Yeah, obviously London bus drivers are more reasonable than Bristol ones.

Generally, once somebody has announced a decision, their ego is balanced precariously on it.

The trick is to protect their ego, re-orient them to before their decision and change the original basis for it eg:

"Oh I'm sorry, I should have brought it on folded like this."

Other applications:
"I told you, no matter how cool you are, every single doorman on the planet is going to judge you by your shoes."
"Yes, that's a fair price for X. And it seems we didn't point out the features that make this Y."

How far do you ride the thing comfortably?

Vincent: I think I've ridden about three miles/5km on it without a problem. A biomechanical issue that's probably specific to me is that the seat tips slightly forward so I don't have as much 'undercarriage' support as I could so occasionally have to deliberately sit further back.

At 5'11 (180cm) I'm sitting about 5-10cm lower than if I was on a properly set-up full-size bike. This didn't turn out to be much of a problem. The gearing's low enough to prevent any difficulty up hills.

Basically it's good for "run around" errand type journeys, and covering the distance between public transport endpoints and final destinations, which is what I bought it for!

Hope that helps, Paul

I'm considering the thing just because of the simplicity and lack of mess. My ride would be something like seven miles. I would prefer a recumbent, but getting a recumbent up four flights of stairs doesn't sound like fun to me.

Thanks for the reply!

Don't get one. I nearly killed myself on my Strida last night. The King Pin that holds the whole thing together sheared off whilst I was travelling down High Holborn, causing the entire bike to colaspse and send me flying over the handle bars causing me serious injury to my hands and knee. Plus I nearly went under a London Bus! The bike is just 8 months old and only travels 16 miles a week. It's still under its years guarantee.
I urge anybody who has a Strida to check the main pin bracket for signs of fatigue. I was lucky this time, now broken bones, but the next person this happens to may be not so lucky.
The incident has been reported to the Trading Standards Office, and you can be sure I will be taking this case further.

mmmm ... checked mine - no screws loose here !
Good job as I love this bike.

Update on my king pin.
It looks like I was just unlucky! I have recently had a meeting with Stridas MD (a true gent) and discussed the fault which looks like a one off occurance.
I have retracted my claim, and I'm back in my Stridas sadle riding around London. Once again, everything is hunky dory!
Strida have proved to be inovative and decent company and have bent over backwards to sort out my bikes problem.

There can't be many bike companies where you could speak to the MD!