Dahon.Steve

Has anyone noticed the price of new Strida's on Ebay falling? They were selling for $799.00 not too long ago and now the price has dropped to $643.00! This is good news as the bike was overpriced to begin with but now it's becoming reasonable. I guess they're not selling very well which resulted in the price drop. You can tell the seller is raising the shipping fees to help cover the costs. Regardless, those bikes are going to be listed again and again before they sell.

At $499.00, I would be very tempted to buy one but that's not likely to happen. I tested the Strida not too long ago and it's a good quality bike. It's unfortunate the falling dollar makes the bike expensive.

spambait11

I'll admit it. I got a white 3.2 version with free carry bag from the Canadian dealer because of all the Strida enthusiasts here, and enough positive reviews. What can I say? You guys were right. I'll also attest that, overall, the ride is fairly smooth and it can be ridden at a pretty quick pace for more than a few miles on its mag wheels without problems. My only complaints for now are that my hands are closer to my body than I normally like, and I'm sitting way back on the saddle to get my preferred leg extension. However, the fold is fabulously fast! The tubing is also a lot thicker than it appears online (at least to me).

Problem now is that I blew my Xtracycle budget on it, and really didn't need another folding bike. Gotta stop reading this subforum.

Dahon.Steve

I didn't see any price drop on the Strida 3.2. Only the Strida 5 which may have been overpriced has seen the price decrease.

SesameCrunch

I saw the prices you're talking about. Seems they are shipping from Hong Kong.

I just bought a Strida5 from the new US Distributor - Areaware. I went for the discount given to previous owners. I would not have paid the full price otherwise. The new model is very impressive. It seems they've really incorporated user experiences into the new model. Big things and little things. It all adds up to a very nice package. The disc brakes are way overkill, but oh, so cool. The bike stops on a dime. I think Stridas are beautifully executed for the intended purpose - city commuting. Oh, and they're definitely not for introverts. I get stopped all the time from curious people.

spambait11

I haven't seen any price drops on the 3.2, but this may also be because no one has them in stock either (at least online). Velo Orange sells it for $475, but in orange without the bag. I also wouldn't have paid $800 for a 5, and thought I would be missing out big time because of all the changes, but I'll most likely never know. For me, the 3.2 rides extremely well, and in the next couple of days, I'll be timing myself on my commute route which includes about a 2 mile sustained climb.

As for attention grabbing, yes it does! And it is far, far easier to demonstrate the fold on this bike than any other I own, about 2-3 seconds to collapse the frame without folding the handlebars. However, the cargo carrying capacity leaves something to be desired; I'm still debating whether I should try to create some sort of trailer hitch which I can attach onto and pull from the rear rack. That will be a Christmas break project though.

SesameCrunch

I got it! The Strida-Xtracycle!!!

SesameCrunch

SB11:

I live in Half Moon Bay. Maybe one of these days we can pull together a Bay Area folding bike convention. I'll let you try my Strida5. You'll have to get your Xtracycle together by then . I'd love to see that in person.

spambait11

I'll have to use a BOB trailer and a longer axle bolt; the left side will be held in place by the magnet.


Sounds good!
I think I'm gonna just put my old Free Radical on a Ti frame I won on eBay since I've been wanting a lighter Xtracycle anyway. Now that the Yuba Mundo is just around the corner, I'm thinking I'd want one of those instead for carrying heavier stuff.

cyclistjohn

Some days we demonstrate (un)folding ours several times a day in Summer, something we wouldn't consider with the other bikes, as it's too much hassle.

The Strida tows pretty well actually. I towed this chap several miles after his chain broke. He had no tools of course :-)

Did you mean rear rack *mount*, rather than the plastic rack?

I'll be very interested to see your hitch please!

spambait11

No, I meant attaching a hitch to the plastic rack itself to tow a child's or light cargo trailer, similar to what you did in your picture above (love the pic by the way; that guy looks so incredulous! ).

Most of these trailers are designed to be hitched to the rear axle. I'll have to construct a test trailer with the hitch in the middle and high enough to be level with the rear rack. Then the hitch itself will have to be something that can attach/detach quickly like a carbiner clip, old rubber tire strip, or even pvc pipe with a slit down the middle (à la Strida's seat mount). I'll probably construct it using pvc since it is strong, easy to manipulate, and cementable.

