My last topic: bye bye Strida

Dear Strida owners,

This is probably my last topic on this forum as, after 4 years of almost daily use, I have sold my Strida LT upgraded with a Schlumpf SD, and replaced it with a Dahon Jetstream P8.

Although I really appreciated the ingenious folding mechanism, the incredible accelerations, the powerful disc brakes and the unique look of the Strida, I have decided to sell it for the following reasons:

  • The 16" wheels are definitely too small to cope with the poorly maintained Belgian roads. The comfort is bad but it also makes the rides hazardous and forces me to continuously scan the road 5 meters ahead of the front wheel. Any pothole or bump in the road surface can indeed seriously destabilize the bike if it has not been anticipated by the rider. This also limited my maximum downhill speed.

  • As I use the bike outside of town, I sometimes do ride with a strong head wind, which drastically reduces my top speed and makes the trip painful because intermediate gears are lacking between the low and the high gear. Furthermore, the upright riding position is definitively not suited for a dynamic ride, but rather made for urban use and for short trips.

  • I am fed up with the design errors which could easily be solved by the Strida engineers: non sealed freewheel mechanism attracting dirt like a magnet, seizing snubber bearing because it is not water proof, rear joint preload mechanism damaging the frame and losing its effectiveness with the time because a 0.1 EUR washer is deliberately missing.
    For that reason I would hesitate to recommend the Strida if the future owner is not willing to work himself on the bike, or if he can not rely on a good Strida dealer. I bought mine on internet and managed, thanks to this forum and to my mechanical skills, to solve the various issues by myself. No single bike dealer from my region would have been able to do it for me as the Strida contains very few standard bike components.

A last point which makes me angry: the price of Stridas, especially the Evo models, has become excessive in view of what other brands are offering. Is it the price of the compactness of the bike?
Just consider that my well equipped, fully suspended, 8 speed Dahon Jetstream is 600 EUR cheaper, is lighter (12.4 kg) and rides much better (20" wheels) but is less compact, I admit.

I am convinced that the Strida is the ideal folding bike for urban use and combined with bus or train commute, but that is not the way I have been using it.

I would like now to specially thank Blackstridaaustria who has become the real pillar of this forum. Thanks to his ingenuity, his gold fingers and his willingness to help, he has been managing to answer many of our questions and to find solutions to the various problems.

I wish you all the best.

Bietrume

Dear Bietrume,

that’s anyway a big loss for the Stridaforum :cry:

Thank you very much for your time and the repeatedly, kind sharing of your enormous knowledge.
Reading above mentioned points it’s quite understandable; the Strida doesn’t match really to your commuting circumstances,
I mean it’s showing your sympathy for the bike that you tried for such a long time.
You will not have noticed that - but, as a standing customer and engineer,
you reversed indeed the words of Strida’s manufacturer!

Regarding Strida techs you’re so right…
At least we can say we’ve warned…if this is just the beginning (what I’m afraid of)…

Many thanks also for the compliments; but in fact delivered YOU either inspiration or solution for many of my posts.
And it was also YOU who presented finally the detailed explanation of this highly important issue.
Milestones like that will not be forgotten…

Bietrume, please consider to visit us occasionally,
and have a safe ride on your P8!

BSA

Personally, I’m not that sad as in the forum contributors position;
out of just one reason:
Bietrume and me will keep contact :smiley:

Chris

BSA,

Thanks for the compliments :blush: . I will for sure keep an eye on this forum, and might intervene if I have usefull information to share.

Bietrume

PS. My riding experience of the Jetstream is very similar to the one described in this review.