It was David Lee. Thanks.

The pin is a pretty stiff fit. It doesn't go in as easily as you might expect. But there's also no apparent play in that joint. Yes, it does mount well.

I don't think I like it in front, though--it's heavy enough to significantly reduce maneuverability when it's mounted there. Has anyone found a good front-wheel rack for these bikes?

Is that true even if it's a smaller wheel?

But what I was really getting at was 110-psi skinny tires vs. 70-psi fat tires. I don't think I'd want to attempt this hill with the smaller, harder contact patch of those faster tires while hauling a trailer--especially in foul weather.

The contact patch varies depending on the psi the tires are inflated too. So if you weigh 200 lbs and your tires are at 100 psi, then the contact patch is 2 sq. in. If the psi is at 70, the contact patch is about 3 sq. in. That's the simplified version not taking into account how the load is distributed between front and rear, but you get the idea.

Doesn't it also vary depending on the manufactured dimensions of the tire and the size of the wheel?

Is the rack itself heavy, or is it that bug bag that's heavy?

I've looked all over for a good front rack solution and was just about to look to a custom fab solution when I came across your post with the crossrack. The crossrack is the best solution I've seen.

I was also thinking of trying one of the Sherpas as it seems you can strap them to the fork as opposed to the brakes.

http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/...rontRacks.html

It seems like it would ride higher than intended but that you could get a wider variety of bags to work. Not being much of a bike tinkerer, it was an experiment I was hoping to avoid with the Crossrack.

The bag. I mean, the rack has some weight, but the bag, loaded with laptop, clothing, phone/tools/credit cards/inner tube/lock, is 17 pounds. There's some significant inertia to overcome when turning.

I also discovered the Crossrack, when mounted on the steering tube, actually works against me when I'm trying to walk the bike up that one &^%!!! hill. (I didn't feel confident enough to try to pedal up it this evening after 2 hours on the bike in 90° weather, or whatever it was.) When the Crossrack and Bug were on the seatpost, I was able to push the bike up the hill with significant effort, but no panic. When they're on the front, the back wheel comes off the pavement as I walk it up by the handlebars, so I'm pushing a rig that consists of one front wheel and two trailer wheels. The back wheel became just part of a unicycle trailer hitch.

("Walk it up by the handlebars" is a polite phrase for what was more like extending my arms as far as possible and getting my body as close to parallel with the hill as practicable.)

I don't have a solution for this yet, but it was slightly scary when I realized what was going on, and that the only things preventing the trailer from rolling backwards down the hill were the front brake and my body. It took a while to get to the top.

Well, my caveat is that I am no physicist nor engineer. I spent my two semesters of physics thinking about girls. It just turns out that I have a knack for taking tests.

As you are probably already aware, PSI = pounds per square inch. Therefore, to get a square inch contact patch on a tire inflated to 100 psi, you need 100 pounds of force. There might be other factors associated with tire construction that I am omitting. But I would be the wrong person to explain it or confirm it. What will change with a smaller/fatter tire is the shape of the contact patch. One of the reasons why fatter tires will have less rolling resistance than skinny tires if you held tire construction constant.

http://www.schwalbetires.com/tech_in...ing_resistance

Have you thought about mounting it to the head tube ala Brompton?

Oops. I think I've been using the wrong term. The steering tube goes inside the head tube--so I've been mounting it to the head tube.

I'll put it back on the seatpost for tomorrow's commute (which is sans children) and do some pondering.

The head tube is the frame part, the steerer tube is the upper part of the fork, the word you're after is not clearly defined for folders, but for the Swift riser tube, stem riser or something along those lines will be it. Dahon call theirs a handlepost, but functionally it is slightly different.

Ah, thanks.

One thing I'm still not used to is the lack of a top tube that can rest against the inside of my leg while I'm standing. The Swift has fallen over half a dozen times while I was getting a drink of water or talking to somebody.

I discovered today that the rear right brake pad has been rubbing not just the rim, but the tire. I first noticed a sort of low-level buzz (that I couldn't track down) at certain moments during my commute yesterday, so I'm guessing this is a recent development--maybe from when David Lee kicked my bike over.

The tire looks OK, but here's my question. Are the stock brakes on the Swift any more finicky than other brakes? I've followed online directions for brake adjustment several times, and just have a hard time moving this pad away from the rim. The spring adjustment screw doesn't seem to do anything at all, and if I bend the spring, the difference is minimal.

This also happened when I took it out of the suitcase and put it back together on its first flight away from home. Eventually I got it so it wasn't rubbing, but I never got it adjusted the way I liked it.

Not being as young and omniscient as I used to be, I'm more than prepared to chalk this up to the mechanic's incompetence--but first I want to make sure I'm not up against an actual thing that doesn't work right. Anybody have difficulty adjusting these?

Swift brakes are standard. It could be that the spring is located in the wrong hole of the brake boss mounting plate - check, there should be 3 holes for choosing different spring tensions. Perhaps yours are not matched. If they are, then you could step up the tension by selecting the next hole for the spring end to locate in.

Cheap V-brakes also have a tendency to break and lose their proper operation. No amount of adjustment will get them going properly. Since brakes are so important safety-wise, it is worth getting a good set.

So these are cheap ones? If so, I think I'll just replace them. I'm towing precious cargo.

Time to get the Kool-Stops on there too, now that I think of it...

BTW, I like your website.

OK, I got down on the floor with it, turned all the lights on, and unhooked one of the springs... but I don't see the three holes.

The 3 holes are not on the brake arm but on the stud mount on the bike frame itself. You have to undo the bolt that holds the v-brake to the stud and pull it off to see the 3 holes and adjust the setting. It might be that yours doesn't have the 3 holes but I have never seen one without.

Thanks. I'll check it out tomorrow morning.

I did notice, while I was down there, that the combination of repeated cable adjustments and heel strikes has finally broken the cable off at the securing nut. *sigh*

I have never really found the spring adjustments to help much when I have brake rubbing problems; those I usually have to fix by loosening the securing nut, adding a tiny bit of cable back in, and then fine tuning by using the knurled adjustment knob by the brake levers.

I dropped the bike off at Chelsea Bicycles after taking the boys to preschool. If they can get the work done by the time I need to pick the boys back up from preschool, it'll have new brakes installed today.

Taken this morning, just before snapping down the mesh cover and heading out:

nice you seem to be doing a good job modding that xootr, its a nice bike shame i cant afford one after buying the trek, if i was to get another folding bike after the trek i would look at one of those :D, you children seem to enjoy the bike rides in the back :D

They love it. The usual refrain (repeated endlessly, the way toddler demons torment the evil in the fifteenth circle of Hell) is No preschool! Daddy, I don't want to go to preschool! No preschool! I don't want preschool! No preschool! No preschool, Daddy! No preschool!

Then I say, "Who wants to go to preschool in the bike trailer?"

And there's one more No preschool... as the new thought works its way through the little brain cells...

Bike trairer! Bike trairer! We go to preschool in the bike trairer! Come on, Daddy! Come on, let's go! Let's go in the bike trairer!

Thanks for the comment about the mods. I feel like this is the first time I have enough experience and information to make a bike into something that suits my needs. Now if I can just do the same for the trailer as they approach its weight limit...

We made it up the goddamn hill today.

I just wanted to say.

congratulationson getting up the hill, and its nice to see you've came up with a solution to your children getting in a mood with you because your making them go to school :D