My EVO on it's way to Helsinki

It’s about time to introduce myself after having read numerous topics here. I’m older man, retiring this autumn, having been without bicycle since 1997. In 1987-97 I had two MTBs, the second one very customized to my liking. As substitute to any bicycle I have used adult kick scooter now in 5 years, having it on my city trips during vacations abroad as well at home.

Folding bicycles never appealed to me before I discovered Strida while watching YouTube videos. The ingenious design hit me instantly and I started googling, where to get one. Being 166 cm high I also wondered how EVO would fit my body, how much compromized riding posture because of the fixed saddle height. There is no Strida dealer here in Finland so I was ready to take a shopping trip to Berlin and have a test ride. But my inquiries were not answered, not by the shop nor German distributor. I had to figure another way to check virtually. I went to nearby city bicycle station and seated on a parked bicycle adjusting first the saddle to optimal height, then took several measurements. EVO’s measurements I found online and with PhotoShop I sandwiched EVO and city bicycle scaled to match and with PS measure tool I could convert millimeters to pixels. I edited the saddle to position optimal for me. On the composite photo I could see that EVO fits me quite well, saddle to pedal distance being the same EVO’s saddle is lower to ground (couple of cms), thus easier to get seated. But there is more to riding posture, will experience it soon…

This pixel comparison gave me confidence to order EVO without hands-on testing. So, no reply from Germany - nor from France, so I emailed Strida Netherlands and soon I got reply telling me they can deliver to Finland… and will do it all free. WoW! Initially I wanted the Copper Edition, presented only by German Strida but decided now to settle with the silver version (no black nor white available in Denmark and Sweden).

My EVO has now left the terminal in Netherlands… can’t wait… come on, baby!

I had problems to access my online gallery and failed to include this photo to my first post above.

Hello MarSal,

at Stridaforum!

Guess you figured out already that the saddle height is not fixed.
It was back then inconvenient to adjust, but at least since the QRS system this can be done relatively easy.

Quick Release Seat Molding ST-QRS-001

Regarding German main distributor:
Knowing them for several years now…they do prefer to talk to dealers only (as like several other German companies) and not to customers - that’s a money thing, you must understand that :unamused:
And regarding the location you mentioned:
Perhaps I’m wrong, but I believe that’s the same guys who claim officially at a German bike forum that a broken bolt means a total frame loss (not Strida, belongs to another brand!).
That’s telling enough about the technical ability (or willingness?) to perform repairs. :neutral_face:

Btw, Helsinki - Vienna are just 1650 km - instead of 1350 - that doesn’t matter and HERE you are very welcome for test rides with different 16"/18" wheels/tyres, drives and steering bars.

Interestingly, just a few days ago posted Mark Sanders at twitter this one :smiley:

twitter.com/77A/status/1034450705514409986

Have a safe ride and much fun with your EVO,

Chris

Hi Chris,

Thanks for welcoming me and your comments. I’d like to add some more info how I have been done some research based on online photos. Well, I should have been more circumstantial in my writing: when I wrote one fixed saddle position I was thinking the lower mounting for us short people (me 166cm).

Before that comparison with local city bicycle I did similar with two product photos with exact pixel size, angling of crank arms, only one had different saddle position. Based on known wheelbase I could do pixel measurements giving following result:

But this was not enough for me so I had to have a “bottom-on” comparison and thus seated on a city bicycle with my tape measure. Funny, the field measurement saddle-pedal happened to be the same 82 cm as on my sandwich comparison above. Am I the ideal small size rider of Strida? I will report it later after arrival of my EVO… (right now in hands of DPD)

You wrote welcoming words how I could test Strida in Vienna. I’d love to visit you if only I could afford it at the moment. Thinking back my MTB years with different stems and handlebars I was curious to know how much difference those different alternative Strida handlebars would give. Based on rather poor product photos I scaled them by the mounting pins to get following composite image. If only somebody would do this properly… (dreaming)…

I am used to steer my kick scooter with it’s 40cm wide handlebar and am curious to experience the feel of steering EVO. Thinking of the weight distribution I could consider that handlebar meant for large riders.

I had 10 days long visit in Vienna in 2016 was instantly impressed by those blue bicycle lanes and the smooth ride I experienced on my kick scooter.

Thanks for the link to Twitter. Back in 1991 I was riding on such Omafiets while staying in Eindhoven.

Many thanks for the graphics, especially for the bars comparison :smiley:

You mentioned a kick-scooter - just out of curiosity; which wheel size does it use?

My kick scooter, Oxelo Town 9 EasyFold, has ø200mm wheels.

Ah I see, thanks.

Did you know these?
https://www.micro-mobility.com/en/products/micro-pedalflow-white

Yes, I happened to watch a video on YouTube. Well, not for me, if you ask… And you?

Oop, I did it again…

Every time I log in I also mark that option “Log me on automatically each visit” it doesn’t have any effect. Strange that I forget to check my status while revisiting this forum and start writing reply which then will be published as by guest, which should not be possible elsewhere at least. How come this is possible? Need to contact admin??

Well, actually I’m not so sure that it is your fault, I’d suspect more the outdated forum software…

Of course you can contact Garry anytime via his page http://www.3001.co.uk/blog/

Regarding Micro; also not for me, just a good friend is highly interested :smiley:
And I thought that is a halfways useful wheel size similar to that of your scooter.

Hi Helsinki and Marsal what a shame you didn’t contact us in Australia we would have been able to supply you with the booze/copper STRiDA

save and happy riding!

Norbert