I’m thinking here that the belts don’t have the slack and give that a chain has here which can probably stress out the intricate gearing they have inside. Those belts are very strong and don’t stretch at all.
I thought with the snubber correctly adjusted (ie 0.5mm gap max, but not touching the back of the belt) … that belt tension can be much lower - on par with a chain. Maybe Schlumph dont get this ?
The price seem high - the china made one appears to be much less - but only available on a new bike.
In their news, Schlumpf report availability of a two-speed front hub gear specifically for Strida. http://www.schlumpf.ch/hp/schlumpf/news_engl.htm.
They say “available from your Strida retailer”. But my dealer (http://www.strida.nl/english/products.php) has no reference…?
For me, spending 400 Euros (or so) for 2 gears is too much for not enough, so I won’t be bothering. But it’s a useful link for anyone who wants to look further…? Please post here, if you go further?
It still baffles me. There’s a huge volume available on the Strida; that whole area of the drive cog, below the crossbar, times the width of the pedal axle? You could get a load of big gears (lower torque, higher efficiency?), and axles and springs and bearings in there?
If this was a Dyson product, gears would have been available years ago…
(2 other pet modifications I have in mind:
- Folding seat. If it hinged below the front of the saddle, close in to the frame, to lie alongside the back strut… The whole bike would eat sooo much less volume… The saddle would be mounted on a strut, which would be parallel to the ground when unfolded. This strut could be about 600 mm long… And used to hang luggage off… Which is much more efficient than a rack to stand luggage on?
- Wheeling the Strida folded? It’s twice the pain it needs to be, because you have to hold it upright in two dimensions. One simple fix might be to buy a pair of Strida wheel magnets, and fit them to either end of a short flat bit of plastic, and, when folding, instead of clipping the wheels together, click each wheel to an end of the strut, making a “very short wheelbase Strida”, that would be stable “front to back”, and would only need supporting left/right. Immediately, you stop carrying the weight when wheeling it folded…)
I think the point of Strida is SIMPLICITY, and the design aims to be pure, clean, simple and Iconic. There are plenty of bikes with zillions of gears - but its interesting the fixie urban movement is also going simple 1 speed. I beg to differ about dyson products: yes they are highly innovative, and extremely well marketed, but the design style - with all the innards out on display - is not to everyone’s taste - like seeing all your intestines and ugly bits on the outside of the human form 
2 speed locally made Shlumpf geared Strida’s are also slowly coming to market from Ming - they work out cheaper than buying a Strida and then adding the gear. But the gear upgrade direct from Shlumpf will be super quality swiss engineering… I guess give them all time to get these to market - manufacturing, shipping and distribution is not as instant as the internet.
I saw a pic of a folding Saddle on a Strida …sorry cant find: I think it was on a picture from Taipei show a couple of years ago: The seat folded down to be parallel with the tubes: yes it did make the bike slimmer at the top, but also more complicated - with big safety issues: if not locked could drop the rider and lots of finger traps.
The idea of setting the wheels apart when folded is interesting - But I have no problems with the stability of my folded Strida. The best tip (from this forum I think) is to roll the bike as vertically as possible - with most weight through the wheels, not the arms, this means hold by stem with a bent arm, Or: hold by the front of the saddle. I think, Having the 2 wheels together makes the folded Strida more easy to manoeuvre - in fact just like the Dyson Ball vacuum - we’ve all seen the adverts for, steering around furniture etc.
Skywalker has a good set of pictures of what to expect to gradually come into the market from Ming-Cycles in the coming year from the taipei Show …
Hi,
I recently emailed Schlumpf Innovations to inquire about a Speed-Drive for my Strida 5.0. They were very helpful, and promptly replied with a quote of 821 CHF (Swiss Francs) plus 82 CHF shipping to the USA, for a total of 903 CHF.
821 CHF is currently about 577 EUR or 707 USD, 777 USD with shipping to the USA.
That’s higher than I expected. Has the price gone up from the 519 EUR quoted earlier in this thread, or is this currency fluctuation?
Richard
Dear Strida drivers, Dear RichardCoffey,
with kind agreement of Mr. Florian Schlumpf, mechanical engineer in Switzerland, I would like to publish parts of the conversation between Mr. Schlumpf and me a few weeks ago:
Me: “… as an enthusiastic owner of a Strida 5.2 I would be highly interested in where to get a speed drive and in knowing the costs of the precious piece. Sharp, possibly not really competent, tongues here in Austria claim the Strida MAS does not operate properly.”
Mr. Schlumpf: “The sharp tongues are not totally wrong: years ago we made a licence agreement with a Taiwanese company.
