Hello All
I have been viewing this thread waiting anxiously for the new member freeze to lift.
I am waiting for my new Silver Swift to arrive any day now (UPS tracker says tomorrow). I already have a list of modifications to accomplish, to include drop bars, Diacompe V287 brake levers, a different saddle, a longer stem, and a barcon shifter for the rear (luckily I have all of these parts from an old cyclocross bike). I am under the impression I will also have to change the derailleur if I want the barcon to index, but I was wondering if anyone else had played with this mod.
I realize I give up some folding size with the drop bars, but I see the Swift as my compact do-it-all bike from street to groomed trail use (a mini 'cross bike if you would). Down the road, I may also make up a set of singlespeed wheels based on the Surly flip-flop hub, but I'll have to wait to see how nice Santa thinks I have been this year.
By the way, it was this forum and some quick/excellent replies from the Xootr staff that convinced me to take the plunge. Here is some info I recieved from Xootr to pass along. The front fork spacing is standard 100mm, and the rear is 132.5mm allowing the use of most new road or mountain hubs (Surly does the same thing). The stock bottom bracket is a square taper. The 11-32 8 speed SRAM cassette should be a drop in mod to give a little better climbing gear. The chain stays are just under 50mm wide, so they estimated the largest usable tire would be in the 1.9 range (48mm). I don't think I will personally push the tire size beyond a 1.75 as there are some excellent 1.5-1.75 BMX tires these days for light trail use. For the road it sounds like the Primo is the way to go.
Once I've got the machine modded and up and running, I'll post some pics.
Later