Originally Posted by yangmusa
Peter told me this too, however I have since found
this page with a picture of a Swift with a triple on the front! I have been meaning to email and ask Peter about it; Hmm I should do it now while I remember! I'll let you know what the answer is...
Ok, I got two follow-ups from Peter:
Originally Posted by Peter Reich
There are two issues with the front derailleur- the first is that it can get in the way of your hand when holding the folded bike, and is somewhat vulnerable to getting knocked out of adjustment. The second issue is that the angle of the derailleur cage to the chainline is pitched too far forward, as the axle is 3" lower in relation to the bottom bracket, even though the seat tube is canted at a "normal" 72 degrees. I've always had derailleur cage/chain clearance/shifting problems in the extreme gear combinations because of this, and recommend the simplicity of the Sram dual-drive with a single (smaller) front chainring for those looking for wide-range gearing.
I wrote back that we had speculated that the larger diameter aluminium frame might make it hard, to which he replied:
Originally Posted by Peter Reich
It's also true that the larger diamenter of the alloy frame seatpost makes a custom derailleur mounting bracket necessary, which would present the ideal circumstance to address the angle issue. If only the practicality of the setup were greater, and the demand were higher... Maybe as more Xootr/Swifts are sold, the volume will justify the need.
(BTW - I ok'd it with Peter before reposting his replies..)