The first thing you need to know about the Strida 5 folding bicycle is written on a small yellow sticker on its buffed aluminum frame: "Caution!! Using rear brake first when braking." Ignore that advice and you may find yourself hurtling forward over the handlebars like Wired.com associate editor Danny Dumas does in the video below. Thanks to the Strida's narrow wheelbase, doing an endo is much more likely than it is with most other bikes.
Bike3 The Strida 5 is also underpowered, with a single-speed drive that won't let you go much faster than 10 miles per hour without pedaling as furiously as a meth-addicted circus clown. And climbing steep hills? Just forget about it.
Bike Those reservations aside, the Strida is an elegant, if unusual, piece of bicycle engineering. It won admiring stares from other riders of folding bikes, and amused looks from everyone else. It's fun to ride, nimble and perfectly suited to zipping around pedestrians on broad sidewalks. Plus, its speedy folding and unfolding are well-suited to public transit - you can zip to the train station, collapse the bike in 10 or 15 seconds, and hop on your train without missing a beat. To take it on the streets of a busy metropolis like San Francisco, however, you'll need nerves of steel and a strong sense of the ridiculous. Our advice: Keep a broad grin on your face and think of the British royal family; blue-blooded members have been spotted zipping around London on these trendy triangular bikes.
WIRED: Just 19.4 pounds - light for a folding bike. Easy to fold and unfold quickly. Belt drive means not worrying about greasy chain marks on your slacks. Winner of numerous design awards, giving it serious hipster cred.
TIRED: Tricky to steer at speed. Top-heavy, especially for taller riders. Slow. Expensive. Tiny, flimsy rack holds little more than hope.
