jwlunt
05-19-08, 07:03 PM
I’ve ridden my Swift in to work for the past 6 days over pretty flat roads. Actually, that’s a lie. They are totally flat. I live in Chicago… if you can find a flatter city I’d like to know. It’s practically billiard-table flat except for the third world roads which result in all kinds of forward planning and swerving. I like to cycle fast and make my ride a workout. I travel pretty light – backpack, work shirts, phone, etc. Everything else (suit, shoes) are at work.
Sooooo, my experience over the past 6 days on the Swift has been excellent. Ride-wise, I couldn’t ask for more. Previously I’ve had a long series of mountain bikes (I’m a Brit from the rolling Sussex countryside so I had to have a mountain bike!) so moving to the Swift was very twitchy… narrow bars, tiny wheels and tyres. I thought that I’d need wider bars (see previous posts) but now enjoy the narrowness of the bars and the ability to squeeze between traffic. I can flick the bike around with great confidence, ride one-handed with confidence, etc. It handles very nicely.
I have a very standard set up – I got a Thudbuster from point of purchase and have not ridden with a hard stem… the Thudbuster is great for soaking up some of the frame vibs, but it’s nowhere near a full-sus bike. I’ve found I really don’t need this anyway, even in Chicago. The only other change are the pedals. I put on Crank Brothers SPDs and can accelerate away from the lights great!
Folding is a snap. I should mark the seatpost better, but even with the need to peer carefully for my mark it takes no more than 10 seconds to set up and fold down the bike. The great news is that I can take it through the revolving doors at work and happy stroll past the frowning security guards. It gets stored in my office on the 27th floor nice & safe and attracts a heap of comments. And it certainly gets comments and eyeballing when I’m out cycling. People can’t believe it runs as fast as it does, folds as quick as it does, etc. I’ve had no negative comments about its small size.
My only negative it the 8th gear – it causes the chain to snag the frame and results in a nasty noise and scratched frame. As a result I’ve stick to 7th and this is plenty fast enough for now. The good news is that Xootr have dealt with this brilliantly. In fact they couldn’t have been more helpful. I have a totally new bike arriving on the weekend with a post paid label to send the old one back. You could argue that this is what I should get regardless since I paid them a heap of cash, but none the less it’s nice to see Brian dealing with me professionally. They clearly love their bikes and business and want to win new customers by recommendation.
So, if you want a high speed bike that happens to fold, I recommend you try one out.
Jonathan
Sooooo, my experience over the past 6 days on the Swift has been excellent. Ride-wise, I couldn’t ask for more. Previously I’ve had a long series of mountain bikes (I’m a Brit from the rolling Sussex countryside so I had to have a mountain bike!) so moving to the Swift was very twitchy… narrow bars, tiny wheels and tyres. I thought that I’d need wider bars (see previous posts) but now enjoy the narrowness of the bars and the ability to squeeze between traffic. I can flick the bike around with great confidence, ride one-handed with confidence, etc. It handles very nicely.
I have a very standard set up – I got a Thudbuster from point of purchase and have not ridden with a hard stem… the Thudbuster is great for soaking up some of the frame vibs, but it’s nowhere near a full-sus bike. I’ve found I really don’t need this anyway, even in Chicago. The only other change are the pedals. I put on Crank Brothers SPDs and can accelerate away from the lights great!
Folding is a snap. I should mark the seatpost better, but even with the need to peer carefully for my mark it takes no more than 10 seconds to set up and fold down the bike. The great news is that I can take it through the revolving doors at work and happy stroll past the frowning security guards. It gets stored in my office on the 27th floor nice & safe and attracts a heap of comments. And it certainly gets comments and eyeballing when I’m out cycling. People can’t believe it runs as fast as it does, folds as quick as it does, etc. I’ve had no negative comments about its small size.
My only negative it the 8th gear – it causes the chain to snag the frame and results in a nasty noise and scratched frame. As a result I’ve stick to 7th and this is plenty fast enough for now. The good news is that Xootr have dealt with this brilliantly. In fact they couldn’t have been more helpful. I have a totally new bike arriving on the weekend with a post paid label to send the old one back. You could argue that this is what I should get regardless since I paid them a heap of cash, but none the less it’s nice to see Brian dealing with me professionally. They clearly love their bikes and business and want to win new customers by recommendation.
So, if you want a high speed bike that happens to fold, I recommend you try one out.
Jonathan