Presently, these gear drives are mounted into the Stridas - unfortunately with little success since the quality leaves a lot to be desired. For this reason we decided to produce a tailor-made alternative including the excentric fitting for the Strida, which is now available and works faultlessly. However, with “made in Switzerland” and 5 years full warranty this part is also a little more expensive.”
I received the following parts:
- Speed drive and belt
- Tool set “maintenance”
- Info sheets, mounting instructions
In my case, the price was exactly 553,27 Euro (speed drive plus toolset minus 4 % when paid within 10 days).
And praise the lord if you are NOT going to be charged for customs duty (in my country about 20 %).
To dismount the original cranks you will need something like this:
bbbparts.com/images/tools/btl14_normal.jpg
For further information the workshop manuals can be found here:
schlumpf.ch/hp/handbuecher/WHB.sd.engl.pdf
schlumpf.ch/hp/handbuecher/WHB.sd.dt.pdf
Not mounted yet, I will post some pics of the mounting soon, additional overview added below.
Better quality here:
s769.photobucket.com/albums/xx33 … rive%20HQ/
Best regards to all Strida riders!
This is great new can you give us a review on your feelings riding with the upgrade after? like speed and hill climbing? I’m seriously thinking of this but the price keeps holding me back. It’s like the price of a new dahon curve with the 3 gears, but then again that is not a strida. With the schlumpf it’s putting it into brompton territory in pricing and both bikes are handmade so the quality is there.
Hi everybody,
here is a little “how to do the Schlumpf”.
1, remove the bell, turn your Strida upside down, remove crank bolt and belt tension bolt
2, remove the small conical part (using the bbl tool), insert crank separator tool, screw in as far as possible and detract crank
3, insert drift punch into thread of tension bolt, remove the big groove nut and pull the excentric fitting out
4, remove the brake, remove the belt roll and the wheel, unlock your Strida carefully and change the belts
5, lock the bike, mount wheel (Loc!), belt roll (Loc!) and brake (Loc!), pull the Schlumpf in its new housing, fit the big black groove nut (do not tighten yet), and fit the belt
6, mount the single crank and tighten the axle bolt (strongly), mount the gear shift button (and shiftplates), refer to:
schlumpf.ch/hp/handbuecher/WHB.sd.engl.pdf B-4, B-5
7, adjust belt tension, tighten the belt tension bolt and the groove nut, mount pedals - done!
Better quality here:
s769.photobucket.com/albums/xx33 … ting%20hq/
required tools:
-the Schlumpf tools
-Allen keys 4,5,6,8 mm
-socket wrench 14 mm with ratchet or similar
-cotter pin drive, drift punch 6 mm diameter o. s.
-crank separator tool (bblparts BTL-14 o. s.)
-bolt adhesive, thread-locking compound (Loctite o. s.)
depending on your crank separator tool:
-flat wrench 15 mm
-adjustable wrench or flat wrench 16 mm
If available, use a torque wrench to tighten the following bolts:
-brake bolts 8 Nm
-axle bolt 50-55 Nm
-gear shift button bolt 1,1 Nm
Never use any bolt adhesives or thread-locking compounds (like Loctite or similar products) on Schlumpf parts (axle bolt, gear shift button bolt, belt ring bolts)!
Always use bolt adhesives on Strida brake bolts, wheel bolts, belt roll bolts and some other parts (Loc!). Refer to Strida user manual:
strida.us/files/5-MiniManual.pdf
The procedure takes about two hours and the Strida weighs about 500 gram more now.
Stormy, rainy and ugly cold here, the driving review will take some time…
…is there anybody out there…
Blackstridaaustria,
Thank you very much for your posts. You have provided a wealth of information that will be very useful to all of us considering fitting a Schlumpf Speed-Drive to our Stridas, and your installation process photos prove that ‘‘A picture is worth a thousand words’’.
With good weather, I am looking forward to hearing about test-rides of your Speed-Drive Strida.
Richard
For anyone who’s intrigued, here’s the cost breakdown:
Speed Drive Kit, including silver crank arms CHF 689
Black crank arms (optional) CHF 10
Strida Parts (EBB, sprocket, and belt) CHF 100
Easy-shift kick plates (optional, silver or black) CHF 45
Strida installation and maintenance toolset CHF 32
Schlumpf offers 4% rebate for bank transfer payments cleared within 10 days after purchase. The deal is probably only available to continental Europe though. Anyway, people who are interested should contact Jolanda office@schlumpf.ch. It’s a small company therefore it may take a few days before someone replies your inquiries. So be patient.
