Strida uncomfortable? Tell it to Mrs lexm!

A commonplace of Strida lore is that it’s for multi-modal commuting only and a penance to ride for distances greater than three miles. However, someone (perhaps me ) forgot to mention it to Mrs lexm.

She accompanied me by Strida on an 11-mile lakefront bike path ride yesterday and a similar 12-mile ride today. On top of rides of 1.4 and 6 miles last weekend, she’s now logged 30.4 miles on the Strida.* She shows no ill-effects and is always asking if we can do more.

[* Making this easier was my near-immediate disposal of the stock Strida saddle in favor of a plush and springy Specialized Expedition Plus. How anyone rides a Strida without a sprung saddle is beyond me.]

Mrs lexm’s now ready to tackle the mean streets of Chicago. She wants me to accompany her on a test run commute this coming Friday to her office (about 3 miles from our apartment). I think we have another convert to the Strida.

Maybe it is a more beautiful and comfortable saddle for ladies.
http://www.allaysaddles.com/products/detail/Nomad2_1_W

Lexm, you are 100% right. Three things:

1. The Strida is a brilliant design.
2. There are two dopey things in the current Ming version.
   • the unsprung saddle - like you I switched to coil suspension for the saddle - pretty obvious with small wheels and no chassis suspension (cf Moulton).
   • the fast-wearing plastic rear sprocket. The aluminum ‘upgrade’ sprocket should be standard for practical life of the drive train.
3. The Strida is a brilliant design. If it was mediocre, it wouldn’t be worth pointing out its very few (but annoying!) deficiencies.

cheers,
Minkair.