Saddle pointing downwards

Hi all,

A member of the French folding bike forum is complaining that the saddle of his Strida is pointing downwards. How could he solve this? Any suggestion for other saddles that would not have that problem (Brooks Flyer?)

Hi Bietrume,

I believe that’s a rare issue - could the customer please check the plastic rails of the seat molding whether they’re bent or broken?
(Searching for the pic of a recent case from Germany…)

I will ask, but I think this angle is inherent to the Strida saddle design, don’t you think?

The Strida race saddle seems to be better:

Sorry, couldn’t find the before mentioned pic; please refer to the pics below for an explanation why I do still believe that all saddles on this bike will be tilted forwards, regardless of the type.

First was the original image rotated counterclockwise for 3° (as an approach to decrease the angle devation due the bike standing not horizontal):

But even after that it seems to me that the angle of the plastic rails and also the saddle rails isn’t correct:

According to me the correct angle has to be about 7°:

I’d suggest to inspect the seat molding closely at this points:

In the case I’m right I’d like also to offer a complete old style seat molding - solely for refund of shipping costs :wink:
(Got it free of charge myself.)

Cheers,

Chris

You have to be carefull with pictures, I’m not sure small angle differences can be trusted that much because the bike is not perfectly parallel to the picture plane.

Regarding the eventual cracks, I guess they would force the saddle to tilt backwards as the weight of the rider acts on the rear of the saddle :question:

Yes you’re totally right; therefore I wrote: “it seems to me”
But I think also it’s easy to verify; all you need is a set square and a water spirit level - at least you can tell this are 3, 7 or 10 degrees.

And of course you’re right again - this was actually the case of before mentioned pic.
The saddle was tilted backwards and the cracks were obvious at the rear end -like in the first crack’s pic. But who knows whether it’s possible that the cracks start at the front end?

However, with a simple sharp look should the owner be able to find them - if they are existent!

The French Strida user confirmed me the angle of 7° and the fact that the saddle support is not cracked. I think the saddle just doesn’t suit him. Especially the high cushions at the back of the saddle.

By the way, he will soon register to our forum :smiley:

You were right with the pics, this is much better - and looking normal now.
But something is not correct with the saddle - aren’t the cushion’s too high?

that’s the same saddle, tilted a little bit backward.
Perhaps the saddle plastic was broken?

Oh good - new members are always welcome :smiley:

I think that the picture is taken from a slightly different angle which explains why the cushions seem to be much higher than the nose. On the picture of the full bike, the saddle looks more normal.

You’re most likely right again, but anyway I’d suggest another simple test to verify that.

The thing below is my 25 kg+ steel plate (don’t own anything more straight than that) and two versions of Strida saddles. To measure the gap width I’ve inserted several Aluminium rods of different sizes.
At the older version fits a 4 mm rod and at the newer an 8 mm rod is just a little bit to small, 10 mm too big (didn’t have a 9er).

If we put that upside down for our French friend it should be no problem for him to get comparable results - don’t you think so?
He doesn’t need special rods - I think pencils, drills or Allen keys will do fine.
(The ideal weight should compensate the - minimal - cushion deformation generated by the saddle weight during an upside-down test.)

Honestly I have no idea why - but the saddle seems still tilted :question:

The owner of the bike asked a bike rental company owner who used to have several Strida’s in his fleet to have a ride. He confirmed that there is an issue with the saddle position.

I am now wondering whether the original saddle support could have been replaced by a fake one. Should there be a Strida logo somewhere?

Not at the elder ones, it is just a simple, spiraling brand name below the saddle nose at both sides:
MILLENNIUMPRODUCTS
written in increasing letter size from M to S. :neutral_face: