Keep Strida Original - say NO to Fakes!

Strida Forum General Strida Chat
61

As promised below is a report on the SLO!

Unfortunately the bike hasn’t done much since I last posted! Just before Christmas, I broke a couple of spokes on the back wheel. When you look closely at the rear hub (on my copy anyway) you can see it is a real cheap and nasty part. Basically the sharp edges on the hub were effectively chopping off the spoke heads. This combined with my weight (92 Kg’s) was knackering the wheel.

I looked on Strida’s website and they quoted £35 for a complete rear wheel (excluding tyre, tube, freewheel & brake disc). I thought this was an excellent price until the P&P went on - Strida wanted an additional £25quid.

I decided this was a bit steep and went to Reeds Garage (a bike shop in Kent who are an authorised Strida dealer). They were very helpful and said they could get a wheel for £35 and they would post it at cost (£5). The wheel arrive last Tuesday. IF YOU NEED STRIDA PARTS - USE THEM THEY WERE EXCELLENT. The phone number is on the store locator bit of the Strida site

I fitted it today, nice easy job apart from one of the bearings off the old wheel stayed firmly attached to the axle… I think it may of got some of the loctite that holds the axle into the frame tube. Anyway, I carefully made 4 cuts in it with a dremel (after removing most of the bearing race) and finally broke it off with my mole wrench. After that, the bike was back together in 10 mins!

Whilst I was doing this it gave me time to assess how mechanically sound the SLO is. The axle is not sub quality. It must be tempered steel as I gave it a bit of hammer to get the bearing off and there wasn’t a mark on it after. The fact that the bearing had become loctited on shows that the SLO assemblers use Loctite! Interestingly, the bearings on the fake wheel where identical to Strida’s, same make, same everything.

Although this episode is disappointing to report and I’ve had to stump up 40 quid to sort the problem, I am still hopeful the SLO will prove a wise investment. I must admit that I cannot understand how a replacement rear wheel (from Strida) can be so reasonable and a bike from Strida is so expensive…

If I’m feeling flush, I might do the front wheel to… although this doesn’t get the hammer that the rear gets.

Anyway, I’ll be glad to get back on it on Monday - the 20 minute walk to work was really starting to hack me off! I’ll report again end of Feb!

Cheers

Ringo

62

Interesting points there Ringo. Thanks.

I discovered yesterday that I have broken five rear spokes in about 170 miles. I haven’t checked them for a week or two, so I don’t know when they all went. Mine have gone just like yours, broken at the shoulder. I’m sort of hoping that the issue was a lack of tension. When I went around the wheel with the rim tape off, most were pretty slack - all of them just about, and since a very great part of the weight is right on that rear wheel, this might easily break them. I ordered some spokes of the right size from one of the LBS that are prepared to cut and thread spokes to size. I’ll pick them up on Monday and re-tension the wheel, but properly this time.

I note your points about the construction of the hub and the source of spares too. That is good information. Maybe some kind of simple puller would have budged the bearing race - you know better than me on that though. They are often easily fabricated out of a slotted and plain plate and a couple of nuts and bolts to pull the bearing from behind against the axle. Depends how tight they are of course. Even in spite of minor niggles (I replaced the pedals and seat pretty quickly) I really like the bike and delight in riding it.

PS - Did you mean ‘Dean’s Garage’ in Kent? I can’t find a Reeds Garage on the website. Thanks.

63

EvilV

Sorry, I did mean Deans - don’t know where I got Reeds from.

Your right about the puller - I just didn’t have the gear. I thought about going to my old mans he has every tool known to man, but we got there in the end.

Bad news about the spokes - you might be better biting the bullet and getting a nice machined hub strida wheel…

Ringo

64

Yeah - I will keep the idea of replacing the wheel in mind if I get more problems with the spokes. Unreliability is the death knell of pleasure in cycling. I can’t be doing it. I don’t mind doing maintenance, but breakages I won’t put up with long term. £40 is cheap for a new wheel, and it is really good to find a company that will post at cost. Strida.nl wanted £15 to send me an aluminium rack. The rack itself was £49.

I got a bargain wheel rear for my Merc - brand, nicely made with an SRF-3, Sturmey Archer three speed hub for £35 + £7 postage, but I also got other spares for the Merc posted as well - a new sprocket and a new chain. I have worn out two chains already in its 3600 or so miles and I expect to find some wear on the rear sprocket when I replace the chain again this time. The original hub is totally good still, but I wanted a spare when I saw it at that price.

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How can the faker make it? :confused:
abike.org.cn/shop_detail.asp … vid=500242

Left: a welded stem
Right: a one-piece stem without welding surface :open_mouth:

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Glad you guys are having fun with your SLOs! I must say, though: for a mere mortal like myself, with limited mechanical knowledge, the work you are having to put into keeping them on the road would be a major disincentive to buying one. After all, one of the main selling points of Strida (the original) is low-maintenance.

67

StridaD

I had a genuine Strida 3 and still had plenty of mechanical work to do…

Ringo

68

I have been using my Strida 3 for my daily commutes for over a year now. I don’t think I have done plenty of mechanical work on it. :unamused:

Photos taken at the night when I had just bought my Strida 3: Photos of my Strida 3.2 which I bought last night

Photos taken recently: New stickers and accessories on my Strida

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I’ve been riding a Strida 5.0 almost 18 months now. Maintenance: zero.

