Strida Bike and your Boat

The idea of using a Strida bike and your boat is not new. Bikes and boats go together and it doesn’t get much better than a Strida bike and your boat, here’s why.

The Strida bike folds quickly and easily into an easy to handle shape. Strida’s are stowed away easily and can be retrieved in seconds. If you need to roll the Strida bike folded along a float and up a ramp it does this with ease.

There is no chain to rust on a Strida bike, the Strida uses a belt and not a chain. The Kevlar drive belt needs no maintenance. The frame and most of the parts of the Strida are constructed from aluminum, again no rust.

The Strida is a comfortable ride. The Strida bike is designed for the rider to sit in an upright comfortable position. In This position the rider does not need to bend their neck or to put pressure on their wrists. Many first time Strida riders who profess to having a bad back and to not being able to ride a conventional bike are surprised as to how comfortable and easy the Strida is to ride and pedal.

The Strida bike has one size of frame. The Strida frame is adjustable to fit a rider from 4′ 9″ to 6′ 4″. There are two different wheel sizes, 16 and 18 inch, a choice of three different handle bars, a single speed and a three speed model with many different colours to choose from. This article, Strida Models Explained, provides more information on the different Strida models. The Strida folding bike is owned and manufactured by Ming Cycle in Taiwan, here is a link to their Strida website.

The Strida Bike is not new

The Strida bike looks like something recently invented but it is not new, the Strida bike has been around for almost 30 years. It was designed by a British design student Mark Sanders who was commuting from Windsor to London. Mark wanted a bike that would fold quickly and be easy to get on a train, roll when folded through a train station and be easy to carry up the escalator or stairs. He wanted a bike that was comfortable to ride with street clothes and  to be clean without an oily chain. Here is a link to the Strida Wikipedia page, it does need updating.

The Strida folding bike has become popular in many counties but it is not well known in North America. Boaters in the Caribbean have discovered the Strida bike as durable and fun bike for island exploration.

The Strida Bike and boats

I do not own a boat at this time, I do have experience with boats and my home town is Alert Bay. I was recently visiting my home town of Alert Bay and while I arrived in my vehicle aboard a B.C. Ferry I did use my Strida as if I only had my bike for transport.

The village of Alert Bay is located on Cormorant Island off the east coast of northern Vancouver Island. Like many coastal villages of B.C., most of the businesses and services are located along the main street. The Island is about 6 km long and 1 km wide. If you arrived in Alert Bay with your boat you could walk to the nearest business, but unless you were a determined walker or you hired a taxi most of the island would go undiscovered.  Alert Bay is not all flat, there are steep hills so depending on which model of Strida you have you still may find yourself needing to push your bike up a hill. The Strida is light and easy to push. I know this as my Mother lives near the top of one of the steepest hills.

Strida at home near the water

A Strida Bike and a Trailer

Of interest to Strida owners using their Strida bike with and your boat is my trailer hitch. Now available is a custom hitch to make it possible to use a Burley Travoy trailer with a Strida bike.  The Travoy trailer is great to pull behind the Strida bike. This trailer also folds and will fit in the Strida padded bike bag with a Strida. Another use for this trailer is that of a light weight hand cart, I use one to deliver boxes to the local post office.

If you would like to know more about using a Strida bike and your boat then please contact me.

Strida-visits-Alert-Bay