Has anybody tried this setup? I’m thinking of doing this config since the replacement spring saddle I bought (Planet Bike Comfort Web Spring Saddle - ecom1.planetbike.com/5003.html) is tilted a tad towards the back.
I have the 18" upgrade kit on the way along with bended steering and was just wondering if it will appreciably tilt the bike a bit forward.
Regardless of the saddle config, what does the board think about the 16-18 combo? In terms of handling? ergonomics, folding ramifications?
Thanks in advance!
Joel
P.S.
For people who are looking into the 18" upgrade, it might interest you to know that Areaware now has new 18" fender kits in stock as well! Its not listed on the website, but they have it. No more bending of the stock fender kit per Mark’s Tips PDF.
However, there is a problem on the 16" front, 18" back Strida. When the bike is folded, only the bigger wheel touches the ground that the wheels separate easily when you roll the folded bike along.
besides the rolling part, the wheel tilts the entire bike and if only you seat is actually flat you might have to tweak your brake levers and handle grips cause everything will be off by a few degrees. there’s other bikes with a smaller front wheel so it’s nothing new. As for me I’d like to keep the strida as a uniform piece of machinery and would probably just get a new bike seat with railings parallel to the seat level. Seems like alot of hassle to accommodate one seat when there’s soo many around.
By tilting the bike forward, it will also steepen the angle of the front wheel. That will make the feel of the bike a bit “twitchier” or more responsive. YMMV.
Thanks for all the info! I ended up just staying with 18" as having the hybrid config did ruin the aesthetics and the handling as you both pointed out.
I guess I’ll just have to find a suspended racing saddle.
It seems that the suspended cruiser-type saddles are just leaning a bit too much towards the back for my taste.
And I love the ride of the 18" wheels! Now, I need to start setting aside some money in my gadget budget for the Schlumpf
BTW, I managed to strip the allen bolt heads (parts 379 and 375 per the exploded diagram in the Strida manual) while installing the upgrade and was wondering if anybody has an idea what are the exact specs of the bolts are so I can buy replacements from the local hardware store.
Of course, I can try unscrewing the bolts now, but I’m afraid it only has one unscrew left in em before they become useless.
Its amazing how easy it is to strip those bolts! I thought I took extra care when I unscrewed them.
I actually even bought a Torque wrench to ensure that I’m not applying too much torque.
However, I misread the manual and applied 18-20nm to both bolts when screwing them back on. The 18-20nm applied to part 373.
You might want to give a call to areaware they have a bike guy working on site. And if you give him the parts number according to their posted strida pdf they have, they can probably source you the exact screw back to you.
Else if you don’t want to wait just unscrew the bolt and go the the hardware store with all those shelves of nut and bolts and go to the machined threads section and try to screw your bolt into a certain nut on their displays and match up the threading and you are pretty much done. all you need to do then is match the length. Also they are mostly phillips head screws instead of allen bolts so you might have to be careful when you screw it back on.