I fitted both the Schlumpf drive and 18 inch wheels to my Strida 5 last weekend. Here’s a picture of the new setup:
http://picasaweb.google.com/2948682/201006#5482733661112080866
The transaction with Schlumpf was very smooth. They don’t have secure ordering capability on their web site, so I phoned them up and provided my credit card number verbally. The package took less than a week to travel from Switzerland to the west coast of the USA.
Installation was very easy, no drama at all. Everything went together as intended and the entire process took less than one hour. Belt alignment is perfect and everything runs very smoothly.
I live in Oakland, California and the weather the past week has been perfect, so I got a few miles in. The combination of the slightly larger wheel/tire combination, lower rolling resistance tires and availability of a higher gear makes the bike much more usable for longer rides. I find myself using the lower gear most of the time, but for nice long flat stretches with little or no incline or headwind it is nice to have that taller gear. The tall gear is somewhat taller than I would like, I have to be going pretty fast before it works for me. It probably would have been more to my liking with the 16 inch wheels, but I did both mods at the same time…
It takes some practice to shift quickly. First you have to position the pedal, which I don’t find particularly instinctive – I have to think about it every time. Then you have to use an unusual movement with your heel, pushing sideways on the crank pin. This takes time, I’m not sure I will ever get to the point where I am “speed shifting”. There is a soft clunk as the gear engages, usually. Sometimes the gear engages with little or no noise. Because of this it is usually, but not always, obvious that the new gear is engaged.
Internal friction of the 2-speed drive is quite impressive. In fact, it is hard to tell subjectively which gear is direct-drive (it’s the low gear). That works for me, since I am spending most of my time in low gear. Once I build up some speed and upshift I can’t really notice any additional drag. Everything runs along quite smoothly.
Overall I am very happy with the Schlumpf 2-speed drive. It is a beautiful piece of engineering and machining and improves the appearance of the bike. The drive itself is remarkably small and compact. I need to practice my shifting, faster shifts would improve things considerably.
http://picasaweb.google.com/2948682/201006#slideshow/5482733304274624386
smitt53,
Thanks very much for sharing the information about your Schlumpf Speed-Drive upgrade. It sounds like a winner. I’m especially delighted to hear that the ordering and shipping process to the USA went well.
It is also interesting to hear that you swapped your stock 16 inch wheels for 18 inch wheels at the same time. If switching between the two sizes is a painless process too, then you have even more flexibility for dialing in a good setup for your needs.
Regards,
Richard
seems like with the 18 inch wheels you get the original 52 gear inches in the low gear and the high gear is almost pushing probably 80 gear inches. That thing is going to go like stink on a downhill. Fastest I went on a strida is 40km/h downhill and it was pretty stable as long as you relax and not have some death grip on it. else you got a really nice setup. Did you carry that wheel stand with you wherever you go in case of photo ops? 
Thanks for sharing the review.
I guess the Swiss Shlumpf is the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of the gears: as a cheapskate, I’d love to compare with the ATS, licenced version of the gear. Does anyone have any news that Ming are selling this as an upgrade / accessory yet ?
@smitt53: Thank you very much for sharing. Regarding speedy shifting, you may want to consider adding Schlumpf’s “EZ-shift kick plates” to your crank arms. I heard it’d make shifting easier.
@Guest: I contacted a few Strida distributors in different regions and none of them carried the kit. It seems that at this moment the only way to obtain it is ordering directly from Schlumpf.
I am interested in the ATS Speed-Drive too, so I emailed them last month. Here is the first response:
“Because we only sale the ATS speed drive. The Strida need not only ATS but also the adapter for ATS parts. Therefore I have to check w/Strida company tomorrow.
I’ll inform U the result later. Pls kindly wait.”
And the second:
“Pls surf the website STRIDA.COM and leave a message or send a e-mail , Strida will endeavor to get back to you as soon.”
I followed ATS’s suggestion, but have not received a response from Strida.
Richard
Hi all.
The problem with the speed drive is that its ratio is not accurate for a single-gear bike.
The speeddrive is designed for adding versatility to a multi-gear bike.
So, in multigear bikes, the speed drive ratio works good because multiply the options you can choose for two. (if you had a bike with 5 gear, with the speeddrive you get 10). You allways can get the right ratio between 10 gears.
But for a single geared bike like the Strida, the speeddrive is only a “less-bad” solution. The jump between the low and the high gear is too big for a fine use.
When 16 wheels, you get a very very low first gear you never can use in flat ground. The second gear is the same that the original strida.
