Strida 3 Beltwheel substitution

Hello you all, it’s my first post in here and I beg your pardon for any mistake I can make in the post positioning.
Here’s my question: I came across a friend’s Strida 3 and I immediately fell in love with it.
I bought it from him (he decided to go for a Brrr…omptom :unamused: so better for me!).
Now the “Customization” disease has infected me very brutally and my first serious project is to get rid of the dirty grey plastic freewheel dish to get a more elegant alloy one.
I’m not interested in adding gears or change the beltwheel ratio, just and aesthetic improvement.
I googled frenetically with no results.
Does anybody can help me?
Suggestions are very well welcomed.
Thank you in advance.

Hello StRider,

at Stridaforum…
…and please don’t worry…

Yeah, google is our friend…sometimes…but s(?)he wants to categorize us…
and therefore it’s tricky…to find things like that:

smtbike.com.tw

Had recently very nice contact with the new young sales guy of Five Big - “Kris” :smiley:
(May I try to connect you both?)

And one thing more…you did know that you’ll need a special tool to un/remount the freewheel?

Hello Blackstridaaustria and thanks for your quick answer.
I would be really glad to get in touch with Kris from Five Big.
Regarding the special tool to dismantle the beltwheel I got fully enlighted by the video from Victoria Wu on youtube
youtube.com/watch?v=J2wvu9zznSo. :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth:
Having studied it 8-10 times I think I can now manage this kind of operation.
I surely let you know my progresses.
Thanks for now.

Of course I’ll tell Kris about your wish; I’m planning to order a few EVO beltwheels soon.
But naturely it’s no secret that Kris’ business address is smt.bike@msa.hinet.net
Unfortunately is Victoria not any longer an employee of Five Big.

The video doesn’t show the tool which I’ve meant before,
it’s necessary to loosen the freewheel from the crank axle
(at ~ 4.20 of the video is the crank/belt wheel assembly out off sight; after that one can see the actor tightening the freewheel by hand).
Please refer also to here:
http://www.stridaforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3318&st=0&sk=t&sd=a#p8211

I am looking to do something similar at the moment but cannot find pats for the Strida 3 for love nor money. Does anybody have any suggestions for how to make the older Strida’s compatible with new Strida parts…?

Could you please specify for what parts you are looking exactly?

  • Beltwheel (not available)
  • Freewheel (perhaps via Korea or France)
  • Axle (as above)
  • Plastic carrier/rails for bottom bracket (Korea)
    :question:

The parts are totally different, I can’t see any chance to make that compatible:

  • Old freewheel was in front, the new one is rear.
  • Belt tension was created by above mentioned plastic rails, sliding on the bottom tube, at the old version. New version has an eccenter for that purpose.
  • Old bottom tubes are not suitable to carry an eccenter, while new tubes can’t support a front freewheel.

…you are perhaps a little late if I may say so…

Anyway - welcome at Stridaforum :smiley:

Kind regards,

Chris

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the speedy reply. Yes, I am very late to the party.
I was looking for a belt wheel. We may not need one, the belt was slipping off and has partially torn so it may just be resolved with a replacement belt, a clean and a tune up. But I was hoping to find a way to replace part of the bike rather than the whole bike when the time inevitably comes… There is now a EVO 3 upgrade kit, which replaces the whole lower bar and presumably the rear wheel. Would that not work with the Strida 3? If not, could you explain why for me please…?

Best wishes,
Emma x

Hi Emma,

of course I’m always sorry to hear something like that and also I’m sad every time that I can’t tell much more than this:
Please consider that your bike must be far over 20 years old and the replacement part manufacturing was cancelled already several (if not many) years ago.

Regarding the Strida EVO kit I’ve noticed the following at a first, quick sight:

Question in between:
Does your Strida have drum brakes?
If yes - then you need another seat tube too, because a drum version does not support disc brake calipers.

My personal experience in ancient bikes is unfortunately very limited, I’m familiar with versions from 5.0 upwards only.

Cheers,
Chris