First impressions: Tern Eclipse S18

Enter the Road Warrior...

Built to survive: Tern's Eclipse S18

I am taking some time to set up my latest touring bike.
And its a 24" foldie.
When I first heard of its existence, I've pretty much made up my mind about acquiring two more 24" bikes to complement my current range of 24" bikes including the Eclipse X20 and P9.
Out of the box, it's ready for inner city commutes and a ride in the countryside.
This is also a long-range bike that is built with comfort in mind.
It's also a worthy successor of the Eclipse P24h which was meant for touring if you set it up with racks.

The saddle has to go...

Well, the first thing I got rid of, were the Biologic Phia gel saddles.
I replaced it with a KORE saddle while the other bike enjoyed a Selle Royal gel seat. These will be kept as spares in my inventory.

The new KORE saddle on my Road Warrior

Widest tires in its class..

I've ridden the Eclipse S11i sometime back and found it to be really smooth rolling and comfortable on short and medium distance rides.
But it had some issues with the SKS fenders that seems to twist easily on the fork and underneath the seatstays.
Tern has improved this by using a larger and wider fork on the S18 and fitted it with a set of SKS Aluflex XXL spoilers. And they looked really good and functional.
Even the tires are larger than the Schwalbe Big Apple. 
On this bike, there's the Big Ben 24 x 21.5 tires that are made with a textured surface. Puncture protection on this low-pressure tire is said to be one of the best around.

The Schwalbe Big Ben 24x21.5 front tire, wide, comfortable and tough

Biologic's latest portage rack and the Spartan front rack

Tern is selling its Road Warrior with a set of luggage racks.
You get the Biologic Portage 24 and the Spartan rack to carry your front and rear pannier and the Portage system is Kickflix compatible. This means endless possibilities for the cyclist who wants to enhance the bike's luggage and cargo carrying capabilities.

Anytime, anywhere: The Portage 24 rack is specially designed for Tern's 24" bikes

All the bells and whistles you will need for the road..

While the components for the bike are mid-range parts, Tern did not cut corners by giving the Road Warrior a set of Valo 2 front light which is capable of delivering 150lumens of illuminaton and this is powered by the award-winning Joule 3 dynamo hub.
For added safety, a Spanniga LED rear light is integrated with the Joule energy system. This means you can leave home without worrying about returning late at night.

The Valo 2 headlight

Biologic's Joule 3 dynamo system is an award-winning design..

The first ride...

I took this bike out for a photoshoot and found it to be really smooth.
Of course it was tuned by Master Johnny Ng of My Bicycle Shop and I don't think anyone around can do a better job.
The Big Ben tires are really comfortable, taking off all the bumps and knocks during the ride and there's more to come as I have plans to ride the Road Warrior on long-distance excursions.
This bike will also be our standard mode of transport in our tours around Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia.