Hello All
Well, I have changed quite a few things on my Swift in a quest for a folding cyclocross/road bike, and I thought I would share the results and a couple of images.
Changes:
Ritchey Pro Drop Bar (44cm)
Thomson Elite Stem (140 mm, 10 degree, flipped for higher bar position)
Saddle (Selle Italia Flite)
Pedals (Crank Brothers Candy Sl in Black)
Shifter (Shimano bar-end 8 speed)
Rear Derailleur (Shimano XT, Mid-Cage, required since SRAM will not index with bar-end)
Avid Rollermajig
Tires (Scwalbe Marathon Slicks for road and Intense BMX 1.5 for trail)
Wheels (32 Hole XT Hubs laced to Velocity Aeroheat rims)
That is all for now, but my remaining To-Do list includes:
1. Water bottle attachment (Minoura twin rail saddle mount looks promising)
2. Crank upgrade (I have an older Ultegra octalink in my parts bin...may upsize the chainring to 55-56 range).
3. Ultegra bottom bracket.
4. I may re-lace the stock rims with either a single speed rear (Surly flip-flop fixed/free) or make them into a dedicated road set of wheels (105 or Ultegra hubs...once again, I know I have a set of one of those in my parts bin).
5. Work on a packing solution (I am looking into a hard Pelican case).
6. Attach some aero-bars (I have a set of Profile Design Jammer GTs which should fit the bill).
With all of the above changes, if I were to do this again, obviously it would be better to just get a frame from Peter Reich or have him build it to those specifications.
So the end question, is was all of the changing worthwhile. First, I start with the fact that I am a gear head, and I stalk bike swaps, yard sales, E-bay, etc, and of the above changes, I had 80% of the parts on hand, so my out-of-pocket expense has been pretty minimal. On the LBS spring scale, with pedals and saddle bag the bike weighed 22-23 lbs, so it appears my changes have been neutral in the weight arena.
And the bike rides great so far. I have been completing my 14 mile out-n-back TT in 40 minutes very comfortably. Short jaunts on local dual-track and fire roads are a blast. The biggest compliment I can pay the Swift is that for the most part, unless I look down or catch my shadow in profile, I forget I am not on my Kona Jake the Snake. The qualifier is the steering is a bit quicker, especially in out of the seat climbing efforts. As a drop-bar road/cross bike, the Swift is a huge success so far.
Cheers