Side by side comparison between A-bike and Strida

[Amuro Lee]

Source:
http://strida.kuso.com.tw/modules/newbb ... 1161627586

Posted by wor73 on 2006/9/4, 12:25

STRIDA Vs A-BIKE
I position my Strida and A-bike for a comparision. These are my observations:

Pros of A-bike
1) A-bike is Light! 5kg!
2) Easy handling, + the handle is easier to fold than strida.
3) Reflective Tapes are certainly much better in quality.
4) It fits inside most ragsack bag.
5) Seat-post is easy to adjust at anytime.
6) A small bell is included.

Cons of A-bike
1) Seat is terrible and the bike is not comfortable to travel on any uneven surface.
2) It is slow but it does pose a bit of danger if you hit a pothole or curb.
3) I see that the only danger is travelling upslope, you can go on wheelie position very easily, worst if you are carrying a heavy bag.
4) The brake cables is not any neater than Strida.
5) Tyre tends to stick to the ground, due to its small size and maneuvering is not easy.
6) The pedal is somewhat much difficult to fold than strida though design is about the same.
7) No rear storage rack.

Strida Vs Abike - Unbrella Position Front View


Strida Vs Abike - Unbrella Position Side View


Strida Vs Abike - Foldup View


Strida Vs Abike - Cycle Position View


Strida Vs Abike - Side by Side View


Strida Vs Abike - Handle design

[Amuro Lee]

My A-bike and my new bought Strida 3.2

[Weakling]

Thanks for this comparison of pro et cons.

Both Strida is Strida III but one have plastic rim and spokes while the other have Alu rim and steel spokes. Is that the difference between Strida 3.2 and Strida 3.6 or what does those numbers refers to or are about?

Does the plastic wheel version brake using back pedaling on rear wheel and the metal one seems to use handle brakes that goes to drum brakes into both front and rear wheel. One for each

Or does the metal wheel use three brakes? two for the rear and one for the front wheel?

Amuro have your read comments on the plastic wheels Have any owner reported them getting broken or the rim getting broken if they hit a pot hole any about other problem with them?

Swedish Strida owners seems to prefer the metal wheels.

I'm not so sure. It depends on the person doing the adjustment of the spokes. My spokes on a regular 27" bike, commuterbike they snapped and I was using it very carefully and not driving it hard or off road or any such that would strain it. So steel spokes depend very much on how well they are adjusted.

I will test ride a Strida III with plastic wheels but could buy both types.

the one with metal wheels have foldable pedals. while the one with plastic wheels are older and doesn't have them as standard. Have to pay extra for that lux...y

[Amuro Lee]

The one with plastic wheels is Strida 3.2 (Utility) and the one with alloy wheels is Strida 3.3 (Urban). Except the material of the wheelset, Strida 3.2 and 3.3 are completely the same.
A Strida 3.2 can be "upgraged" to a Strida 3.3 at any time by changing the wheelset. The charge for "upgrading" in Hong Kong is HK$500 w/o tires or HK$600 w/tires and tubes.
http://www.strida.hk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=136

Both Strida 3.2 and 3.3 use drum brakes on both front and rear wheels and each wheel has one brake only.
By the way, Strida 5 (Sport) uses disc brakes and metal wheels.
http://www.strida.hk/specification.html

I have asked for comments about the plastic wheels and metal wheels on the strida forums:
http://www.stridaforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=177
http://www.strida.hk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=196

Here are the comments by Mark Sanders, the creator of Strida:
"The Strida 5 has the freewheel at the back, but any savings due to the belt not turning when freewheeling are offset by the 1:3 ratio turning the front freewheel - lost when it is at the back. This change was more due to being able to use the now more available disc brakes (cf drums), and a conventional crank. All this was made possible by the neat wheel hubs Ming developed for the Strida 5, and light spoked wheels. Unlike me, they never appreciated the 'bomb-proof' plastic wheels and drums. (The Strida 5 will need more protection when using on airlines."
"... 3's plastic wheels / hub brakes are more durable - eg as hold luggage. But 5's are much more bling and sexy "

All the models of Strida available in Hong Kong come with foldable pedals and handle bars.

[Weakling]

Thanks Amuro.

Strida owner wor73 bought the 3.3 with alu rim and steel spoked then and you bought the 3.2 with plastic rim and spokes.

Had you chance to buy both types or did your dealer only have one of them at home?

Sadly here locally I have to pay extra for the foldable pedals. The one with metal wheels and foldable pedals are much much more expensive. Not sure me want to pay that much more. It is ok with me to pay 3000SEK cause then I could afford to buy a Carryme too or a Carryall to have in winter time. To pay 4500SEK just to get metal wheels and foldable pedals seems too high. Then I rather pay 6000 for a Mobiky which have metal wheels too

So Sanders trust the plastic to be less vulnerable when being handled at Air luggage. That sound reasonable. Things get thrown in the rush they have there I guess. Spokes could get snapped. Sanders would have warned if the plastic wheels would not stand time and weather? He has used the bike longer than most others. Was it 15 years he had use plastic wheels and none of them have broken?

Amuro have you ever heard of somebody with broken plastic wheel
There was one with a broken kevlar belt. Which surprise me much.

My Microbike have similar quality kevlar belt but half in width even and they have served me for some ten years. Ok could be cause me a weakling so I don't put much torque on the pedals. Which that owner seems to have done. I push with foot on ground and only pedal when the bike is already rolling.


Mark Sanders told of him crashing several times and the wheels stood the test each time.

[Amuro Lee]

I bought my Strida directly from the local distributor here. They have all the models (3.2, 3.3 & 5.0) available of course.
I decided to buy a 3.2 instead of 3.3 after reading the comments by other forum members and Mark Sanders himself.
The main point is: I can change the wheels from plastic to metal at any time if they break.

[Weakling]

Thanks,

then I dare to buy the plastic wheel version then.

EDIT
I wrote to Strida London England and asked their view on plastic
contra metal since I wrote this above. Here is their answer to me

re: wheels
we discontinued metal wheel because of spoke breakage.

in the whole history of strida there is not one plastic wheel that broke.
in addition they are lighter, and weatherproof. (i.e. no corrosion.)

Now to an Off topic thing.

Similar to A-bike and Brompton even Strida seems to get faked carbon copy?
The Longwise LW-B02 bicycle
http://longwise.en.alibaba.com/product/50162097/200703514/Electric_Bicycle/LW_B02_bicycle.html

Could be a sign of success. Only successful bikes get copies.

Carryme still have no copies made. so it is still not a success? or too unknown.

If I buy a Strida now at Sunday I will join the Stridaforum.