After much thinking about it I have finally converted my Swift to a double chainwheel. Over the years I have flirted with the idea but the cost of shipping the parts from the USA to the UK has always put me off. I recently celebrated(!) a land mark birthday (although they are all land marks these days!) and took the plunge to order what I needed from Xootr in America. The parcel arrived within one week.

My Xootr Swift was bought in 2008 and the specification of the frame has changed since then. The "down-tube" and rear triangle arms have larger diameters than they used to and the clamp supplied was too large to fit securely to my frame. After much head scratching and attempts to fill out the gap with handlebar and electrician's tape I eventually used a section of old inner tube to provide the necessary filling. It appears to hold the clamp securely.

The first photo shows the use of 'bar tape but it proved to be too soft to hold the bracket firm against the tube. You can also see how the gear cable leaves the bracket via a pulley. In the photo' I show how the cable would fall naturally in place, resting well behind the clamping position. This confused me at first as, when I clamped the cable to the front derailleur, it left the pulley at a bit on an angle and did not look right. It also made the Grip-Shift very hard to turn.



I emailed Xootr and attached photo's to show what problems I was having and my thanks to Brian (thank you Brian - you're a star!) who replied, almost immediately, giving me advice. The instructions on Xootr's site are out of date and show a previous model of the clamp. The current design does mean that the cable leaves the pulley at an angle which does cause shifting to be not quite as smooth as you may expect.



I fitted the Grip-Shift to my 'bars and ran the cable as per Xootr's instructions - all fine.



To the casual observer, my Swift has 'drop-bars'. They are, infact, flat 'bars with 'bar ends that convert them into drops. This means that I can slide the Grip-Shifts into position. Drop 'bars have a greater diameter than flats and the Grip-Shifts will not fit.



I think the result is pretty neat. The only issue I have is that the brake cables run under the 'bar tape and exit at the Grip-Shifts. This causes the cables to move a little when changing gear. It's a small point but I'll keep an eye on it.

I haven't had the chance to test the set-up on the open road yet but it appears to function well on my work stand. If you fancy this conversion do note that shifting the chain from the small chainwheel onto the large one does take a bit more effort at the Grip-Shift than you may expect. Other than that, I'm looking forward to my next ride!