Has anyone had a chance to see the new Stridas coming out? I see that they are going to offer two new two-speed models – the standard one called the Sport Duo ($1,200 US) and a sportier model called the MAS Special ($1,400 US). They are also finally offering a model for taller riders too. It will have 18" wheels and fit riders up to 6’10" (208 cm). It is called the XT ($1,000 US). For comparison, the 5.0 sells for $800. These are all available for pre-order from AREAWARE in the US and are supposed to ship in spring 2009.
Wow. That’s up there in price. I guess the market is being prepped for the even more expensive IF models to follow soon after. What happened to simplicity and the supposedly lower associated cost? The ingeniously simple Strida form is being re-cast into a high fashion icon with the attendant haute couture price I guess.
Ouch !!
Strida in USA starts at about the same price as other countries ie 750 - 800 usd. But for some reasons USA buyers expect to get everything cheap 
… in other countries Strida is one of the lowest cost quality folders (cf Brompton, Bike friday, Dahon, Birdy etc.) and especially in far east and Europe sells VERY well.
many people seem to think that of something is simple it is cheap … but not necessarily so … think of Apple products , iphone etc. Like in Strida it takes a lot of work, tooling care and testing to make a product simpler … ie easier to add many standard parts and keep them visible eg Chain, external cables, standard brakes etc. … its MUCH harder to remove them and keep a design clean and simpler.
Some say that because fakes cost less the original should also cost less … NOT SO !!
these fakes are only SLO’s … (Strida Like OBJECTS) - the chinese are very good at copying the Appearance, but ALL the important subtleties like testing, tube strengths wall thickness, materials and of course patents are ignored !!!
sorry to go on - but I appreciate all the effort that goes into products like Strida ( & I have scars to prove it )
I agree with all the points raised above and Strida has certainly impressed me with it’s quality.
I think the higher priced special editions are a standard marketing technique to earn extra cash from hardcore fans. Most brands do it now with all kinds of products.
However I also think that to become truly mass market we need something of similar quality to Strida but at an A-Bike style price level. I’m sure it is possible but someone would need to make a big investment and gamble that the mass sales followed.
Imagine if the government were to buy a few million of them and send to every household. It would be peanuts compared to what they spend on certain other things but would make a massive change to our society! Rich foundations like Gates’ and Buffet’s could also do it if they really wanted to make an impact environmentally.
Ok I’m dreaming, but you never know!
Don’t get me wrong. I truly like my Strida but I don’t see the price point as an attraction to the public that generally views simple (albeit, low quality) bikes as having low cost. I appreciate and like to buy great design and quality in products. Of course quality costs, as does innovation, but the Strida price is more about exclusivity than quality or affordability. In the U.S. at least it is marketed for its design cachet, not as a viable mode of transport (sold through MoMa and Design Within Reach catalogs). Other innovative designs like the afore-mentioned iPhone came down in price from $600 to $400, and now the newest improved model is $200. The Strida is headed in the other direction. I guess the manufacturer figures it doesn’t have a product or market where they can sell a gazillion of them to bring the price down.
Strida5 seems better value than the lowest cost Brompton single speed even in the USA: 800 usd vs 1000 usd and most Bromptons are spec’d to 1400+ usd. I have both bikes and the Brompton is very well made and most useful for when smallest space needed. Strida is best for multimodal - where its easy rolling and clean belt are its killer features. I love, and value both bikes - But why do people complain about the cost of Strida and not the cost of Brompton ?
It’s not so much the Strida’s cost alone I’m talking about. As I stated earlier, quality and innovation have an expected cost and I agree that Strida has been a good value. What I’m getting at is the cost of the new Stridas in relation to a first impression. Not a lot of folks I know - not even those who know about quality bikes - would guess a simple three-tube bike can cost as much as $1400. Imagine how a typically less bike-knowledgeable consumer would react to that price. The original idea of the Strida was to be the simplest means of multi-modal transport at a cost that would appeal to the broader range of people than the offerings from other notable folding bike companies in England (I guess that would be Brompton and Moulton?). I’m also guessing that while Mark Sanders was still involved with Strida that may have been true. The earlier Stridas were simpler and less costly. The newest Stridas can be appreciated by those who at least know about high-quality bikes, especially folding bike enthusiasts and Strida fans in particular, but here in the U.S. most people don’t look at bikes as for anything more than occasional recreational use and even bike commuters who might be interested in folding multi-modal transport would balk at one costing much more than $300 (that’s why there are companies like Downtube). The newest Stridas have apparently departed from appealing to the broadest range of people to instead focus on the smaller design-conscious slice of the market.
I don’t own a Brompton but only know of its design features, quality and price from having been introduced to the world of folding bikes through my ownership of the Strida. I understand it’s made in small quantities in England so I would never expect it to be modestly priced. I don’t even think it was developed with price in mind so I wouldn’t expect to hear complaints about its cost. The original Strida however, did start out with modest cost in mind. At up to $1400 for a two-gear, three-tube bike, “modest” is no longer an apt description of its cost.