Why are you going SS? I thought there was a lot of hills where you lived?

A few reasons:

1.) I like the simplicity. No thinking about shifting. No grip shift to clutter my handlebar. No derailleur hanging off the frame. One less cable to deal with. Only one cog to clean.

2.) The chain is now higher up from the ground than previously with the derailleur, keeping it away from road crud; cleaner and thus easier to maintain.

3.) Hazards of commuting on the train - I had my derailleur knocked-in a few times, bending the derailleur hanger and throwing my shifting all out of whack.

4.) The drivetrain is oh-so-smooth and quiet. I'll never go back to a multi-geared clucker.

There are no huge hills in my immediate commute route that out-of-the-saddle cranking can't manage. I'll just need to detour the really big climbs, or think about getting maybe a 16T cog for those rare occasions.

Love your sig, btw.

James- most of your reasons for going SS could apply to the internal hubs as well. That is why I ditched the derailleur is for most of those reasons. The Nexus is incredibly quiet and it doesn't clunk, no false engagements, it shifts smoothly, etc. I especially like the fact that no derailleur to get knocked out of alignment OR collect all the crap from the road. I wish I didn't have any hills to deal with too!

No, I LOVE hills! DOWNhills that is! But you rarely get downs without ups, sadly...

A friend of mine that I used to ride with at uni - he actually loved the UPhills more than the downhills. But that's another story!

Time to fire-up the Swift thread...

I got compliments on my Swift from 2 BikeFriday owners on the train in the past week.

One guy especially liked my single-speed drivetrain conversion, and another guy (just this morning) was impressed with the frame. He wanted to compare the flex between my frame and his BF, so I let him do the infamous "flex test" on my Swift by pressing down on a pedal in the 6 o'clock position and observing how much the bottom bracket area flexes in response. While some have debated over the validity of this test and what it actually means, let's just say that he remaked that my Swift is "beefier" than his BF, and that he's going to check-out a Swift at the Xootr website.

So there you have it. BikeFriday owners everywhere agree: Swift has the beef.

Quick! What's the headset size on my Swift? It's bigger than 32mm and I think it's English. It's loose and it's bothering me...

Thanks!

James, I too am enjoying the benefits of a simple, smooth, quiet drivetrain. However, it's on my new fixed gear bike. The Swift will have to wait a few months to see if I have a job to pay for it or not. If I survive the coming rounds of layoffs, then I'll be treating myself to a new Swift. And I'll probably go w/ the internal hub to have gears for the upcoming organized rides like the 5BBT and NYC Century. I do like the idea of a SS and it's definitely in the back of my mind for keeping the bike light and simple.

Cool...are you on fixed-gear-gallery? Velospace? Put up some pics!

I want to thank everybody in the folder bike/swift forums. After my beloved 1982 Trek was stolen last summer, I have been without a commuter bike. The idea of a folder was intriguing to me since I have little space to store a bike at home and work. The opportunity to keep a bike in a closet or the back of my hatchback is irresistable. Since I have owned a recumbent I am not unaccustomed to odd looks now and then from fellow cyclists, so I decided to gather information on folders.
This website has been invaluable to me. I test rode a Dahon Vitesse and Giant Halfway at local shops here in Chicago (both are nice machines), but decided, after doing much reading of the folder discussions, that the Swift filled the bill for me. I called Peter Reich last week and ordered one in black, which I should receive at the beginning of April. I'm as excited as a kid waiting for his birthday to come.
So I have joined the fold...thanks again, and keep offering this great info.

@scotharr - Welcome into the fold! I hope you enjoy your Swift as much as I've enjoyed mine. It is far and away my absolute favorite folder and probably my favorite bike as well.

What specs did you decide on? Internal hub or derailleur? Inquiring minds want to know. Enjoy it when you finally get it.

I chose the derailleur over the hub and swapped out the gripshift for a thumb/finger shifter (or whatever they're called...you get the idea). I also bought a Brooks saddle on ebay which I am eager to try out.

Not yet. I have to get a digital camera first. Once that's done, I'll post the link in my sig. This thread will be invaluable when it comes time to put my Swift together.

Which derailleur setup, SRAM? What Brooks? I have a Brooks Pro on mine in Honey. Took a while to break in but it is pretty nice now. I bought a couple others to try as well.

Have a look at this new Swift review

An electric Swift????

I just installed drop bars on my Swift:

nice...

This has been around for a while. My next project after the Ti Brompton/Merc is to setup one these Bion-X motors in a front wheel powered config.

Looks great. I can see doing this to my Swift someday.

Nice deep drops, James.

Trying to race us dudes on Bike Fridays? (You know that's your next bike.)

I bet that you BF riders secretly really wish that you had a Swift!

I bet that you BF riders secretly really wish that you had a Swift!

Haha! No.


Haha! No.

If I wanted one, I'd already have one.

The drops really make a difference riding in headwinds. I was able to hold 17.5mph in a moderate headwind this morning, whereas with straight bars, I'd have to drop to 15mph and below. When you can't downshift, it's essential to have a way to get out of the wind.

I don't think I'll own a BF anytime soon, as I've blown too much cash on mods for my Swift.

Don't have to tell me twice about headwinds.
Crazy steep angle.