ginojames

Ok all ordered up after a lot of uming and talking to my local bike shop about fitting the hub

The main thing I was worrying about was the axel length on the s2c as it 162mm, so it would only leave 7mm either side to get a lock nut on, the guy at the shop insured me it will be ok.....

I will post some pics when I'm finished

Paul Braithwait

At last, I was able to get out for a short ride today after over a month of not cycling because of work and decorating! These are a few shots to show how Dahon 20" mudguards look on a Swift. They fit easily and without any modifications required. I haven't tried them in the wet but they appear to give good protaction. Made by SKS they are a quality product and do not affect the fold of the Swift.

nish2575

i'm curious to see if it comes loose frequently from folding. my planet bike one used to come loose about 1/month

bendembroski

Mine did too. Nothing a little loctite couldn't fix though.

metamichael

Hello,

Been meaning to post for a while, but was never the right time at the computer!

Just wanted to share in response to some recent questions about gearing. I've been riding with a 5-speed Sturmey for a couple months now, and it's great. I had issues with top speed on the standard setup, which some posters have discussed recently, and it's really sorted it out. I was usually riding in 7th gear on the standard derailleur and wanted more headroom. I was also having issues with the chain rubbing when in 8th gear, and the lower part of the derailleur caught something on the curb once and threw the chain. Painful. Opted against just getting a larger chainring & decided to ditch the derailleur altogether.

I ride with a 55T chainring and a 13T sprocket. I find this ratio very close to 7th on the standard setup, though I think 56-13 is technically closer. With the SRF-5, direct drive's on center, so I wanted 3rd gear to be my normal riding gear. It works really well. 2nd gear is for starts, 3rd for general riding, and 4th for when the road's more open. I get into 5th occasionally on big hills, but in London it's not long before there's a light or something to stop you (yes I stop at red lights ). I don't think I'll ever drop to 1st unless there's a vertical wall in front of me.

In hindsight I probably would have gotten a 3-speed for the little amount I get up to 5th gear, but then again it's nice to have. Having always had 8 speeds before I couldn't commit to just 3 gears! I don't think I'll ever go back to derailluers again, especially on small wheels. I looked at the Capreo system, but it seemed too fiddly & speciallzed. The Sturmey's ended a lot of hassle that extended back into my Dahon days before I got my Swift this year.

Here's a pic:


Yes, that's a spraycan job! I got a little paranoid about how shiny it looked. Got some Wellgo QR's as well so I can take the seatpost and pedals away when I lock the bike up.

You can see here the stock chainguard still kinda covers the chain at 55T:


And I posted a while back about folding handlebars. You can see from my home storage why it would be handy!


I've gotten used to hanging up the handlebars now, so I don't think I'll bother. The downward-angled stem helps hook it on things, too. I'm 6'2" and had no problem with the XL size's seatpost, but I needed to get the handlebars higher and a little closer. I like to ride more upright for my back's sake.

I bought my bike from Flow Berlin for less than SkootUK are selling it for, including shipping (that seemed to be a similar problem for foldingbikes.co.uk?). Their website's a little Germanic in the Enlgish translations, but email with them was always good, and delivery was . . . swift

Michael

P.S. I wouldn't recommend Bikefix in London for any service work. Their workshop first-come-first-serve policy is a pain (when they've ordered the wrong part, thus delaying your work, you still can't take your number in the queue until your part's come in-which I had to call to find out if it arrived). And when they fit a 54T-14T instead of what you ordered because they ordered the wrong part (again) - and they DON'T call you to check first, that's as we say in the UK "well dodgy". I wasn't very excited about my new gearing when I arrived and the guy said "I've made a modification to your setup which I think you'll like". The upshot is I learned how to refit it all myself. Expensive lesson..

robsta

Can not really justify why but here is a pic of my swift and myself. It took a couple of hours getting to the top from Luz. I would have preferred to have slightly lower gearing but maybe next time.

jur

^ * jealous *

nstone

Anyone know of a chain tug/tensioner that'll work with the swift's dropouts?

james_swift

Almost any chain tug will work, so long as it is designed for 3/8" (10mm) axles. I've used both of these:

https://surlybikes.com/parts/tuggnut/

https://www.danscomp.com/products-PAR...28Pair%29.html

Joako

I have a silver redline chain tensioner that worked (sold the bike) perfectly with my swift.

monsterpile

I am thinking of getting a Swift as my do it all bike. What is the widest tires that will fit on the bike? Thanks. Sorry this has probably been answered before, but I couldn't find it.

jur

I think you can safely put on a Big Apple 2.15" (Is that the biggest size?). Certainly there is enough clearance in the fork; the rear triangle may be a bit smaller, will have to check.

bendembroski

The 50mm Big Apple was a tight fit on the rear of my swift. I managed to squeeze a 60mm on the front. Just.

andyh2

Paul, what tyres are you running there with the dahon mudguards?