For the carbiner clip idea, I'm thinking about inserting a wooden dowel into the pvc hitch end, and fastening it with a bolt or glue. At the dowel's end, I'll screw in an eyelet screw which will hold one end of the carbiner clip.

For the most part, I'm more concerned about finding wheels; they will determine how high the trailer has to be, etc. I'll have to pay more attention to wheel options next time I visit the hardware store.

Simple Simon

Great pic John !! ... were you in the boy scouts perchance

cyclistjohn

He was even more incredulous when we arrived at his car. He really didn't think the bike would manage the 7 or so miles :-)
He stared at the Strida, muttering "plastic wheels with a nylon belt drive, & it pulled all that weight, hmm..."


Ok, tow hitch - when I was making my "stroller stand" for the Strida, I tried to incorporate the rack initially, but any pull much above horizontal would unlatch the tube clip that's part of the rack mount. I haven't tried a trailer (yet) on my Strida, but I imagine up & down movement of the trailer may have the same unlatching effect.

Interesting you mention PVC pipe. As I'd like to see how practical a trailer is on a folder (not just the Strida) I started researching hitches, & the simplest & best I've yet seen is:

https://www.traileron.com/

Sadly, they're no longer taking orders, as at that price, even I would have bought one ;-)

Instead I've made one myself, & have tried it briefly on a 406 wheeled folder with a primitive home made trailer, & my wife commented on how remarkably stable it looked whilst towing it, so I'm going to go further with that. I haven't yet made a Strida version, as that will need a different angle for the seat tube hole in the PVC pipe, as of course it's the opposite to a conventional seat tube! It may also be necessary to take off the rack (simple, as it's just 1 bolt) to give the hitch a bit more height. It'll depend on the trailer design too.

I've no idea if anyone other than you or I is interested in this, so maybe you could kindly PM me your results or start another thread, or even in another sub-forum?

cyclistjohn

Hello Simon!

I wasn't, but my wife was a "Company Leader" Girl Guide, & she went off hunting & found a suitable towing stick within a couple of minutes :-)

Two bungies + stick, & we were off! My wife went ahead as scout, shouting if it was all clear at junctions;-)

We actually reached over 12 mph at times along that ride. It was good fun actually.

jur

Is this also posted in the Strida forums? It is destined to go down in the annals of Strida lore.

Dahon.Steve

I was outbid on Ebay for a Strida 5 the other day. The winning bid was for $520.00 USD! What gives? Did the seller lose money on the deal or is the Strida selling at a $300.00 dollar markup?

Oh yeah... The price just dropped on Ebay to $596.42. I guess the Strida is finally coming down to the real world. The price already dropped 25% since it was released at $799.00.

SesameCrunch

Supply, meet Demand...

Dahon.Steve

Agreed.

Does anyone know what the dealers are paying for the Strida? I think they're selling the bike at pretty close to break even point on Ebay.

sptsailing

I won a Strida 5 auction on Nov. 24. With shipping to Florida, it was only $550. I love this bike! The disc brakes are definitely overkill, but really nice. I live in Safety Harbor if anyone wants to see one up close before buying one. I've been showing it off to family and friends and everyone is impressed except for one guy who wanted to know why I wanted a circus clown bike.

Now, all I need to do is to unload one or more of my 3 Dahon Mariners and the mystery brand folder I got at Wal-Mart a few years ago.

Dahon.Steve

Good for you.

The price is now down to $568.00! The seller from China has stopped listing because they weren't selling and fees can start creeping after a while. I suspect to see the Strida 5 break into the high $400.00 dollar range after January so hold onto your seat. At that point, the price should hold firm. There's no reason anymore to buy a Strida 3.2.

makeinu

Nice for now, but if the manufacturing costs are too high then after the $400 blowout we won't see anymore Stridas.

At this point I don't think I would even buy one at $400. I think the Carryme is the ideal singlespeed bike and at the moment it seems as well distributed in the US as the Strida. IMO, the larger Strida would be better suited to a two/three speed.

