Rock & Rolla
Bike review
Your first Verge
The svelte Tern Verge P9 folding bike is by no means "basic" as it caters to beginners as well as those who want to tweak with their bike to make stand out in the crowd..
TERN'S Verge P9 is one of the latest addition to the bike manufacturer's Verge series of bikes. Based on the Verge X-10, the P9 variant is a bike with infinite possibilities.
While chatting with Tern Bicycle's Project Manager for Consumer Marketing Eric Mah at the Taipei Bike Show 2014, I was told that the Verge P9 is meant more than just a basic folding bike with a good and robust frame.
Mah said those who want to trick out their bikes can start with the Verge P9 as it is able to accept parts and components for a performance upgrade.
"You can tweak the bike by adding performance components, making it lighter and out of the box, its a fast bike!
"Bike owners who love to pimp their bikes will love the Verge P9," he said.
BLACK-RED, THE NEW SEXY!
I picked the Black-Red frame and frankly-speaking this is one of the hottest colours one would ask for.
And straight out of the box, the Verge P9 is a no-frills bike.
It comes with premium components, a mash-up between Shimano and FSA parts and since this a bike with a 9-speed transmission, much
of the teething issues like chain drop and jumping during shifting has been eliminated.
With a pricetag of RM3,800, it's a bit steep for a beginner's bike, but that said, you get branded components like the Shimano Sora rear
derailleur, Alivio shifter and even the 55T chainring is custom-made for Tern.
You can depend on the "Sharktooth" anti-drop chainring when it comes to rigorous gear-shifting especially on uphill climbs.
But, before you hit the road, it's best to give the Verge P9 a pre-ride tune-up.
TOP: Tern's latest 9-speed ride is a "head-terner". OPPOSITE PAGE - TOP LEFT: The Verge P9 caters to beginners as well as experienced riders. TOP RIGHT: The 55T chainring yields plenty of raw power.
BOTTOM LEFT: Alivio shifter and Avid FR5 brake lever. BOTTOM RIGHT: The kinetic V-brakes means business!