Paul Braithwait

Marathon Racers.

monsterpile

Thanks for the feedback on the tires sizes. I t looks like I can fit something wide enough on there to make me happy enough.

I picked up a lightly used Swift on craigslist today. The guy I bought it from has had lots of different folders and this one he bought for his son who rode it around the neighborhood a few times and then was apparently done with it. I checked out the bike, we chatted and I mentioned I had a Mini Velo and he said he was considering getting one from Bikesdirect. Anyway I finally decided I wanted the bike and paid the cash and brought it home.

My first impressions of it is that its looks very nicely put together especially the frame. I looks like something that would cost $700+ so thats a big positive. When I got on and rode it it felt twitchy, but I had just got done doing some test rides on an 61cm BD Gravity Swift (it just hit me I own 2 Swifts at the moment LOL) so its a bit of an unfair comparison after riding something with that big of a frame. Of course the other issue is it has the short straightbar which is something I don't have on anything I own. After riding the Swift and my minivelo back to back i liked the mini velo better, but I am interested in trying out the Swift with drop bars which is what I planned on doing from the beginning. I threw some on just now to sit on the bike and it feel so much better. I am only going off of feel, but the bike does seem pretty light and it does feel solid like my mini velo. One thing I really appreciate is I looked at the Swift parts on the Xootr website in case I wanted the taller riser stem and I was surprised at how reasonable everything was. $19.95+ $7 shipping for the riser stem? Thats very reasonable. I figured it would be at least $40 before shipping.

I do have one complaint that is seems like both quick release on the seat post need to be really tight on the post isn't secure and they are a pain to open and close. Hopefully someone can shed some light on that or I am doing something stupid becasue of the heat here. LOL

All in all I am really happy with the purchase and I look forward to tinkering around with this in the coming weeks. I have plenty of goodies I can throw on the bike depending on what direction I decide to take. Over the past few years I keep moving up the folding bike and small wheeled bike chain slowly and its fun to look back at the different folders I have had.

mtalinm

you're not stupid; this is the one design flaw of the bike b/c you lose your seat position and hurt your fingers like mad trying to open the two QRs.

one thing that has helped me slightly is to lube the QRs so they don't get stuck as much. but it still takes a lot of pressure to get them tight enough that the seat doesn't shfit around.

jur

The QRs for the Swift is a really important issue: The seatpost is actually a part of the frame integrity, so both the QRs need to be tight. The best thing is to clean the cam surfaces and lube them, Boeshield T-9 works very well for this. Otherwise they may break in your hand and ruin a great day.

The post itself needs to be clean so there is no grease or oil on it, as with any seatpost. But actually the designer recommends you coat the post with T-9, let it dry overnight, then wipe it down well; this will cause the wax to sit in all the surface scratches and prevent stuck problems. I have done this from time to time and never had a problem with a loose post.

Oh, and also don't over-tighten the QRs: It will lead to stretching the seat tubes and cracking.

monsterpile

I cleaned and lubed the QR and its much better. Thanks alot for the info. I was concerned about getting them too tight as well, but I think I have them in a good place now. Are there better quality QR out there I could buy? These seem to me to be relatively cheap ones, but I could be wrong. Honestly I don't know how much I will actually be folding the Swift, but I figure its worth asking some questions.

rickybails

Peter Reich sold me some better QRs that he said were the best he could find and they've been great. The cam isn't visible on the outside like a regular QR it's more internal.

About the stem riser, if you don't need to detatch that there are a few choices for stem risers that bolt on so more secure. I have never needed to detach the bars and use a stem riser I think I got from airnimal.

If anyone is struggling with seatpost slippage or QRs too stiff - try lubing them first before seeking new ones.

Regarding seatpost and losing your position - I have a tube shoved down the lower seat tube resting on the BB shell, cut to just the right length so that when I put the seat post down, when it hits this tube it's at the perfect height. The tube has a split pin going across so I can hook it out with a bent coathanger if I need to change the length. This tube is actually my original stem riser, which snapped.

nish2575

i love the kalloy qrs with rubber grip.

lexm

Mr Reich fitted Salsa Flip-offs on the Swift he built for my wife. I asked him to upgrade the QRs because of the discussion about them in this forum.

Paul Braithwait

I bought some Salsa Flip-offs but have always been a little unsure of their strength as the shaft of the unit is much thinner than the stock part supplied by Swift. Have you had any problems?

lexm

In addition to the Mrs's Peter Reich-built Swift, I recently acquired a stock Xootr Swift single speed with the stock QRs. We've encountered no problems with either. Lubed with Boeshield T-9, both the Salsa Flip-offs and the stock QRs lock down tight. However, I envy the Mrs her Salsa Flip-offs because they are much easier on the hands.

clearcastle04 

I am settled on switching the stock v-brakes on my Swift to cantilevers to go with my tiagra brifters. Does anyone know what I would need for the brackets on the headseat and rear fork that the canti's hang down from? Is there something I could buy or would I have to do some fabricating? Thanks