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I’ve been trying to ‘kill’ a strida3 for about 5+ years, still wont die :smiley:
But when It does, i’m sure the Strida5 will dance on its grave :mrgreen:

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:laughing:

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I notice that an ebay seller is selling fake Stridas in the UK:

cgi.ebay.co.uk/Brand-New-In-Box- … 240%3A1318

Not being sold as a Strida, but it’s obviously a Strida fake.

Should this seller be reported to eBay or Strida, or both?

73

Latest update on the SLO

Again, not a completely trouble free report… it nearly made it but we had a puncture on the way into Leeds yesterday.

Patched it up enough at work to get me back to the car. Unfortunately, on closer examination, the canvass on the tyre had gone through… As I say, I did a quick repair with some Gaffa tape on the inside of the tyre and repaired the tube with a puncture repair kit that I keep at work. I also keep a pump there for emergencies!

Repaired properly this morning by putting tube and tyre salvaged from my old Strida 3. Only other job was to tension the belt, that if truth be told has always been a little slack since the wheel replacement in Jan.

Rear wheel is holding up well - no issues with the genuine article…!

So there we go, costs since last report - nil. I can’t help feeling though that if the SLO makers didn’t scimp quite so much and charged a little more… not the £500+ that Strida want though!

Finally funny thing happened the other day. I was waiting at some traffic lights on the SLO when a chap on a Brompton pulled alongside. When the lights changed he was so intent on getting the jump on me - his back light flew off as he set off… so if you are out there Brompton boy. I’ve got your rear light. If I see you again in Leeds city centre I’ll give you it back!

Happy ridings…

Ringo

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I got a puncture and was riding a while before I realised and the rim cut the cords in the tyre carcase. When I blew it up hard (20 psi over the maximum marked) the cords separated and I got a little bulge. I’m wondering of that’s how your tyre canvas carcase got damaged. The weight is all on that back wheel and I was surprised when I noticed the drag having just climbed a long hill and levelled out to find the rear tyre entirely flat. You can see how the carcase would get eaten up by the rim can’t you. I put on a Kenda that I bought from Dean’s Garage where you got your wheel from. It seems rather less robust than the original tyre, though it is rated to a higher pressure.

I have had no other problems with my SLO. The freewheel makes a little ‘clack’ noise when I take up the drive after coasting if I pedal hard. Maybe I can find a way of putting a little more grease in there, but I suppose the plastic will convey mechanical noise differently than an all metal freewheel would. It’s probably fine as it is. After my spoke replacements and re-tensioning the rest, the wheel seems to have settled down and no more have gone. I think the problem was just loose spokes rather than the hub itself as you were suggesting. I had to adjust my belt tension once after the belt jumped twice on VERY steep hills. No problem there. Two minutes with the hex key and it’s all fine now. I love being able tor ride it in decent trousers without tucking them into my socks. I regulalrly ride with fawn coloured chinos on and leave them flapping. I wouldn’t dare to do that on my chain driven bikes - the clean up of the trouser legs is too grim to risk.

I’m still loving it, especially since I only paid £110.

75

Evil

You are probably right - I think I probably overflated the tyre and developed a bulge… Usage not that high, probably 50 miles a month.

Mind you the SLO was a great icebreaker with the nurse who came to do our healthchecks at work! She was looking for a folder,tried to puasuade her to get one but she reckoned it wouldn’t go in her MX5!

Ringo

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I think that’s right about the MX5. Someone on bikeforums/ folders, was saying the Brompton wouldn’t go in the boot of the Miata which is an MX5 under a different badge.

I was running the 35psi SLO tyres at 55 - 60 when my bulge happened. The front is still at 50+ but it has never been ridden while flat with my 170 pounds on top of it. Could be that overpressure caused it, but Dean at Dean’s garage said it usually happened because of riding them flat and chopping up the canvas structure.

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Hi all

Just a quick post to say that the SLO has behaved impeccably over the last 5 weeks. never missed a beat and no need to either spend anything or get the spanners out.

Just a quick point, I’ve been riding either a genuine Strida or a copy since 2003. In all that time I’ve never seen anyone else on one. For such a great design - why aren’t they the most popular folding bike. Don’t get me wrong, I see lots of folders, they are never Stridas!

My suspicion is that the market has decided that Stridas are to expensive for what they are…

Ringo

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IMHO Stridas are woefully undermarketed in Europe, probably in North America too. Any non-Internet oriented advertisements I’ve seen have always targeted Far Eastern markets.

I had heard of both Bromptons and Birdies before I ever saw one. In contrast, I had never heard of Strida before a chance sighting in Rouen, France. Amazing for a product that has been around for over 20 years.

79

I Agree about UK & European marketing.

In Asia / far east I hear Strida outsells ALL the usual suspects eg Korea, Taiwan (Ming’s home market), Indonesia etc. There is also a huge market for SLO’s in China - where they are made.

80

I agree about the lack of marketing, but if a product is good - it really should have established itself over a 20 year period.

I never ceased to be amazed by some of the negative reactions you get from people. It’s as if people are conditioned as to what a bike should look like and the fact the Strida is triangular seems to make it’s rider a figure of fun… I’ve got broad shoulders though. Don’t get me wrong you do get some compliments but they are outweighed by the negatives…

Best genuinely funny thing I got shouted at me was “do you do juggling as well!”

Ringo