Embedded Files
Booking a service, or dealing with a breakdown right now? Scroll to what you need.
Broken down right now?
Flat tyre on the school run? i will come to you — wherever 'you' safely are.
You're not a mechanic. You didn't sign up to be one. You just needed to get the kids to school and the shopping done, and now you're standing on a pavement far from home with a flat tyre, two kids, and no idea what happens next.
If you get a flat tyre or a dropped chain with the kids on board, here's what to do:
Get off the road, not off the bike. Wheel it or ride it slowly to the nearest safe place — a driveway, a shop front, a side street, a patch of pavement away from traffic. It doesn't need to be far, just out of the way of danger.
Leave the kids where they are. The cargo bay is usually the calmest, most familiar place for them to sit while you sort out what to do next — there's no need to get everyone out onto the pavement.
Message iLovesMyBike using the WhatsApp link below. Tell me where you are and I will give you a straight answer: how long until I can get to you, and whether it's worth waiting where you are or locking your Tern and moving somewhere safer and more comfortable while you wait.
You don't need to touch the tyre. No tools, no kit, no expectations — that's what you're calling iLovesMyBike for.
i come out to your location anywhere in Central Bristol. Wherever you've ended up that's safe, that's where i will fix your punctured tyre. If the spot you've decided on isn't going to work, i'll help you figure out somewhere better before i set off.
Two call-out options:
PRIORITY Mobile (Call-Out) Service - £150
Operates Monday–Sunday, 7am–7pm.
As it's an emergency, i will tell you immediately if i can re-prioritise my time to get to you within 90 minutes of your acknowledged call.
90 minutes is a best-effort time-window guarantee.
Includes the 1st hour's labour
New inner tubes are an extra £9.99
After the 1st hour, labour is charged at £60/hr.
STANDARD Mobile (Call-Out) Service — £65
Please book ahead for a mutually convenient time.
Operates Monday–Friday, 'normal' business hours 9am–4pm.
Includes 1st hour's labour (new Schwalbe inner tubes are not included in the price).
After the 1st hour, labour is charged at £30/hr.
Booking a scheduled service? Here's what's involved.
Tern GSD, HSD & Quick Haul Service — £140 (+parts)
Your most precious cargo deserves a safe ride.
Your Tern's Bosch motor is about the most reliable part of the bike. That's not marketing — it's genuinely well-engineered, and you very rarely need to worry about it.
What does wear, quietly, ride after ride, are the same components found on far less heavily-loaded bikes: the chain, the brake pads, the pulley wheel that keeps your chain in tension and running true, the pivots on the stand your bike leans on when you're at the school gate.
Carrying an extra 20–40kg of children, bags and shopping is exactly what your Tern was built for. It's your brakes and drivetrain that pay the price — wearing faster than the Bosch motor ever will. They're the parts that need to be reliable when you're pulling away from a busy junction with your children on board. My experience on eBikes, especially cargo bikes, suggests these parts need to be safety-checked and maintained more frequently than on a lighter bicycle with no electric motor.
i'm Richard, and i've been a bike mechanic for 17 years. At iLovesMyBike, i'm the only person you'll ever deal with — i answer your message, i collect your Tern, i service it, i hand it back, and i'm the one accountable if anything's not right.
What i check, and why it matters
Chain and drivetrain. Every pedal stroke stretches a chain very slightly. On a bike carrying real weight, that wear adds up faster than on a normal bicycle — and a chain that's stretched too far can skip under load, which tends to happen at the worst possible moment: pulling away from a stop with weight through the pedals. i measure chain wear with a gauge at every service and replace before it reaches the point of damaging your cassette too — not after.
Disc brakes. Stopping a loaded cargo bike asks more of your brake pads than stopping an empty one. i check pad wear against safety limits every time, and replace before they're marginal, not when they're already worn through.
Tension pulley wheel. This is the small wheel that keeps your chain running cleanly and safely while you ride — easy to overlook, and one of the first things to wear unevenly under sustained load. i check it every service.
Lock-stand pivots. The stand that holds your Tern upright while you load or unload your child takes more daily strain than most people realise. i check for wear and re-grease if it's dry, so it stays solid under you.
Fixings, frame and undercarriage. Before anything else, i clean and inspect the full undercarriage and frame, and make sure every fixing is properly tightened — vibration works bolts loose over time, especially on rougher Bristol streets.
Wheels, spokes and tyres. i check spoke tension and inspect your Schwalbe tyres for wear or anything sharp working its way in.
On the Bosch motor
Mechanical servicing and repairs on your Tern are fully available. Bosch eBike system diagnostics, firmware updates and motor servicing aren't something i offer yet — but they're coming. In the meantime, the motor is the part least likely to need my attention; everything above is where i focus, because that's where wear actually happens.
Tern also publish their own maintenance schedule — i aim to meet that standard and even go beyond it.
Please note: Home Collection & Return isn't available for Tern servicing, due to their heavy weight, but you can drop it off at my worksop in BS6 by appointment only.
FAQ: How often should I service my Tern?
More regularly than you'd expect, for the reasons given above.
Not sure of something?
Start a Chat on WhatsApp and let me know how i can help you?
Or contact me directly: 📞 07305 695303 (leave a voicemail and i'll return your call) ✉️ ilovesmybike@gmail.com
Hire iLovesMyBike - if YOU love YOUR bike?
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse