Spotted on Caltrain Tuesday night northbound at 22nd St. 9: PM: Steel frame Swift Folder in a luxurious Green, sporting dual drive with Marathon Racers(?). The owner said he came from New York, where the steel version is well known. It was the first one I've seen in person and it had a classy look compared to my Xootr. The seat post looks a lot thinner, and the lettering is nicely understated.
There is often no need to fold the Swift on Caltrain, except on the busiest rush hour trains. On the old style cars, when the bike car is full to capacity and there is no room, I usually fold it up and remove the handlebars, then place the bike horizontally on the metal luggage racks in the luggage car. Some of the luggage cars have a little floor space between the triple tier rack and the first row of seats, and on these cars I can fold the Xootr and leave it upright, wedged between rack and seatback. On the new style "cafe" cars at,which have half the bike capacity of the old bike cars (16 vs. 32), I normally fold and stand it upright next to the bike rack railing, whether the car is fiull or not. In recent months, lots of full size bikes have been allowed by the more lenient conductors, to occupy this area during overflow times.
With the price of gas, and the overfilling of the bike cars, Caltrain has been seeing a huge influx of all types of folders. While Swift frames might not work well in tightly packed /East Coast type trains lacking a bike car, they are great for the Caltrain.
-John