Single parent compact ebike advice

H

hitesh_chikate

New Member
Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I am a single parent of a 4 year old daughter. Male, 38 years old, about 5'9'' tall. I used to ride a road bike for commuting to work till November 2019. I started looking for e-bike options since bicycle commuting on top of single parenting was getting tough. Also I wanted to use it for drop off and pickup to my daughters daycare. Post COVID19, I am working from home daughter is at home too but I still want to go for an e bike to take my daughter out in this Vancouver summer and also to do some weekly grocery shopping.

I looked at many options. I have my limitations like I can't go for a cargo e-bike as I don't have enough room in our buildings bike room. Also I am not sure how safe my e-bike would be in that common locker room. I started looking at fold-able e-bikes that are able to carry a child and not too heavy when it comes to folding them so that I can store it in my apartment. I found Tern Vektron bikes to be the best, a bit pricey but I think I can go for D8 or P9(currently on 13% discount sale at my local e bike shop). I would love to hear from anyone who owns these bikes or have any other fold-able e-bike that they would like to suggest.

Thanks
-Hitesh
 
Does Tern sell a child seat for its bikes? I'd be concerned about overloading the hinge/frame.
 
I just ordered a Tern HSD. It will be here in about a week.

Both the Tern HSD and the Tern GSD are compatible with Thule Yepp child seats, and Tern sells a Captain's Chair and a Clubhouse for both HSD and GSD.

Personally, I am getting the Sidekick Seat Pad, the Sidekick Bars, and the Sidekick Footrests so I can carry my girlfriend as a passenger. She weighs well below the HSD's 132 lbs rear rack maximum carrying capacity.

The frame of the HSD (and GSD) does not fold. Only the handlebars fold. To my mind, this is an advantage because it eliminates frame flex, a curse of most folding bikes.

And as @Dewey pointed out, the HSD (and GSD) can be stored vertically, occupying only a couple of square feet of space. The bike will easily fit inside our storage space in the basement of our condo building.
 
Last edited:
hitesh_chikate said:
Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I am a single parent of a 4 year old daughter. Male, 38 years old, about 5'9'' tall. I used to ride a road bike for commuting to work till November 2019. I started looking for e-bike options since bicycle commuting on top of single parenting was getting tough. Also I wanted to use it for drop off and pickup to my daughters daycare. Post COVID19, I am working from home daughter is at home too but I still want to go for an e bike to take my daughter out in this Vancouver summer and also to do some weekly grocery shopping.
I looked at many options. I have my limitations like I can't go for a cargo e-bike as I don't have enough room in our buildings bike room. Also I am not sure how safe my e-bike would be in that common locker room. I started looking at fold-able e-bikes that are able to carry a child and not too heavy when it comes to folding them so that I can store it in my apartment. I found Tern Vektron bikes to be the best, a bit pricey but I think I can go for D8 or P9(currently on 13% discount sale at my local e bike shop). I would love to hear from anyone who owns these bikes or have any other fold-able e-bike that they would like to suggest.
Thanks -Hitesh
Click to expand...

Here is another folding mid-dirve to consider if you are willing to add external struts to the rear rack for additional support.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products...icycles/ebikes-electric-folding-bikes-ef3.htm
 
Bicyclista said:
I just ordered a Tern HSD. It will be here in about a week.

Both the Tern HSD and the Tern GSD are compatible with Thule Yepp child seats, and Tern sells a Captain's Chair and a Clubhouse for both HSD and GSD.

Personally, I am getting the Sidekick Seat Pad, the Sidekick Bars, and the Sidekick Footrests so I can carry my girlfriend as a passenger. She weighs well below the HSD's 132 lbs rear rack maximum carrying capacity.

The frame of the HSD (and GSD) does not fold. Only the handlebars fold. To my mind, this is an advantage because it eliminates frame flex, a curse of most folding bikes.

And as @Dewey pointed out, the HSD (and GSD) can be stored vertically, occupying only a couple of square feet of space. The bike will easily fit inside our storage space in the basement of our condo building.
Click to expand...

For carrying a child I'd definitely prefer the GSD or HSD over the Vektron. I can only speak to the GSD but it is extremely stable with heavy loads. But for storage space, the Vektron has them beat. The Vektron can store folded (of course) but also sitting on its rear rack. That makes it an extremely compact and stable footprint. The Vektron is supposed to sit on its rear rack only in the folded position (not standing like the GSD). But I don't think you should rule out the GSD and HSD based on space requirements. They are still compact bikes particularly relative to most cargo bikes.

I would be cautious about storing my GSD in a common area in the standing position. I clean mine in the standing position and I think it could be knocked over by a careless person or by someone trying to wrangle bikes out of a common storage locker. Also if you have to get it into and out of the storage locker via stairs the GSD might be tough. When you add the hardware for carrying stuff, it gets really heavy. I've got the front carrier and the rear rails that provide support for heavy loads. I'm not sure how much the HSD weighs but probably lighter. I'd also be concerned about theft in a common lockup. My neighborhood is middle class and mixed housing. I get our weekly police blotter and I often see bikes or other items reported stolen from the common basement lockers in apartment buildings.

I have two Vektrons and a GSD by the way.
 
wow, thank you so much guys for all your suggestions, really appreciate it. I will now try both vektron and hsd at my local e-bike shop. Thanks for sharing your Tern experiences too.
 
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