Hello everyone,

well, I've been lurking since my previous posts back last Summer, when I first got my swift folder. It's been a horrid winter here in Manchester, England, but I've occasionally braved the cold and rain on the Swift.

And riding it yesterday, I thought it might be useful to give a 6 month appraisal.

In a word - fabulous. This bike is as solid and fast as the day it turned up...it's grown with me as I've got a little fitter. Some key things:

* Keep the tires pumped really high. I've got Primo comets, which are incredibly tough, but need to be kept rock-hard...I've ridden them a few times without bothering to pump them - the difference in ride is extraordinary. A hard tire maximises the responsiveness and ride dynamics.

* Sinking seat-post. Well, user-error to blame here. I'd zealously greased the seatpost, but had obviously whacked too much on, as it would sink during the course of a ride. I've wiped most of it off, and it holds fine.

* A longer handlebar stem/riser. I bought a longer handlebar stem (the horizontal extender bit) which extended my body over the bike. It had the desired effect of stabilising the ride, in fact, it changed the characteristic of the bike significantly...much less 'squirrelly'. But I changed it back to the original - I prefer being more upright, and I like the extra responsiveness from the original geometry.

* Ergon bargrips. I did replace the handlebar grips for the Ergon's. In fact, I chnaged them back again to compare. Ouch. The Ergon's really remove any aching from extended riding, and have nifty little 'horn's that I can hold whilst riding uphill. Highly recommended.

* Nexus 7 speed hub. I'm really pleased with this, although I would prefer a lower (higher?) gearing for going downhill, but it's a minor issue. The simplicity of the design, the ability to change gear at lights, and the lack of a derailleur to whack, is fantastic. The extra weight is far outweighed (sorry, couldn't resist) by the benefits...for a folding bike, it's a no-brainer option (apart from a fixed gear

* Mudguards (fenders?). Hmm, I bought a quick remove mudguard, but it doesn't stop water flipping up the inside part of the wheel. I'm going to track down a semi-circle style mudguard that covers the entire upper surface of the wheel, and has a large flap at the rear to catch any spray. I got soaked yesterday when it started raining, due to the elegant, but ultimately useless quick release half-wheel guard.

* The fold. It's fabulous. Re-defined my ability to cycle - e.g., it started snowing yesterday, so I jumped on a local tram (no bikes allowed) for the last leg home...a folded bike is allowed on trains etc. here. I bought my girlfriend a second-hand Birdy, which folds much smaller, but the fold is so bloody complicated, it takes a good minute or so to figure out the optimal pedal position, which bit of the handlebar should fold first etc. The Swift is such a simple, 5 second fold, which is adequate for most occasions. I've not got tired of folding this bike...the elegance of the design thinking in this bike is making me smile.

* The frame. I've not had issues with the frame. I'm a big guy (228 lbs) and this thing has had me standing on the axle, pushing up hills., riding heavy pot-holded roads and jumping up kerbs. It's immaculate. The folding mechanism is smooth, the frame is as solid as the first day, and the component choice (deore xt levers, lx everything else) of Peter's has proved solid. The only grips is the scuffing of the paint by the cables, when the bike is folded, but that may be trapped grit under the cable housing.

* Parts. I've not needed to buy any (apart from the handlebar and grips), but out of curiosity, been into a couple of bike shops. The use of standard road parts and bmx wheels is a stroke of genius. Tyres, wheels, pedals, handlebars you name it, all available in my bike shop.

In short - this is as close the the perfect bicycle I could have wished for. I've got speed, robustness, and flexibility.

And I'm glad I can take it into stores, restaurants etc. as the amount of admiring looks from kids I get almost guarantees this would get stolen if I locked it up somewhere :-)