Originally Posted by
Simple Simon
Welcome to the land of the flying triangles !!
Nice colour ! Did it come from that chap in Wembley ?
After years of me blathering on about how underated Strida is (at least in UK), a mountain biking mate got a Strida5 fake off eBay (maybe from the same source as you?). He is another convert but now he won't stop going on about it (and how little he paid for it £128). I have gone over it (admittedly trying to find fault
compaired to my proper 5 ) and I must say it's not bad at all !! (and for that price I may have to eat my words about how bad fakes are).
The only faults I could find were 2 slightly loose spokes, and the lower joints (front & rear) were a bit loose. The front 'pin' has built in movement where mine is solid, and the rear allows the pulley tube to drop too freely - both can be tightened, maybe with more washers ?
I've heard of other fake stridas with brittle ball sockets which break instead of releasing if folded badly , as poster above, but his is pretty solid (and he has enough sense not to try and fold the front bit forward).
The attention can be a problem when you are in a rush to get a train - fast fold and disapear is the best for a fast exit plan. Enjoy !
I'm going to reply to all of you chaps soon, but I have to go out on my new StridaFake since the sun is shining and the black ice has melted, but I must just reply to this one first before I go.
Yes - it was the guy in Wembly and mine was a £110 best offer deal. It came with the bag, a wee toolset and a manual showing torque settings and methods of doing stuff on it. I could not be more pleased for the money, and yes - I am aware of not straining the top ball joint.
I have identified one or two weak spots, but they are nothing that can't be fixed for pennies. The allen screws are not that great, and I will take off examples and seek replacements. They don't seem to fit the wrench as exactly as I'd like so I am cautious about tightening the bolts too much in case the heads give out.
Looking at the thing, it would be so simple to manufacture that two things occur to me: ANY manufacturer could make one of these really cheaply and still make it well. There is nothing magical about a resilient nylon ball joint socket that a Chinese company could not have made for pennies, and the 7000 aluminium tubes don't require too much wizzardry either. It is the simplest kind of bike you could make with a minimum of welding. The second thing that occurs is that the official Strida made by Ming Cycles in Taiwan is sold here for about £450 and is VASTLY too expensive. It could be half that and still make adequate profits for a non-greedy supply chain. Dahon dealers sell bikes with more 'work' in them for prices around £250 - £280 like the 2007 Curve D3 so Strida should go for similar money.
Last night I looked into the manufacturers of these copies and there are loads of them, so it is probable that it is not wise to generalise about how good they are. As far as I can see, the one I have is sold for US$94 by the manufacturer and in lots of 20 items, which makes it easy for an enterprising ebayer to grab a few and sell them off.
Check out this page to see just some of the Fake Strida makers ->
http://strida-bike.china-direct-buy.com/