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That was a tl:dr version of my post... Unlike the frame failures Tern folders are famous for, long term durability issues and shoddy assembly would not be obvious to the average buyer, especially since a lot of that stuff would be sorted during the PDI.
I'm not telling anyone not a buy a Tern GSD (which is by all accounts a good design), in the same time I think it's good to have some feedback from a forum member who works with cargo bikes every day. Anyway. Moving on.
Lolo-
This, its not that the Tern GSD is bad, as you I like the design and a lot of it makes sense, most of those issues can be dealt with by dealer during build, however I would guess half of all their sales are box shipped straight to customer, and most folk I have seen with a GSD will not know how to deal with these issues (and they really shouldn't be getting as far as the customer anyway). Heard of a few folk who are minutes away from buying a Surly/Kona/Xtracycle long tail bike, and then turn right and buy a GSD, so they are doing something right.
Omnium e8000, not available until end of Q1 2020 at this rate, very slow ship, think its got stuck in the Antarctic pack ice, possibly the same ship that has all the worlds budget 27.5" rims locked in its hold! We are thinking of dealing Omnium as well, get asked for them so often, can't imagine the mid drive being as much of a requirement for folk as it is for larger bikes, but nice to know it exists!
BrickMan
I dunno, it's one experience documented by one person (who to me is an internet stranger) from a specific point in time at a specific place with a number of units that is a small sample compared to the overall production figures. I'm not really sure what conclusion I can draw other than I'd need to do some more research if I really want to know what is going on, if anything. Which I tried on Google but couldn't really find anything. That might be because despite the internet being universally populated by well educated complainers that Tern GSD owners just happen to be the sort of person who cannot internet (really?!), or don't actually care, my Google fu is weak, or it might mean something else. So I can ask around if you like?