Strida Bikes Archives - Strida Canada West

Efneo Gearbox for Strida

Posted by Bill Wilby on Nov 15, 2018 in News, product review | 0 comments

Efneo Gearbox for Strida Update, Spring 2019 So Spring has sprung and there are no Efneo gearboxes in stock, but there is some good news. Efneo are in the process of moving there manufacturing to Poland, Efneo’s home country. The new Efneo manufactured in Poland will be lighter and cost less than the original Efneo gearboxes, we just need to be patient. I hope to receive my first stock of the new design gearbox in August. Original Post I have been following the development of the Efneo Gearbox for Strida for the last six months. A friend Chris, a regular contributor to the Strida Forum, brought it to my attention. Chris worked closely with Efneo to develop the Efneo Gearbox for Strida kit. Chris’s posts to the Strida Forum can be found here. The Efneo GTRO three speed gearbox is designed to fit into a standard bicycle bottom bracket. A kit has been developed to add the excenter and belt wheel needed to adapt the GTRO to the single speed Strida. The Efneo belt wheel has 80 teeth which is smaller than the standard Strida 100 tooth belt wheel. The standard Strida 1440 mm belt is replaced with a shorter 1360 mm belt. The gearbox design is a planetary design that spreads the load over several gears. This design is lighter and possibly stronger than the Strida Sturmey Archer EVO gearbox. Gear Ratios The Strida gear ratios are dependent on which wheels you have mounted on your Strida and the ratio is also dependent on which tires you have mounted on those wheels. This is because there can be a big difference in the diameter of tires which fit the same wheels. The following information is borrowed from the Strida Forum. Using 16 inch 1.5 tires. low gear: 16″ x 80 x 1 ÷ 30 = 42,7″ middle gear: 16″ x 80 x 1,43 ÷ 30 = 61″ high gear: 16″ x 80 x 1,79 ÷ 30 = 76,4″ Compared to a Strida EVO, with 16 inch wheels, low gear 42″, middle gear 53.3″, high gear 67″ My First Ride My first ride was around my neighborhood. The gearbox shifted smoothly and it felt good. Low gear is a direct drive and it felt very good. Up shifting from first to second and third was very fast and positive. Down shifting with the rapid fire shifter I installed took a little bit of practice until I mastered it. This shifter did not fit the standard Strida handlebars. I will order future gearboxes with the grip shift option. Test Rides After this short 4 km ride I was ready for more. I have a favorite hill climb that I used when I received and was testing the first EVOs, it is detailed in this blog post. I stopped climbing this hill when I realized that I was stronger than the EVO gearbox! So I headed up...

Posted by Bill Wilby on May 5, 2016 in events, News, product review, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Posted by Bill Wilby on Sep 16, 2015 in News, product review, Uncategorized | 2 comments

Flying with a Strida Bike I have sold many Strida padded bags, but until last weekend I had never used one myself. The Strida padded bag was designed for air travel or, flying with a Strida Bike. I can now report that it was easier and more fun than I thought possible. Here are the details and things that I learned, flying with a Strida bike. The trip was a weekend excursion to Edmonton Alberta. I flew from Kelowna British Columbia, a three hour drive from my home. I traveled to Edmonton to attend director training courses for my position as a Credit Union director. I thought riding my Strida bike would be the perfect way to unwind after a day of studying. Planning The first thing I needed to do was to check what flying with a Strida bike would cost in extra baggage fees. The West Jet website containing this information was not clear to me, reading it I understood this was going to be expensive with possible oversize and bike handling charges added. I phoned West Jet and a friendly and helpful customer service person explained this was not so. I was told that with the size and weight of the Strida bike in the bag, West Jet would handle the bike as if it was an extra bag. The fee for the first bag with West Jet is 25.00. This was good news but I didn’t trust the information because of what I had read on their website so I thought of ways of confirming this information. I sent West Jet a FaceBook message and within minutes received a reply confirming the baggage fee details. What to Pack So then I needed to decide how to pack when flying with a Strida bike. This was a three night trip so a carry on bag was sufficient for my clothes. There is a lot of extra room in the Strida padded bike bag, enough room for a Strida SX with 18 inch wheels, my bike helmet, an extra jacket, small backpack, small Airbone Pump, tools and a extra tire tube. I also packed a small Strida headlight and Strida taillight. How to Pack and don’t forget to deflate the tires I think it is important to secure the Strida in the bag from possible damage and dislocation of the ball joint socket. I know of an incident where this happened to a customer. I decided that zip ties would help and a small knife to remove them. I zip tied the handle bars together, it is important to completely fold the Strida bike first, then I zip tied the three tubes together around the seat mount. On my return flight I also zip tied the wheels together. Of note is the quality of the zip ties and the stress on the ties. I experienced one broken zip tie...