Terning heads

5 minute read

Last month I was lucky enough to witness the arrival of a new (and very shiny) Tern GSD S10.

Kindly funded by Derby City Council through their amazing Connected grant scheme, it was a much needed replacement for Derby Bike PopUp’s increasingly worn trailer set up.

Derby Bike PopUp is the city’s only mobile bike mechanic service who operates entirely by bicycle and does the work on your doorstep. Started by filmmaker, environmentalist and bike mechanic Hardy Saleh last summer in response to the increase in demand for quality bike repairs during the pandemic, he has since fixed hundreds of bikes and covered thousands of miles across the city and beyond. They recently celebrated their 1st birthday and what better present could you wish for than an e-cargo bike!

But this is no ordinary e-cargo bike. The Tern GSD S10 is beautifully designed to be both efficient and practical. Including the weight of the bike and the rider, it is capable of carrying a total of 200kg, or 2 small children/1 adult & cargo. It is also full of handy features like a brake light, the ability to stand it upright for storage and a wide range of accessories to tailor your usage and experience. Its usability and cost therefore make it a viable alternative to a car.

So far Hardy and I have used it for our community Dr.Bikes, a filming project in Leicester (the train ticket guy walked the entire length of the train just to see it) and also as my new taxi service! Most passers by do a double take when they realise an adult is comfortably sat on the back of the bike complete with my own chair and handlebars (they do clip on chairs for kids). My favourite reaction so far as been from a dog who just stopped in its tracks and stared as we rode past. Even dogs are in awe of how amazing it is.

Derby City Council and Cycle Derby recently spent £41,824 on 8 Urban Arrow e-cargo bikes, 4 of which are their extra large model after a successful bid to the ‘eCargo Bike Grant Fund’ delivered by the Energy Saving Trust. When I found out Derby was launching a ‘try before you buy’ e-cargo bike scheme for businesses I was really excited.

Unusually I was invited to be there for the delivery of the bikes. When I attended, I must admit that I was shocked by the sheer size of the extra large model. The large model seemed manageable but I asked the instructor if he has witnessed any women riding the XL size and he said that many struggle to do so. I consider myself to be a confident cyclist and I am sure they are wonderful bikes, but I felt far too intimidated to even give it a go and my fears were confirmed when a male Sustrans employee immediately fell off even though it wasn’t carrying any cargo.

The other issue is that sadly they are too big to fit in our city’s cycling infrastructure so ironically when riding them you actually get stuck in traffic. Of course, the solution would be to design more accessible infrastructure which would benefit everyone, not just those using these bikes, so hopefully this will be considered by our transport planners going forward. On the other hand, I am able to easily ride and navigate everywhere with the Tern, even with cargo onboard. The handlebars also fold down to make it through the dreaded A frames that are designed to deter motorbikes.

This is a unique and significant opportunity for Derby so making sure there is diverse representation and input in the development and implementation of these schemes is vital to their success and accessibility. Unfortunately though, the male influence is ever present as we had to ask the council to change the language in their newsroom article covering the ‘inspiring start’ to the scheme from “Mr Broer came across eCargo bikes, used commonly by tradesmen across Europe” to ‘tradespeople‘ as I still remain perhaps naively hopeful that I will be proven wrong and that women will ride these extra large bikes too.

On the topic of diverse input and hope, our neighbours in Nottingham have worked hard to create an excellent community led e-cargo bike sharing scheme. So far, Nottingham Commons Cargo Cycle have two e-cargo bikes that can be hired. Run by a lovely lady called Kimberley, they have opted for a small Raleigh model and a Tern GSD. When we engaged in a conversation about how they chose their bikes, they responded with the below.

When ordering [our] cycles manoeuvrability, usability, and flexibility in carrying either cargo or children was key. We intentionally went for different cycles rather than one type to allow choice. Our next goal is a trike for those who need more stability from 3 wheels.

Personally I feel the community should be included in e-cargo bike rental schemes. I know that the funding for the Derby scheme was restricted, but as much as I’m all for encouraging businesses to transition to e-cargo bikes, private car usage remains a significant contributor to our carbon emissions. Being able to access to a more inclusive e-cargo bike rental scheme means the kind of journeys that are disproportionately done by women such as school runs, trips to the supermarket and more could be easily replaced (and also made much more fun!).

We have so many dreams, one of which would be to set up a similar scheme to Nottingham here in Derby, but unfortunately we don’t have access to thousands of pounds and so until that happens, feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about life with the Tern and be sure to pop along to our Cycling UK fix, learn ride events as part of our summer collaboration with Derby Bike PopUp where you can meet the bike in real life, and maybe even have a go as a passenger!

Happy cycling,

Lucy

founder | spoke out