REVIEWS BIKE TEST

2

Dimensions 645 in millimetres 580 and degrees 76˚ 560 60 270 484

40 620 390 120 406 73˚ 170 285 42 32 1005

TERN VERGE DUO

Price: £775 Weight: 11.6kg Sizes: one size TERN VERGE DUO Frame and fork: hydroformed 7005 series FOLDING BIKE aluminium, with ‘OCL’ hinge and fittings for mudguard, rear rack, -tube ‘Luggage Truss’, 1fibottle. 6061 series Tern Verge Duo aluminium fork with m/g eyelets Wheels: 42-406 Schwalbe Marathon Editor Dan Joyce reviews a stylish 20-inch wheel folder with an Supreme tyres; 406-15 Kinetix Comp rims; p/g 2.0mm spokes (20fi2 front, 28fi2 automatic 2-speed hub gear and a coaster brake rear); Kinetix Neutron front hub; Sram Automatix 2-speed rear hub THE VERGE Duo is one of the few overridden by the speed of the hub’s 1 Transmission: folding pedals; Kinetix folders I’ve ridden that random rotation. According to my Garmin, that’s Supra chainset, 170mm, 46T; RustBlock passers-by have described as ‘cool’. at about 10.5mph. Drop below that and 3/32in chain; Sram Automatix hub, 18T It’s made by Tern, a company founded it shifts back. sprocket. 2-speed, 49 & 66in after a schism within , which It’s a neat system for cyclists who Braking: Kinetix Tour dual pivot, long- perhaps accounts for the passing pedal slowly and don’t want to think drop sidepull (front); Sram coaster (rear) resemblance to the Dahon Mu. It’s about their gearing. For regular cyclists Steering and Seating: Kinetix Comp a 20-inch wheeled city folder, with a 1 The seatpost is with a faster cadence, it’s infuriating. handlebar, 600mm; Physis 2D aluminium minimalist courtesy of only one also a pump with a With a 49-inch bottom gear, your retractable hose folding stem; Biologic Arx grips with cable: the front brake. cadence will only get into the low 70s T-Tool; Biologic Impel saddle; Biologic 2 Not super compact, The rear brake is a coaster, but small enough for a before the hub kicks you into high PostPump 2.0 seatpost while the 2-speed hub changes train’s luggage rack gear… and an even lower cadence! I Accessories: Freedrive chainguard; automatically. There’s a spring inside didn’t want it to shift until I was doing kickstand; SKS mudguards; rear light it, which shifts the gearing from direct 14-15mph or more, and so was in the Contact: evanscycles.com and drive to 1:1.36 when its tension is ‘wrong’ gear much of the time. ternbicycles.com Apart from that, it rides well. The reach is roomy, you feel very little flex tube to the stem nodule. Fold the through the frame or stem, contact pedals. It takes 10-20 seconds and points are comfortable, and 20-inch you’re left with a package roughly Also consider wheels trump 16 for handling. 72fi79fi38cm. You can reduce that to about 35cm wide if you rotate the bar. Small enough fold Interesting features include fixings To fold, deploy the kickstand (to make for a head-tube rack, a pump hidden it free-standing) and fully lower the in the seatpost (ours was faulty), and a seatpost. Turn the handlebar 180 not-very-useful chain cover. degrees so the front wheel faces Overall, while it’s no Brompton backwards. Undo the main hinge and beater, it’s a decent option for slow- fold the front half back itself; the pedalling city cyclists wanting stylish, 1) BROMPTON S2L £840 2) DAHON MU UNO £480 front wheel now points forward and get-on-and-go simplicity. I would have Sporty, flat-bar version of the iconic A sub-10kg singlespeed – until you the magnetic catches butt together. preferred manual gears – maybe folder, with a 2-speed derailleur. add mudguards – this 20-inch-wheel Almost a kilo lighter than Verge Duo folder is like a simpler version of the Undo the stem hinge and lower that. Sturmey-Archer’s back-pedal S2C and folds smaller. brompton.co.uk Verge Duo. dahon.com Clip the rubber strap under the main 2-speed – or a singlespeed.

72 CYCLE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012