Hi there - I’m the new owner of an old Strida (a bargain S1 from eBay).
I’m pretty happy with it, but I have a problem where the back wheel sticks, as if the rear brake is always on. At walking pace, it makes a dreadful creaking noise (think of the sound effect of a door in a haunted house from Scooby Doo!).
Do I just need to adjust the tension in the brake cable, or does part of the freewheel/hub need lubricating? I don’t really want to have to dismantle the entire hub unless I really need to - anybody have any ideas?
Assuming you have tries slackening off the rear brake cable tension … then
All you need to do is …
Remove belt from front pulley (push to LHS)
Hold the outer black wheel clip (to prevent it from turning - breaking off the tab) then unscrew the nut at the centre of the rear wheel
Prize off (without rotating) the black wheel clip.
Unscrew the Cone and catch the bearings
Remove rear wheel with break drum (rear pulley)
Pick off debris (metal, dust and any ‘lumps’ ) from the Brake shoes (still on bike) And file the shoes smooth (they are v strong off a motor scooter ! )
Smooth the inside of the rear pulley … eg with fine abrasive paper to remove any high ridges / grooves - so the brake show does not rub.
Rebuild in opposite way - adjusting cone so there is no play but also free spinning.
and remember to Hold the outer black wheel clip when tightening.
I think I have a similar problem: mine is Strida 5 with the disc brakes, and the rear wheel seems to be ‘stuck’: it isn’t completely locked but after I use the rear brake it returns to the original position somewhat slowly, and in such cases padalling is quite difficult.
Could there be any simple way to fix this? (the disc brake looked difficult to take apart.) Or, is replacing the disc brake the only option?
Hama - as a first step make sure that the brake cable is free and can move easily. You could do this by loosening the cable where it mounts to the clamp on the rear brake arm (at the wheel end of things). Then you should be able to see whether the inner wire moves easily back and forward in the outer cable sheath. If not - find out where it is sticking and rectify. While the cable is still slack, operate the brake arm on the rear brake unit and see that it moves freely against its spring.
I expect you will find you have the cable inner wire jamming somewhere unless it is just too tightly adjusted.
I have a Strida 2 with a rear wheel that it sticking at a certain spot in the rotation. If you think there may be a connection, it started just after I had the ball and socket joint come apart today. I successfully popped it back in but I may have stretched out the brake cable (or tightened it) when the two pieces were apart. Any idea how to fix it?
if you stretched the cable then should the brake stuck completely and not just on one certain spot I believe.
Unfortunately I’m not familiar with that old versions, but if the brake cable was made similar to the newer ones it should be easy to hang out.
Just loosen the counter nuts at the brake drum assembly and the brake lever, then turn the hollow bolts inwards as far as possible.
The cable will be (much) longer now and it should be possible to unhook from the brake lever.
This way you will be able to assure if the cable is the reason for this issue…I hope…
If anyone finds this now… check the mudguard screw… only have mine for 8 years, but it completely destroyed my back tire. I always have issues with spacing on both the front and back on those annoyingly places screws. Especially with the newer inner tires which have a thicker part on the valve part, which makes it stick out a bit more.
I don’t know how any sane person could design it like this… you can’t even access the screws to tighten them without removing the tires… like… wut
/ninjaedit FYI I fixed this by removing the screws and duct taping the guards on… it’s ugly but it works.
I think I adjusted the brake itself too tight by mistake.