Dear friends,
I’ve been riding my Strida 5.0 for almost 5 years now morning and evening to commute back and forth between home and office, no matter the weather, covering around 5.000 kilometers.
Now I’m getting more and more frustrated because of the kevlar belt: tooth jumps, difficulties to tune and maintain the correct tension, snubber position needs to be set with laser-like precision, etc.
I am basically fed up with the belt and would like to put a chain instead, because I love my Strida and all the rest corresponds to my needs.
Any idea on the technical feasibility of this ? My main issue would be on how to tune the chain tension. Would the existing setup be sufficient ?
Hello Googleg,
maybe you should change the freewheel?
However, a Korean strider modified his bike to a chain operated fixie,
few pics are here: http://photo.strida.com/en/gallery/
(Look for Strida FX of J. W. Won)
I have removed the manifold and the chainring, using a manifold extractor. That was pretty easy.
Now, I’m stuck at the next level: I wanted to remove the chain ring from the manifold, but unfortunately I don’t have the tool to lock the chimney bolts and unscrew the thing.
The chain ring size is standard, 4 holes at 75mm from each over. I’m confident I’ll manage to find the replacement part easily.
I just read your step of retrofit a chain, any updates? And…is it possible to let me know your teeth of chainrings? I also want to know have you check the ratio of chainwheel and freewheel yet?
Hi FB-Strida,
Sorry for the late response, I was on ski vacation in the alps
Even being there, I took some time to do some shopping at a bike store and I finally found my freewheel…!!
In terms of ratio I will have 42x16, a little bit smaller than the original 100x30. This is going to reduce my top speed a bit, but I’ll see on the long run.
I’ve made some good progress with the transformation now, the only missing part is the chain which I need to install and tighten.
Ski vacation sounds nice to me, too! Even there might no chance to have this kind of vacation
Also, I am very happy to heard that you found your freewheel! And I hope you will find the chain in the shortest time, too!
Hum… I have to tell you that I was feel a little bit strange about the your last freewheel 13T one, because I think 16-18T may more common, maybe I am wrong? ( And, if it’s a common parts, it will be easier to get a back up one, this is what I am thinking about, you know stuffs sometimes will broken… )
yes, you are right, it’s indeed smaller than current one, but I think it’s ok, no?
Anyway, good luck! can’t wait to see the whole new Strida with chain system! ¡ánimo!
I’ve managed to find a second hand 51 teeth chain ring to replace the one above (42t). I was delighted because the 51/17 ratio is exactly the same as the original ratio.
Guess what ! Still too small ! The chain is still rubbing against the frame. If a give it the maximum tension I can barely obtain a few millimeters of clearance.
Sooo, now I’ve decided to really really take something much much bigger: 56t ! With that it shouold be finally OK.
The huge drawback is that my gear ratio will skyrocket to 3.29. I’m a bit anxious to see how hard it is going to be for me to pedal with such ratio.
No, it is not, 51/17 means a gear ratio of 3,00 - the original ratio is 3,33 (100/30).
56/17 means a ratio of 3,29, and that would be very close to the original ratio.
The first impression is very positive. It feels ‘lighter’ (although I doubt it really is, even if the chainring is lighter than the original, there is the extra weight of the chain). I would say mainly the feeling is to have a more ‘rigid’ frame, more responsive, which is what I was expecting.
)
