Source:
strida.us/press/id_strida.pdf
“…But it’s the mark of good design that the Strida is perfectible. Its bulk comes mostly from thick aluminum tubes and blocky joints; a crackerjack frame designer could easily cut weight without sacrificing strength. (Aluminum tube walls can be as thin as a few business cards.) Minor tweaks to the frame could accommodate 20-inch wheels. Those same tweaks could improve the hold points and weight distribution, making the bike even easier to push when it’s folded. Sanders has actually proposed similar changes but says that Ming, the manufacturer that now owns the patents, is wary of straying from what already works. That’s a pity! The Strida’s frame is remarkable, but with a few modifications, the bike could own the world.”
Ming maybe thinks better safe than sorry. Never change whom to bet on when you already have a winning horse.
What tweaks was Mark Sanders suggesting? Has he described them somewhere. Talking about them in an interview maybe?
Sanders and Steedman put a lot of energy into the Strida 3.2 design.
He showed the test bed version of Strida that allowed them to change every parameter of length.
As I get it they did chose the best options within the contraint of the design.
So what could he be referring to as further tweaks? I thought they already had done their outmost to find the ideal settings? 20" would work maybe but how does that make a Strida 5 lighter?
Cool that you actually wrote to him. I envy your lucky move to make a contact.
6KG would be nice and one way to accomplished this was by making it smaller then.
Mark Sanders are almost my length. 190 to 192? I’ve forgotten how tall he is.
He shows on a picture that he has set the saddle much higher than most people have it.
He sold the IP to Steedman? IP is that short for “International Patent” rights?
Or is it short for industry protection something? He is as locked as we are then. He is not allowed to sell his own variation of Strida. So even if he makes a better one he must wait until Ming see the commercial value of it?
That is the brute fact but as you say a pity and a truly sad situation for the designer of it and us too.
IP = intellectual property
So that basically means that Mark Sanders does not own it now, and future developments will be up to Ming. I know he has some exciting ideas so let’s see what happens in future 
Garry
www.abikecentral.com
www.stridaforum.com
www.foldingforum.com
www.3001.co.uk
Hahah, I sure feel left out! Everybody knows of his tweaks except me.
If he gives us a few sketches we could all start building prototypes and find out if they works?
Or is he trying to find a factory building them? Pacific Cycle maybe?
Aaaah IP = Intellectual Property that sounds very to the point indeed.
I have no imagination that is for sure.