Hello Strida People - am writing to express a bit of frustration my hinge broke on my Strida SX 2022 that I bought a couple of years ago and have only ridden quite infrequently.
Admitedlly very slight mistreatment of the bike - I pushed the folded bike under a table with my foot, the magentic clip between the wheels seperated then as the frame tube seperated a little the hinge snapped
was not a great deal of force and only a small angle between the tubes so was v surprised the hing failed so easily - but kinda my fault :shrugs:
However its 35 euro to buy the small plastic part needed?
AND Strida would not ship anythng from Europe to England for less the 175 euro? (another brexit bonus ) so had to be shipped from taiwan via ebay and cost me Ā£50!
So - 2 questions:
1/ Was it just bad luck my hinge snapped or is it really super fragile?
2/ Are there any better ways to get hold of hinges - for when this inevitably happend again - can they be 3d printed maybe ?
3/ ok 3rd question - my strida squeaks a bit when riding uphill / under strain - should I worry about that too?
I mean you had good luck!
Imagine that happens during riding
What you describe above - that is certainly NOT the typical reason to replace the two plastic āpansā.
It is a very common beginnerās fault to ālet the front tube goā, meaning that the ball pops out of the pan - then it should be replaced for safety reasons.
But in your case - with, obviously, very less force - Iād suspect a production issue.
Very hard to see at your image - but arenāt there two tiny bubbles present in the fractured surface?
Indeed yes, there are better ways - if it really happens again - please think of me next time
(Iām a private person only, but Iām pretty sure that I can forward parts to UK, of course without any additional charges.)
Regarding 3D printing (having a little bit of experience with a cheap Anycubic 3D printer) I must say that common hobby printers would most likely not be able to produce the āpanā with the required, very smooth surface.
I personally (being too stupid for CAD programs) could not re-construct the part and moreover that we do not have any material specs.
No real reason to worry.
But Iād recommend to keep an eye on the two bearings 100-03 and 100-04 at the front end of the bottom tube.
Check them occasionally for their presence and integrity (they may actually disintegrate, especially the lower one) - it is NOT required that they ārun goodā.
It is also time to react if you experience the belt running off sideways.
And if it is just annyoing and youād like to get rid of it then please type ārear hingeā into the forum search field and read the first three, four threads
Hi Nevermind, just for future reference I do stock the ball and socket and the cost is less than what you experienced. But note I am winding down my Strida sales so at some point my parts will no longer be available. Strida Ball Joint Socket - Strida Canada West
My personal experience with that brilliant socket shows that that kind of break is not dangerous for riding at all. The construction of the bike makes that the force of weight from the rider keeps the bike completely in place and operational.
Moreover the hinge with only one leaf makes the unfolding even easier.
I bought a replacement from Bill some time ago, but I am waiting for a general renovation of my strida (my wish is to repaint the bike).
I ride a lot, almost daily (as long as I do not have to replace something like rear tire which dies very fast or the freewheel which dies from time to time or KS gearbox which dies quite rarely) and I ride with this hinge like this since the beginning of my adventure with Strida which is about 5.5 years.
Of course, this is just my personal experience and I do not encourage anyone to drive with this part in this condition.
This is very common problem. Mine broke in less than 6 month. IMO it is also related to how you fold and unfold the bike and the strength of magnet. I believe this material has tendencies to have fatigue kind of failure. And installing new one is time consuming and not that easy. But it is doable
I recommend not to put too much strain on the belt unless you are sure that it is in good condition. Tensioned right . Mine after around one year flipped hit the rare brake rotor, bent it then activated the brake and made the bike to stop instantly. This is due to riding it in harsh condition with lot of dirt elements causing wearing to the teeth (according to blackstrida) . Very dangerous if it happened in the middle of the street!!
Problem with strida that since it was developed the manufacturer barely involved with customers or did research to fix minor problems in design or updated the components to increase safety and reliability. Also on putting some effort to increase the standard high quality component and spare part.
my hinge broke on my Strida SX 2022 that I bought a couple of years ago and have only ridden quite infrequently.
