Originally Posted by
joose
Can somebody give me a simple reason why this bike is so expensive? Am I missing something here? I really want one but just cannot bring myself to pay so much for three poles, two wheels, a seat and saddle.
Don't tell me it's about the economies of scale, how unique do metal tubes get?
Buying one at this price would make me hate the bike for each and every time I saw it. I would feel ripped off everytime 
Yup and why are they so heavy (again, it's two tubes...even a single speed Brompton comes in around 10kg)?
All my respect goes to Mark Sanders, but I think the weakness of the Strida design is really starting to show:
-There are three sizes now and each size needs different wheels and frame tubes to work. Since the geometry is so strict in terms of fit they really had no choice but to expand the lineup like this, but whatever economies of scale issues they might have had before will certainly be worse with 9 tubes instead of 3. If regular bikes could not make achieving better fit with different wheel sizes commercially viable then how will Strida do it?
-Also, although two speed is nice, I'd rather be able to stand and mash (which, again, the geometry does not permit) than fiddle with the schlumpf mechanism.
-Lastly, there's no stand. There's really no excuse at all for this to be left out. Don't tell me about a kickstand. Why on earth would anyone want a kickstand on a folding bike which is going to be folded after riding?! Also don't tell me about laying it onto the rack; there's about 5" difference between laying it on the rack and simply laying it all the way down, which is pointless.
I am, however, glad there are so many color choices.
Originally Posted by
Carlos71
So the Schlumpf 2 speed drive is about 400 USD... and my Strida 3 cost me 299 EUR.
Besides, what about the gearings?
It costs about 200USD to upgrade the Carryme to a Schlumpf.
Me thinks there's too many middle men in the Strida supply chain.