium brand. They create cheap bicycles for stores such as Walmart that are poorly built. When Diamondback BMX bikes were popular in the late 70’s and early 80’s they created some good bikes, but those days are long gone.

          1. Diamondback sells a lot of cheap bikes to mass market stores such as Walmart that are poorly built, but they also build a lot of mid-level bikes as well as a few higher-end bikes.

            Diamondback when they way of Schwinn by selling both quality bikes that will last as well as cheap bikes with poor components for Walmart and KMart. People no longer are fans of these brands of bikes because they bought a cheap one that was assembled wrong and came with bad parts from Walmart, so they assume all bikes from these manufacturers are bad bikes. Do yourself a favor and ONLY buy a bike from a local bike shop, or do your research and buy a QUALITY bike off of Amazon and have a local bike shop assemble and inspect it for you.

            You can also buy Diamondback bikes directly from the Diamondback website and have it properly assembled at your local bike shop.

          2. Diamondback has a lifetime warranty on their frames, even for their carbon fiber frames. They have pulled their contracts with Walmart because of the shoddy bikes they were required to build as cheap as possible for Walmart.

            By ordering directly on their website you can often find some huge discounts on their bikes, especially when compared to other brands such as Trek.

  3. I mean, from the description picture it looks like it successfully manages to hold a lot of weight, including both cargo and the little ones. You can tell by the pictures in that the aluminum quality, tight-knitted build, and overall design this bike is made to effectively reinforce its weight, and hold up to heavier amounts than most run-of-the-mill bicycles. Carrying a payload of up to 400lbs is pretty impressive – but does this include the person or in addition to filling up the seats? The swept-back handlebars and comfortable grips were an excellent addition to this bike, and being 6″5 I can appreciate ergonomically designed handlebars and the likes for added comfort, flexibility, and support for my hips, waist, neck, and back. Being able to mount a basket on the front frame is neat, and reminds me of something out of the Wizard Of Oz to stick my puppy in, lol. Obviously, the hybrid-electric technology tops off the product, but for $4000 I think I’m just going to stick this one out and drive my car 😛 lol

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