Bicycles have always been one of my preferred modes of transportation. Like most everyone else, I enjoyed it as a child and I've had a bike at nearly every stage of my life. The last one I owned was a Trek mountain bike—heavy, at times unwieldy, but it took me places. That bike was stolen in Chicago, and I didn't buy another bike after that.
That is, until the Tern Link C7.
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Now that I'm in Manila, I decided to get a smaller bike instead of its heavy mountain cousin. A city bike, if you will. The Tern Link C7 is a bike so small, it can fit inside the trunk of a compact car with ease.
A folding bike, the Link C7 comes as a complete package. It's a 1-by with a 52 chainring and a 14-28 cassette. It's also equipped with mudguards so riding in the rain, or after the rain, won't be a problem. The C7 also has a rack installed at the back in case you're carrying anything heavy that might put you off-balance.
More importantly, the Link C7 is one fun joyride. It operates smoothly, gliding on roads like butter in a pan. I can ride it for 12 kilometers at a time and feel nothing but ease. The shifter changes gears smoothly, and you can go from the biggest cog to the smallest one in no time.
However, folding bikes aren't meant for long distances, and the Link C7 is no exception. The 20-inch wheel isn't designed to handle long rides and, with the small handlebars, makes the bike unstable and quite difficult to manage at fast speeds. The short structure is hardly aerodynamic and the 52 chainring makes it difficult to course through inclined roads. The casette won't have you doing any daredevil stunts, either.
What the C7 offers is convenience. Folding the bike is really easy—it can be folded or opened in about half a minute. It's immensely portable, and because it's small enough to fit in the trunk, you wouldn’t need special racks to mount in on your vehicle.
You'll probably use the Tern Link C7 for errands like going to the bank, doing groceries, or even going to work, but it's also a cool-to-have for quick situations when you want to skirt away from the traffic.
