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Dahon Top Brass Leave to Start High End Folding Bicycle Brand Tern

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Tern Bicycles, headed up by general manager Florence Hon and vice president Joshua Hon, has spun off from Dahon.  Florence and Joshua took with them (update: some of) the core employees responsible for product development, sales, marketing, and distribution for Dahon over the past 20 years.  Tern now employees 70 people between their headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan and their satellite offices around the world.

From Tern:  “We did some amazing things at Dahon, including kick-starting the entire folding bike revolution,” stated Hon. “But we’ve wanted to take things even further and in recent years we were running into a variety of issues with the Chinese factory that has registered the Dahon trademark in some countries. After a lot of soul-searching, we all decided that it would be better to start with a fresh clean slate, and after seeing the 2012 product line, we know we made the right decision.”

Tern is focused on safety, comfort, convenience, and portability, rather than just trying to make the fastest or lightest bike out there.  Their line up should have something for everyone as well.  It contains 21 different folders with prices ranging from $400 all the way up to $3,500.  The new rides should be in shops by Fall 2011.

If you would like to stay up to date on all things Tern, follow them on Twitter @ternbicycles

Peak past the jump for the Tern product teaser video (UPDATE: and a comment from Dahon).

 

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Steve Cuomo
Steve Cuomo
12 years ago

Hi Tyler, Nick- Unfortunately, there’s been a recent spate of misinformation about Dahon circulating online, which somehow coincided with the launch of Tern Bicycles last weekend.
I am concerned that this information is leading consumers and retailers to believe that Dahon’s presence has been compromised in some way, which is a disservice to everyone (except maybe Tern?). Your headline seems to imply that Dahon is “in ashes”, when quite the opposite is true.
To U.S. consumers and bicycle retailers we haven’t changed at all.
We’re refocusing solely on the venerable Dahon brand, and will not use the BioLogic brand any more, which we feel removes a distraction and is a step in the right direction.
Internally, several Dahon employees have gone on to launch Tern (they will also assume the BioLogic brand for their accessories). While their departures leave a void, we’ve hired some significant talent recently, and Dahon still has 1,200 employees and global partners, and 60 current distributors around the world who are 100% behind the brand.
The 2012 line of products incorporate new technology and some new models. These will be unveiled publicly at Eurobike this August, and will begin shipping the latter half of this year and in early 2012. The company’s future is bright.
Tyler, I will give you a call later today to see if you’d like more informatiion/details. Thanks!

HS
HS
12 years ago

Normally this would be a bit nitpicky, but I think pointing out a possible spelling error in this case is warranted.

If Dahon “looses” top brass, that implies that they were let go by Dahon. If Dahon “loses” top brass, that implies that people left of their own accord.

The title implies that they employees were let go by Dahon, but the content of the post seems to imply that they left voluntarily. Which is it?

Tyler Benedict
Admin
12 years ago

NOTE: we’ve changed the headline to better reflect the facts.

Nick Burklow
12 years ago

I agree, that headline makes more sense. The other one worked in my head, but that is probably because I am a comic book nerd and anything referring to the phoenix is cool. Sorry for any confusion.

James
James
12 years ago

My Dahon SpeedPro was utter garbage–gimmicky, poorly designed, and constructed with indifference. If Team Dahon loses those responsible for kitting the flagship 20″ wheel product with Pantour hubs, seven-speed freewheels, and more ridiculous trademarked names (BioLogic), then the new marque truly is a TERN for the worse.

For $300 more than my SpeedPro, I bought a Bike Friday PR Pro with off-the-shelf componentry that any rider can repair at home. My Friday is lighter, stiffer, and better in every conceivable way, even if it doesn’t fold as compactly and neatly as the Dahon.

Taking Dahon upmarket is a fool’s errand, IMO. I wish them luck, nevertheless.

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