Also, I'm disappointed at how the Strida doesn't stand upright while folded. The Carryme really raised the bar for me in this regard and I'm not sure if I would be willing to buy another folder without this feature. Swivelhead prototypes show this feature and it seems that the Tikit might be easily modified for it (though it's not part of the current Tikit design....thank Alex for allowing me to ask him this question several times without telling me to bugger off).

geo8rge

"I'm disappointed at how the Strida doesn't stand upright while folded."

Lock the brakes(that is what the loops on the handlebar are for) and lean it against something.

Carry me has wheels that are even smaller than strida

Weakling

I love that Marc Sanders came up with the Swivel solution but I don't like the way the Strida ride.

Maybe they have improved steering but the version I tested, forgot to ask if it was Strida 2 or 3 cause I didn't know of different versions but to try to ride it was core. I fell every three meters. I never managed to keep balance on it at slow speed. Compared to my Microbike which I could steer at almost standstill and it is still safe to use. A wonder of craftmanshift compared to the Strida I tested.

If there was something wrong with that exemplar the owner would have told me cause he really wanted to sell me on to buy a new one from the dealers. This was his beloved own bike and he was satisfied with it. He concluded me had poor balance. I ahve no problem with other bikes. I have more than 5 in different shapes.
https://www.gizmag.com/strida-folding-bicycle/8469/

gizmag.com write about strida as if newly launced on the market. Looks really odd. They could report on Carryme instead. Or any other new bike. BF Tikit or Mercedes or many others.

cyclistjohn

Vekling,

that doesn't seem to be a general reported reaction to riding a Strida, so maybe there was a problem with that bike.

If you have time, take a look at the Singapore Strida forum, for many positive reports from new & old Strida rider owners, covering the 3.x & 5 models.

My recumbent has a front wheel the same size, 305, as the Strida, & it's more "twitchy" at low speeds than the Strida. We can "crawl" along shared paths with our Strida 3's, with no low speed problems. When people try our Stridas (frequently in Summer) they usually initially wobble, but that disappears after several seconds. If the rider is a youngster but tall enough to ride it, (s)he's adept immediately.

I briefly test rode a Carry Me a few weeks ago on a flat, indoor track, & liked it, although I was bent down too much, so the steering tube would need to be higher for me. The only problem I see for us owning one might be restricted places to use it, as we frequently ride the Stridas (& my recumbent with 305, 406 wheels) along canal towpaths & forest parks, where the surface is poor, which the 305 wheels cope with just fine, but I'm unsure how well the tiny Carry Me wheels would cope. There's also the comfort issue with such tiny wheels over poor ground for several miles..... I doubt a dealer would allow a test over rough ground. I have read a positive report form a Carry Me owner riding over a less than perfect surface, but it's hard to know just how imperfect ;-)

Also punctures are fairly frequent here, so I must find out how easy it is to change a rear tube & refit it on a Carry Me.

Weakling

I guess I owe all you Strida enthusiasts an apology.

I should have made a phone call to check up what version it was I tested.

The Owner of it guessed it is a Strida one the original. But it had had that much friction from when he bought it. He had tried to make it less friction but failed.

so if Strida 3 have much less friction in steering maybe me would accept to ride on one.

I will keep my eyes open for an opportunity to ride a Strida 3 and I will tell here the difference.

Carryme nearest dealer would be Velorution in England and I live in Stockholm Sweden.

I am tempted to buy one just for the fun of owning one. First I thought what a crazy looking bike and now the more I look at it the more beauty I see in it.

I guess Strida owners love their bikes too.

cyclistjohn

Hej Veckling!

No apology necessary. I've realised that it's very hard to know what any bicycle will be like without actually riding it! So an earlier bike may well inherently be less stable than a later model. Apparently the 5 is "nicer" than the 3, & we're looking forward to trying them next year.

For about 6 years, up to about 5 years ago I was regularly travelling to Stockholm for work, but I didn't know about folders then. Your Microbike sounds like it would have been incredibly useful, but I never saw one. A few times I hired a bike (not very good) & sometimes a hotel let me borrow one. I discovered cycling in Stockholm is very pleasant, particularly in Summer. We have a friend near Solna, & need to visit him sometime, so if you don't get to try one, we'll bring ours & you can try a 3.2 :-)

The distributor whose Carry Me I tried was the "Airnimal" bike folk from Cambridge. I didn't think of Velorution, thanks.