When 18 wheels, you get a first gear “almost” the original Strida ratio (a little bit lower), but the secong gear is too high, and you cannot use it if the wind blow a little bit against you or if the ground is not totally flat. Even with flat ground, the feeling is that you must make a big effort.
Now, my veredict.
Not a accurate design for the Strida.
Very expensive.
Finally:
Would I buy it again?: YES
Why? Because it is better than nothing.
A last advice:
After 200 km. the effort for pedaling is decreasing a lot. I think the mechanism comes very tight from factory and It needs a little of use for a right work.
At the begining, pedaling in the high gear (with 18" wheels) was a pain. Currently is very much better.
Regards
Hydra.
And an added advantage for the SD.
You can secure your Strida easyly if you put your chain-lock crossing the speeddrive plate and the bottom alloy welded triangle.
This is the most safety method for locking a Strida, if you must leave it alone.
Hydra
@RichardCoffey: Thanks for ATS research and your friendly words.
On Spring 10 I asked Strida europe:
“The Taiwanese 2-speed gear of the Strida MAS is said to be very unreliable. Do you know more about that?”
Answer:
“The MAS Schlumpf cannot be ordered as a spare part.”
----- ? ------
@smitt53: Thank you very much for the pics, will there be more?
The Schwalbe Kojak tires of my 18" Strida, inflated at 8,0 bar, seem to lose air relatively fast (about 0,3 per day).
Did you make this experience as well?
@hydractiva: Fully agreeing to your verdict, I am sorry to say that I have trouble with your gearing description.
Please do not take this personally.
@All of you
My first impression after riding a few kilometers on the 16" Schlumpf Strida: at this moment I realized that I had not been biking for decades before I bought my Stridas in Spring 10:
The lower gear feels much too low for me and the higher one awfully high.
The smooth original 100:30 gear is suitable for a completely untrained stork leg but not the higher gear of the Schlumpf.
It’s true, with the higher Schlumpf gear you can go much faster … if you can.
But things are getting better every day…
There are no “hills” in the area I usually ride, but a few “drive-ups” or “raisings” hardly managable with the 16" original gear are nearly not to be managed with the 18" Strida. The lower Schlumpf gear lets me climb up these places without any problem, slowly of course. Acceleration in the lower gear is certainly much better than the original on flat road. After 2 or 3 rounds of the pedals it is advisable to switch to the higher gear, which brings me to shifting:
As smitt53 said, you will need practice first. But in my case shifting became automatic after 40 or 50 kilometers, meanwhile I shift almost intuitively and frequently. Always wearing high shoes, I kick the shifting button with the heel or ankle - the Strida aluminium pedals are a bit more slippery than the original black ones and support the little sideways movement of the shoes better.
Also shifting without interrupting the movement of the cranks is possible, it is just a question of the right moment (and really cool!).
With increasing practice I am on the way to handle the higher gear, my top speed on Schlumpf 16" might be around 22 km/h at the moment, and it feels the same as top speed on 18" with original gear, but at lower cadence.
By now I have ridden about 80 km with the Schlumpf 16" and about half this distance on the 18" Strida for comparison.
For better understanding of the gear mystery I did some research on the web, then I took a ruler and used these online gear calculators:
wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/gearinches.asp
The tires:
size; name; description; diameter (measured), circumference (arithmetical); circumference (measured)
16"; Kenda Kwest; 16 x 1,50 (40-305); 38,5 cm; 120,95 cm; 121,2 cm
18"; Schwalbe Kojak; 18 x 1,25 (32-355); 42,1 cm; 132,26 cm; 132,6 cm
Based on the two measured diameters of the wheels, the gear inches were calculated, and here are the results:
the first values are calculated with wisil, the values in brackets are from the soulbike calculator.
16" with original gear: 50 (50,4) Schlumpf low: 40 (40,4) Schlumpf high: 66 (66,7)
18" with original gear: 55 (55,3) Schlumpf low: 44 (44,2) Schlumpf high: 72 (72,9)
From my subjective feeling and corresponding to the results I have to say that the higher Schlumpf gear with Kenda 16" tires is certainly not the same as the original, as hydractiva mentioned, maybe her/his gear calculations are based on different tire sizes?
Anyway, I’ll have to train a huge load before changing the wheels of my Stridas against each other 
Here is another interesting thread about sport duos:
savedbybikes.com/blog/blog/sport … mpression/
Did you know that Strida Europe offers the MAS again, “available third week of June”?
Update 06.07.10: “available last week of july”
Update 06.08.10: “available last week of august”
Warmest regards