Reliability?

Hi all,

New to the forum, have loved the look of the Strida ever since I saw one, probably about 20 years ago but could never justify buying one. Now the company I work for has moved office and a Strida would be perfect for the extended walk I do every day between rail station and office.

I found a shop online claiming to sell them and visited them today, but was told they don’t sell them anymore because they “work themselves loose and once that happens there’s no way to fix them”. This sounded like a sales man justifying why I should buy the products he has in the shop but hoped I could get some real world experience on here.

I did already have a look around the forum but couldn’t see anything specific alluding to the Strida ‘wearing out’ like I was told.

Any help and advice very much appreciated before I embark on Strida ownership :slight_smile:

Thanks, jc

Hello m4p,

welcome at Stridaforum!

“work themselves loose and once that happens there’s no way to fix them”

For an Eskimo or an Aboriginal who has never before seen a bicycle it might appear just like that…
And that was said by whom?
A bike dealer?

However, don’t believe Ming’s advertising; a Strida is for sure not maintenance free.
I mean it doesn’t need more or less care than any other folding bike.
And of course you can’t expect with a folding bike the same mileage than that of a common steel Diamond frame.

Since a while I’m in contact with a local Strida owner who has ridden his bike for six years (according to him “much”) - and he did the whole time exactly nothing…I wouldn’t recommend that, but it worked.
Just now he is in need of an extended service; belt + freewheel are worn out, brakepads are gone and a few minor things…

Your biggest problem as a Strida owner will be to find local support if you don’t want to fix your bike by yourselves.
It is not that complicated; sadly it seems that many bike mechanics/dealers are old-fashioned, mistrustful and not really willing to learn something new - sorry to say that.

Good Day M4P, I would echo what BSA has told you, I have many customers who have ridden their Strida bikes for several 1000 km, I learn this when they order a new belt or freewheel and I ask about their bikes. You may have noticed on the Strida web site Strida suggest the belt will last 50,000 miles, I think this is a reference to the same belt, used in an auto. I don’t think it will last that long on a Strida, but please someone prove me wrong, but it will often last much longer than a bike chain. BSA is also correct about service depending on your location, I ship parts to Strida fans around the world because if they have a local dealer they may not have the parts.

cheers, Bill Wilby stridacanada.ca

Thanks Bill,

one thing regarding the belt:
I believe that a damaged belt is often caused by a worn out freewheel.
If you don’t have a new one to compare (and most users don’t) it’s not that easy to notice that the teeth are getting smaller and smaller - but users do notice the “longer” belt.
Same old story with the above mentioned local fellow; initially he claimed that his belt is too long and he wants a shorter one…but when he visited Mike’s store and saw an original new freewheel - he understood the principle; due to the massive smaller outer diameter of the old one seems the belt longer.
I’m relatively sure that in such an; say “close to belt jumping”, condition of the pulley in the end the belt will be damaged by the pulley itself.

And therefore I’d recommend at least one yearly optical inspection of the whole bike by a serious and competent bike mechanic :wink:

Thanks guys, appreciate the advice. It was indeed a bike dealer that told me this, so from what you’ve said and what else I’ve managed to find online, reliability doesn’t seem to be a problem - and I’ve serviced my own bikes since I was a teenager so no problems there. My next problem now is finding a UK dealer to buy from. Bikerepublicstore seems to be the only UK place to get them, but they list the 5.0 rather than 5.2, so I wonder if all their stock might be old?

Bill - you seem to have all the latest gear in stock, but what would shipping cost to UK?

At least at the pics of LT and 5.0 they are showing the older (but for my money not worse, even a bit lighter ) frame version. The yellow one is in fact not a 16" EVO; it’s a Strida Mini (14").
The 18" EVO has the newer, EU compliant frame.
Edit: The red one liste below EVO 16" is also a Strida Mini, that’s obvious due to the smaller wheels( :unamused: )…and the different front beltwheel :wink:

Where shipping parts to Europe is fairly quick and inexpensive a bike is another matter. I haven’t found a reasonable method yet that is affordable. I will look some more. There is also the import duty and your tax for you to consider.

Bill stridacanada.ca

Thank you both for your replies. I found the official UK dealer on the Strida site, Velorution, it’s not far from where I work and I popped in after work this evening and tried one out, think I’m decided not on an LT - I’ve got a couple of hills on my route so want the every so slightly lower effective gearing the 16" wheels will give me. Think I’ll be going back tomorrow to get one! Thanks again :smiley:

Have a safe ride :sunglasses:

Thank you for the update and please post your first impressions and experience,

Bill stridacanada.ca

Thanks again, will post first impressions shortly.

Became proud owner of an LT yesterday, nearly completely stacked it in the first 10 minutes on the ride back to my office, but so far so good.