Originally Posted by
bertiejo
Hi Norfair: I bought a Downtube 8 speed front suspension folder in 2006. Ive been riding for many years and had many of the common misconceptions about folders (they are slow, the frames are like spaghetti etc; neither of which turned out to be true) that riders of conventional bikes have. I bought the bike because I had seen one while out riding one day and was impressed by the quality of the frame relative to its price. The components are low end but no worse then anyones elses in that price range and the truth is most of those components work OK. The worst piece on my bike was the fork (I would have ordered it without suspension but in 2006 Downtube didnt offer an unsuspended bike) which I replaced with a conventional one. I mentioned this because I ended up with essentially the bike you are thinking about buying as the frame on the Nova looks very similar to mine. The frame is the heart of any bike and Im impressed with Downtubes; its very stout with well thought out folding hardware beautiful welds and my bike has a very solid and stable feel to it. I dont know how tall you are but the stem may be a problem in that it has a very short reach (a common problem on many folders). Im 5'10" and I replaced mine with a stem with 5" of reach (the original stem hit me right in the sternum which forced me to ride bolt upright which makes it impossible to generate much power or to climb out of the saddle when climbing or riding into the wind). I actually had very good response from Yan who runs Downtube; I sent him a number of e-mails and he usually got back to me the same day. Im not familiar with Swift bikes but for much less then the $400 difference in these two bikes you could put first class components on it if you felt the need. For $269 the Downtube is a real bargain. The problem with buying many folding bikes is finding a bike shop that carrys them. Many are only available by mail order including Bike Friday which means you cant test it until you buy it. Good riding with whichever bike you decide to buy. bertiejo
bertiejo... Thanks so much for the detailed response based upon your personal experience. I do appreciate it. There are no dealers anywhere in my area that have any brand of folder on hand - save for one that can order a Bike Friday for me (which are more than I'm willing to pay). I can purchase the Nova directly from Downtube and it comes with a thirty day warranty, so I'd only be out shipping both ways if it ended up being a bust. I'm still not sure what to do, but your words have given me great hope for the Nova working out in my favor. I do thank you too for your note about the stem not working out given your height. I'm right at 6', so I'm guessing it'll be a bit off for me as well. Oh, and as for communications with Yan, he did indeed respond to my inquiry promptly, but just not as detailed or as friendly the Xootr people. I don't know. I want the Swift, but the price difference is too great given what little differences I can make note of. I'm not keen enough to know which component or brand part works better than another, so I have to base my decision on comparable specs and the like. (@vincentnyc, thanks for the mention of the folding difference. I actually love the way the Swift folds, but worry that it might not fold enough for my car.) Anyway, thanks again bertiejo for your words of wisdom.