Mk1 Strida Refinishing

Hi all, just joined the forum after getting my first Strida, a mk1. I collect all sorts of bicycles and I’ve been after one of these super cool mk1 Stridas for a while now, and finally I found one local to me and was able to buy it a few weeks ago.
It is complete and very original and looks like it’s had little use but does needs a light restoration due to spending its life in a garage, and that brings me to my question for you knowledgeable Strida folk:

The frame is pretty faded and has some scratches, but what was the original finish? Was it gloss black or more of a satin finish? I’ve struggled to find a picture of one that really shows the finish clearly!

And lastly, I’m missing the union jack sticker on the drive side rear- Does anyone have a close up picture of that? Does anyone reproduce them/have one?

Thanks in advance, happy trails!

Hi Velo,

at Stridaforum!

according to these,

Re: MK1 professional restore? (steering)
or here a bigger one from Japan
http://www.loro.co.jp/blog/east/pic_blog/IMG00334-20120326-1646.jpg
(Please click the link, it’s too big to be shown properly at the forum)
I’d say it’s neither totally glossy nor complete satin, it seems to be somewhere between…

For the flag, do you mean this one?
Couldn’t find a bigger pic at the moment…

Kind regards,

Chris

Thank you for the welcome Chris :smiley:

Yes from that picture I’d agree with you with regards to the finish being neither high gloss nor satin. I’m now thinking the answer might be to have the tubes powdercoated, as if I remember correctly the finish with powdercoat is not quite as shiny as paint is.

And yep that’s the sticker I was referring to thanks! If no one has a sticker I might just settle for a small union jack sticker in its place. I’m not going for a museum-quality rebuild as I do want to use it quite a bit, but I’d like to restore it to be as close to it was when it was new if I can :smiley:

Please be really careful while using this ancient relict…most likely you’ll be unable to find any spare parts nowadays!

Here’s another nice one, cropped, but you can see the sticker :smiley:

Source

Suggestion for that:
Try to get a naked flag and put a clear Strida sticker above,
or maybe one of those
(Can be cut to size of your choice :wink: )

Brilliant, thanks for that. Yeah I think I can make something up for the sticker, I’ll keep a look out for something suitable when I’ve got the paint done.
I’ll go easy on the old girl but hopefully it will put up with some use! I really can’t wait to ride it. I’ve already discovered that the parts are somewhat scarce, the guy I bought it off said he’d have made more money parting it out! But I think that would be a shame, she’s cleaning up lovely :smiley:

Good luck - hope you take pics sometimes :smiley:

I sure will! Thanks, nice friendly forum :smiley:

You’re always welcome :smiley: