Hi.

The seat is mounted with a normal seat clamp on to the plastic tube that clamps onto the rear frame member. It looks conventional. The seat itself is acceptable, but the other day I rode it ten miles and by six miles, I felt the need of a softer cushion. Part of this was that I had the seat too low and was somewhat feet forward. I raised it about two inches and that made a big difference to comfort and power delivery. I'm pretty short with a 29" inside leg, but I habitually ride with a high seat position and my toes on the pedals. I'm much happier with the stock seat now that I am further forward, but the seat is a cheapy for sure.

The shipping carton measures 115 x 27.5 x 56 cm, and the marked net weight on the carton is 11KG which I take to be the weight of the bike. Weighing the bike and myself on a bathroom scale it looks like it comes out at 10KG. This is not a great way to weigh it, but I did three measurements, putting it down in between to see that the scale returned to the same place.

NB. I have removed the rear rack which was made out of pretty naff plastic. I was demonstrating the fold to a friend outside on a frosty day and while the bike was in my hand, I let go the rear half and it struck the pavement hard and shattered the luggage rack. I've had that kind of problem before with some hard plastics - low temperature and they become extra brittle.

I have also swapped out the pedals. They were the usual really naff low end ones like my Merc came with - different, but just as bad.

I have now ridden it about thirty miles. It is getting hard to keep track now without a speedo, but it is at least 27 and probably 30. The pedals were clicky, the luggage rack was weak, but the frame, wheels and transmission components seem serviceable. The wheels needed minor truing right out of the box, the belt was too tight, the BB was creaky until I oiled it lightly. I think I will probably replace the allen bolts over time with new ones as they are not of the best, except the seat ones which are well made and tough. The ones around the crank spider and the one that secures the eccentric BB tensioning position don't seem well enough machined for my liking. The fit with the allen key is indifferent and the heads may end up destroyed by the key slipping.

Other than that it is pretty good deal for £110 which is what I got it for on a best offer ebay deal. The real strida 5 is available from an outlet near here at £390 in white or £429 in one of a couple of colours. No doubt it will have had more finesse employed in its production and the selection of parts. However, the 'Zhejiang Yongkang permanent rhyme fitness instrument factory' product which I believe I have here, http://cnhengyun.diytrade.com/sdp/55...d/4213101.html is pleasant to ride, handles in a tight fashion with a stiff frame and a surprisingly plush reaction to quite severe bumps, even with the tyres overpumped.

The question I ask myself is this, 'Would I have shelled out £430 on a genuine coloured Strida?' and the answer is NO. 'Is the price of the real Strida any sort of a bargain, given that we are talking about buying three tubes, a plastic transmission system, a crank spider and two small wheels?' The answer in my opinion is NO. By any standards, in a global market, the Strida is far too expensive. It is a mass produced minimalist, tiny bicycle made in the far east. How can it possibly cost over £400 unless there is a lot of gouging going on? It should be obvious when you overprice a simple product that has large appeal that the Chinese are going to grab the idea with both hands and sell them three for the price of one. This bike is sold to western importers at US$ 94 a pop. I bet Ming are selling the real thing at less than $200 and doing very nicely. How does that then translate to £429 or $642 (dealer in NE England linked from Strida website). If Ming didn't sign up a continent wide sole importer deal with strida.nl and instead sold the bike to any outfit that ordered a container load, it would be 33% cheaper to the customer and there would be no fakes, because the price incentive would not be enough to persuade people to buy a copy version with the risk that involves.

Is the Zhejiang counterfeit as well made as a real Strida? NO.

Is it a functional copy that with a minimum of swapped components will make a pleasant enough ride? Probably yes - but I do say 'probably'. Time will tell. One thing for sure though, I would never have made the move of buying a real Strida on a whim like I did with this one, and who knows, after riding it a few thousand miles, maybe I'll get a real one. My experience with the now venerable Brompton knock off I have ridden for 3600 miles has convinced me that when it gives out, I'll get a real Brompton. Maybe this will be the same.

I know that Mr Saunders is not involved in marketing the Strida 5, so he can't be blamed for its ridiculous price, and nor can he be blamed for being cheesed off at people copying what he designed. I already knew the risks and checked the thing out with care, but I take his points about quality seriously so I ride the copy with caution, after all, like any piece of mass produced cycle hardware, it could break - just as we all know the real Stridas have done in the past. When I ride my bikes, I check them out with care on a regular maintenance schedule. I go over the Merc frame components with a lense every three hundred miles and check every centimetre of its frame and forks. If I hear a new noise from my machines, I stop and check them out. I long ago learned with motorcycles, kit cars, bikes and mainstream cars NEVER to ignore a new and unnatural sound or feel. That's why I'm still alive.