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 âneutralâ 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 â 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, Iâm 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 Iâm 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 âtypicalâ 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: Youâre right, as a hardcore user I always have to use torque wrenches! 
http://www.bbbparts.com/proinfo3.php?N=TORQUEFIX&BC=BTL-52&SC=Tool%20Boxes&LC=EN&Y=2010
I am going to order that wrench set from BBB tonight!
Hello,
I think I have the same pb with my strida mini (not a recent model !) : also like another post by Yokohama strida in 2022 : cannot-fully-seat-bottom-tube-on-lock-pin-part
I donât know why it happened as there has been no shock or fall : probably not by having my 12 years old granson try the bike (successfully !). Though a few months ago the top tube ball got loose from its rubber socket and I had to force it back in (softly !), can that be a cause ?
No visible obstacle to the full seating of the bottom tube hole, the latch at the top of the pin seems ok, so alignment seems to be the pb.
I tried loosening the black bolts on either side of the pin, the idea being to loosen them just enough to move the pin slightly and seat the tube correctly and then tighten again. Will that work ?
But the bolts are too tight, wonât moveâŠ. I donât have a longer wrench, so I might either knock on the hexagonal key lightly with a hammer, or apply something like WD40. Is that a good idea ?
I donât have any tool to check the torque, but I expect tigntening as hard as I can (manually) wonât be too muchâŠ
Also not clear to me what the glue or cement in this post was used for.
Having in mind that in France there no longer is any Strida maintenance service provider, and other bike repair shops are more than reluctant to do anything on a Strida, so I have to be cautious !
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Bonjour Catherine,
Possibly, the shaft of the ball could be bent, but that is rather rare.
Iâm pretty sure that should work and Iâd try exactly that first.
With that age, it is just normal that threads start to rust and seize.
A good knock with a hammer on the key directly (in bolt axis direction) might help, also applying (moderate, ~200°C) heat.
Try to find a matching piece of tube to elongate your hex key!
I personally do not trust WD40 and prefer thin gun oils.
***Worst case scenario here:
If the bolts brake, you have to replace part 216 - not a big deal 
I guess you mean the blue dots on the original bolts?
That is a special sort of dry thread locking compound.
It can be replaced (without any problem) with liquid thread locking compound, as like:
Btw - some of this stuff is present at your bolts right now - and it looses its locking force at ~ 200°C.
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Hi Catherine san,
Regarding the application of heat to deactivate thread-locking compound, using a torch is not recommended as it can damage other components, while a hair dryerâreaching only around 120°Câdoes not provide sufficient heat.
To avoid applying excessive heat, I recommend using a heat gun capable of reaching the 200°Câ500°C range.
Regurds,
Dorenine
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Thank you very much for the info and encouragement !
Finally somebody with (much) stronger hands than myself managed to loosen the bolts, once the pin was in place and the bolts tighened again, everything was ok. If it becomes misaligned again, I might unscrew them comletely and add some liquid thread locking. Thanks agian to this forum !
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