Zonker

I think the Swift is a fine bike in it's own right, but having recently toured with both, I think the nod goes to Bike Friday for packing and travel. My girlfriend was on the Swift and she felt a little beat up by the aluminum frame (touring was on unpaved rail trail and canal tow path). It's probably more suited as an urban bike, and not loaded down with panniers for a week-long tour. Looking for a BF New World Tourist or Pocket Crusoe with approximately the same value, this Swift was upgraded with these options ($1041.00), built by Peter Reich, with the following :

Swift folder #06050195 in Xootr blue
Nexus 8 spd. rear hub
XT brakes
Shimano UN-73bottom bracket
CR-18 rims
Schwalbe Marathon tires

PM me if interested!

pm124

How did you like the trip?

Zonker

The weather couldn't have been better. Dusty by day's end, but never wet or muddy. It was our first self-supported trip, so there was a bit of a learning curve. We'd been on week long trips before, but they were always sagged. I wasn't too thrilled with Pittsburgh, but once we got out of the urban areas, I liked rural PA just fine. We preferred the crushed limestone surface of the GAP to the rocks, roots, and ruts of the C&O Canal Towpath. I lost two bolts from my Bike Friday folding rack (shaken out?), thankfully we'd read about bringing zip ties and duct tape for emergencies, the zip ties saved the day. We opted on the last day to take the W &OD/Custis path, since it took us right to our last stay, the Key Bridge Marriot. We also met forum member invisiblehand and his lovely frau for pizza in Georgetown. I was in hog heaven there, visited three bike shops in a one or two block radius! I wish we could have spent an extra day in DC, but we'd used up all of Gal Friday's limited vacation time. I think we learned some great lessons that will serve us well for the next adventure!

Bacciagalupe

Hmm. So, have you extensively ridden both bikes? Or are you just talking about the "packing" part rather than the ride feel?

Also, I'd be very curious to find out the geometry specs on your BF, since that's the only thing I can imagine being substantially different between the two.

invisiblehand

Hey Zonker! I was wondering when you were going to pop back into the forum. Let us know when you decide to come back into town.

-G