Hi,I'm Günther, owner of a Strida 5 folding bike. In Belgium this type of folding bike really becomes a common sight at railroad stations and on the streets. I bought mine now almost a year ago.From the start it had some shortcomings. Still I liked the bike, the advantages overruled these minor problems. In time more problems popped up and I tried to solved them the most simple way. The bike had a one year warranty so most of the time i went to my dealer to have it fixed or to have worn down parts replaced.
Now I'm in the progress of upgrading the Strida design to avoid the problems in the future. My warranty is running out and since I got a technical background myself I decided to resolve problems myself. On forums about the Strida bike I found others dealing with the same problems. It is for those people I started this blog.
Now, what are the major problems with the Strida folding bike?
- The quality of the tires is poor. The bike has a limited load (although I don't think this will be mensioned at the sale). The strida sites all have a specifications list that says the rider should weigh no more than 100 kg (Strida 5 model). People near or at this weight are the first to have their tires tearing appart.
- The bike comes with only one gear. The transmission to this gear is not big enough. It makes it possible for you to climb up most hills but on a flat surface you will find yourself riding at a phase much higher than with a normal bike. It is quite an effort to keep up with other (normal) bikers.
- In time the rear pulley of the transmission belt wears out. The grooves for the teeth to fit in become more wider and the teeth loose their grip. After 6 moths most people start to experience difficulties riding the bike because of the transmission belt slipping at the rear pulley.
The problems above are better explained in the following sections. Also the solutions I tried and am still aiming for will be illustrated in messages to come. Hopefully it is of use for other Strida owners.
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