Difficulty in locking / unlocking bottom tube

I have both a Strida 5 and a Strida DS and I noticed recently that its a lot harder to lock and unlock the bottom tube for the Strida 5.

Does anyone have a pro tip to do some maintenance on it or fix it?

Thank you

I am not sure if I had the same problems as you, but on my aged Strida3, I occasionally needed to put a drip of oil on the little locking tab (where your thumb presses). And once I slackened the screws either side of the steering pin, and re-tightened them, this must have slightly re-aligned the steering pin as after that the action was much smoother. These screws are very tight and must be tightened gradually, one side at a time - to keep the steering pin the the ‘neutral’ position. (does that make sense ?).

Seconded PeteT, though I tend to use either Silicon spray or White Lightning instead of oil. They tend not to attract as much grit and dirt.

Tried oiling it and it helps a little. Might try loosening the bolt. Do you guys do it when the bike is folded or when the bottom tube is locked?

After a while, the bottom tube got a little tight and out of whack to drop onto the pin, even with lubing it. So, I loosened the bolts and retightened them with the bike assembled (i.e. the bottom tube skewered on the pin) and things worked beautifully – for a while. I then found that the pin would slip and slide, and I could not get the bolts to stay, even with reapplying loc-tite to the bolts.

My solution was to put a little contact cement (like rubber cement) onto the pin block, then bolted the pin in. Perfect! The pin stays in place, I can loosen and retighten the bolts, the bottom tube raises and lowers perfectly, and since I used a weak glue, I’m confident that I can reset/replace it if needed.

Sorry to necro an old post, but I have this exact problem now! Good tips in this thread. I am going to try the loosening and tightening trick.

Could someone tell me, are the two bolts threaded in the normal way, i.e. clockwise to tighten, counter-clockwise to loosen?

Thanks!

StridaD

The bolt and nut are threaded in the normal way.
I had the same issue 3 months ago after I felt with my Strida LT, it did unlock with difficulty. The loosening-tightening solution worked fine. Please respect the tightening toque of 14 Nm and use Loctite as well.

Bietrume

Thank you, Bietrume, and welcome to the Strida Forum!

BTW, I always wondered: How are you supposed to estimate the torque (Nm) when tightening your bolts? Do you need to use a torque wrench?

While I’m sure many hardcore users on this forum have the technical knowledge and ability to observe the Nm measurements indicated in the manual, I would be surprised if most “typical” Strida riders had a clue.

I just used a mallet to hit the steering pin back to the correct angle. The screws are really too tight that I cound not turn them a bit.

@ Bietrume: Welcome!

@ StridaD: You’re right, as a hardcore user I always have to use torque wrenches! :sunglasses:

http://www.bbbparts.com/proinfo3.php?N=TORQUEFIX&BC=BTL-52&SC=Tool%20Boxes&LC=EN&Y=2010

http://www.norbar.com/TorqueWrench_1_2_ratchet_adjustable_N_m_lbf_ft;TruTorqueTT100-TruTorque-TorqueWrenches-54-1-295-11124-product.aspx

I am going to order that wrench set from BBB tonight!