Just received my Strida today. I want to jot down some notes that I can eventually compile into a whole page of impressions – there’s a serious lack of opinion on the ‘Net about this interesting bike. I haven’t even ridden it yet but…
Just for the record I’m dealing with the Stida 2 here, not the original Strida which I don’t know much about. Mine’s serial number 000951 – the exclusivity of it makes me giddy :-)
I ordered it from their web site and was happy they used the excellend Yahoo! Stores for e-commerce. The marketing part of the site is well designed and executed but could use more detailed information for detail hungry types like bike fanatics (I’m assuming people willing to try an unusual bike like this leans toward the fanatical state of mind, though they certainly don’t have to in order to appreciate this bike).
Original order was back ordered a week (bikes are made and shipped from England). They notified me promptly. In fact, there was no lack of helpful phone calls throughout my experience with them, though their email response averaged 2-3 days which could be better).
They mistakenly didn’t put my company name on the address label and UPS was unable to deliver it to my workplace, which delayed the delivery 7 days (an eternity when you’re waiting for something this cool). Luckily UPS stored the package locally, sent me a postcard notifying me of the problem (how did the postcard make it to me without a company name I’m not sure) and then redelivered once they had all the information. Again Strida’s assistance was as helpful as possible, but the original mistake was a drag.
My initial out-of-the-box impression was as exciting as I’d thought it’d be. The folding/unfolding procedure is easy, though locking the wheels together takes a little more effort than expected and the two plastic pieces that clip together seem kinda fragile but no problems yet.
The whole thing reeks of good design. Every piece feels solid and rounded and pleasing to the touch. It’s as if the designer brainstormed saying “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” and came up with a ton of great little ideas, a bunch of which made it into the final design.
There’s a slick little hole in the seat “post” that holds an Allen key for making adjustments, though it’s too small to fit to adjust the seat, contrary to what the manual states. I called them and they said a second Allen key should be taped either to a postcard in the manual or, in my case, inside the packaging box (good thing it hadn’t been thrown out yet!). I guess they increased the size of these bolt heads. Wonder why – increased strength? Supply problems?
They have a couple of really big stickers with the usual warnings: no wheelies (they’d be very dangerous on this bike), stunts, etc. I applaud their safety efforts, but they’re a bit annoying to take off.