I love our Tern GSD. We just crossed 2000 miles ridden over the last 15 months and can’t really imagine life without it. Part of the joy is customizing it as we go – everything from racks and seats to locks and Woom-holding aero bars. Even a clubhouse-mounted bubble fan that kinda worked! (Here’s a video)
I posted that video to the Tern GSD Facebook group and a Tern rep asked to use it in an upcoming promotion – why not! They kindly mailed me a wooden GSD model that was a blast to assemble.
I hoped to share the model with friends, but Tern doesn’t sell the wooden model – it’s a promo-only item. So I did what any reasonable person would do and scanned each piece, created digital model files, and 3D printed the entire thing in custom colors for all our friends with bikes 🙂
I experimented with printing loose pieces as well as carded/flat pieces in a custom frame to best emulate the pop-out-of-wood feeling like the original model. I don’t love the extra plastic created by the frame, so I’ve mostly printed loose versions and stuck them in a manila envelope with instructions and a color-coded keychain.
The total print volume per bike is 63.96 grams of filament – roughly $1.61 per bike. (The carded version is 108.8 grams / $2.74) Cheap enough to print a bunch in different colors and hand them out to other GSD riders in the park! It’s a fun way to get to know other biking families. If that’s how you ended up here, please leave a comment below!
Paint colors / Filament Names (names from Tern touch-up paint)
- Beetle Blue – Inland Light Blue PLA
- Dark Sage
- Dragonfruit – Bambulab Magenta PLA
- Tabasco – Hatchbox Orange PLA
- School Bus Yellow – Polymaker Savannah Yellow Matte PLA
- Forge Grey – Polymaker Fossil Grey Matte PLA
- Rhino Grey – Polymaker Fossil Grey Matte PLA
- Blue Grey
Update 9/5/23: These are for sale on Etsy
Update 9/7/23: I’m working on a similar HSD design!
Update 9/19/23: I finished the HSD and uploaded both designs to Printables: GSD, HSD
Here are a few neighbor / friend photos of their bikes 🙂
Hello, I am a tern GSD driver and like you I am a fan of my dragon fruit véhicule. I use it with my 2 kids and my American shepherd.
I LOVE your little bike models. If I lived in San Francisco I would definitely come and meet you but I live in Paris. I was wondering if it would be possible to have the model to print it here. If not, could send you the money for you to send it by mail?
I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
Have a good day,
Angela Gleyze
I’d pay shipping and costs to get a few in Topeka, KS!
Very cool. I think they would make an excellent Xmas ornament. Let me know how much a beetle blue one would be, if of course you’d sell one. I just got a GSD up here in Portland and love it. Already took my kids on 3 rides and my wife on a date in it.
I wondered if Dulpo little people would fit in the seat? I would love to have one for my kids to play. Our dragon fruit school bike is getting ready to do school runs this week, 2 different schools, can’t do it without tern!
Please let me know the cost and shipping.
Thanks !
Bike mom from Brooklyn, NY