turnstyle

Thanks, I'll follow your lead -- and thanks again for sparing me the 8mm step.

turnstyle

Is there a simple way to tell whether I have 406 or 451? I'm now uncertain because I read mtalinm's post as seeming to say that his Primo Comets are on his 451 rims -- and I have Primo Comets on mine.

fwiw, I purchased my Swift as a pre-customized build by Peter Reich in NYC -- but I wouldn't have asked about the rims at the time.

bendembroski

it should say on the sidewall. If not, if the width is indicated in decimals, i.e. 1.35 then it's likely to be a 406. If it's in fractions ( 1 3/8, then it's most likely a 451.)

jwlunt

Hi Ricky - not sure if you remember me from previous Smithfields, but I have a silver swift with touring bars. I really need new forks on my swift - did you have issues with fitting the fork? My understanding is that the Swift fork uses a pretty old fashioned 3/4" size and most new forks are 1". What I really want is a fork with a disk mountpoints - which is what my Airnimal Joey has. Did you fit a 1" fork and use some kind of problem solver bearings? The bike looks amazing, by the way. I'm quite tempted to get a new Swift frame and try it out, but for now my focus is on getting my old Swift sorted for winder riding, hence disks and an Alfine 11 hub. My daily route is now Victoria to docklands - about 22 miles a day all in. I'm loving it.

One funny thing: my daughter goes to Lewes Old Grammar and we are considering moving there from Haywards Heath.

Thanks

Jonathan

rickybails

Hi Jonathan,

No, I didn't use any special size adjuster to fit the airnimal forks. The swift steerer may be old-school but the headtube is standard, so I replaced the headset with the standard-sized cane creek one from airnimal. So you should be able to fit joey forks no problem. Once you have joey forks you can also fit joey wheels of course as there is room at the back end. Compare the crown to axle length of the Swift fork with the Joey - if there is a big difference that will change the geometry. The chameleon forks I fitted were the exact same crown-to-axle length as the swift forks, but the rake on the airnimal forks is designed for the ideal trail with a 520 wheel (and 73-deg headtube angle) and with a 406 wheel that trail reduces. The slacker 72-deg angle on the swift does not compensate fully for the smaller wheel and any change in crown-to-axle length will slacken (if longer) or steepen (if shorter) the headtube angle. It's worth doing the sums to make sure what you end up is not too twitchy, but I can tell you that the chameleon fork with 406 wheel is fine. If you want to switch to joey wheels and want the lower BB that I did, then consider a frame swap with me as I'm back on 406 wheels now and sticking with them and don't use that lower BB any more.

Lewes is a great place to live - PM me if you want any info about moving there.

It's personal preference on disk brakes but IMO if you set up and look after caliper brakes properly then you can get more than enough stopping power. v-brakes are even better and only shown lacking in mud and wet grass when your rims are being continuously lubricated.

Richard.

mtalinm

or just check to see whether you bike has V-brakes or sidepulls. the former means 406; the latter means 451. at least with this bike

mtalinm

or just check to see whether you bike has V-brakes or sidepulls. the former means 406; the latter means 451. at least with this bike

mtalinm

Love my B17 Imperial but am having the worst time getting it placed properly. As many have noted, the Brooks narrow earlier toward the front than other saddles, making it hard to place it as far back as I'd like.

On a bike with a more standard seatpost slot one could get a "setback" seatpost, but I don't think that's an option for the Swift. Am I wrong?

I saw a post somewhere by jur saying that he filed down the clamp to enable the narrow rails to slide in a bit further. I may resort to that but wanted to check on other options first.

jur

Yep I still do the filing on a variety of posts by now. Haven't noticed an unwanted side effect yet.

rickybails

I think the standard seatpost is already a layback one - but seatposts that fit Dahon folders also fit the swift so if there's a Dahon that doesn't use the I-beam saddles then that might work. Swift seat tube angle is more rearward than a regular bike, so do you really need the saddle that far back to get the ideal saddle-BB? Or is the problem that there is not enough reach to the handlebars, in which case you should be fitting a longer stem and pushing the bars further forward. If you really do need the saddle further back for your comfort and/or pedalling position and not the bars forward then fitting longer cranks might help - that would move the foot forward in relation to the saddle at the downstroke. There is a limit to how long you can go for your anatomy but there is a range of sizes that work for each person so make sure your cranks are at the long end of that range. Standard swift cranks are 170mm. Mark Cavendish is relatively short and races on 175mm cranks and many taller riders race on 180, 185 in TT and pursuits where they are looking to maximise pedalling efficiency. My problem has always been not getting the saddle far enough forward, and on that note....

I filed away at my seatpost clamp to increase the adjustment of the saddle along the rail. I did it to get it further forward but you could do the same at the other end. There was no adverse affects to filing it away - you need to make sure you're no creating a much smaller pressure point than there is already.

mtalinm

thanks rickybails. i do have the saddle on my road bike back that far, and it seems to be optimal despite my stubby legs. maybe a pro fit will disabuse me of that notion

per your suggestion I've swapped in a longer stem (but also lowered it on the riser because it sticks so far up). haven't been able to take it for a ride yet, but maybe tmw

thanks again - BF always amazes me.

rickybails

Just want to check that when you are trying to match your road bike saddle position on your swift, you are doing this using a plumbline and not by the position of the saddle in relation to the seatpost (because the swift seatpost probably leans further back than your road bike). I find the easiest way to measure this is to get the cranks horizontal with the crank nearest you pointing backwards, hold a plumbline on the tip of the saddle, leaning the bike towards you so the line hangs next the the crank arm (but us free to swing forwards and back), then mark the crank arm where the line meets it with some tape or a pen, then measure the horizontal distance from that mark to the centre of the BB. And if you are using a different type of saddle on each bike you need to adjust if one has a longer nose than the other, in relation to the point of the saddle you actually sit on (sit on both saddles in normal riding position - does the tip of the saddle stick out about the same distance in front of you for each saddle?)

mtalinm

oh that's a good point. will try that tonight. the road bike has a Specialized BG Avatar and the folder has a Brooks B17 Imperial. Definitely different saddles!

lexm

And then Murphy mocked me with his law. It's coming. Promise!

In other Swift-related news, Peter Reich has just joined Facebook. Flood him with friend requests so he knows he's loved.

GlowBoy

Like mtalinm, I have a preference for having my saddle further back than most people like. To the point that I'm a big proponent of crank-forward bikes. In fact, I've converted my mountain bike to something of a crank forward by removing one of the elastomers from my Thudbuster seatpost, which shifts the saddle quite a ways backward, and by using an extremely short (38mm) stem flipped backward. Looks weird, works great.

As mentioned above, the standard Swift seatpost is already a "layback" model, and combined with the 72 degree STA allows for a pretty "rearward" saddle position by most standards. But for folks like us, still not enough for the Brooks saddles' bizarre rail design. Rather than Brooks, I use Selle An-Atomica Titanico saddles on all my bikes. I find them more comfortable (softer leather, and permanently waterproofed to boot), and their more conventional rails allow for a considerably more rearward position. A cheaper option would be the Brooks knockoffs made by velo-orange, which also have longer rails and offer more fore-aft adjustment.

GlowBoy

Like mtalinm, I have a preference for having my saddle further back than most people like. To the point that I'm a big proponent of crank-forward bikes. In fact, I've converted my mountain bike to something of a crank forward by removing one of the elastomers from my Thudbuster seatpost, which shifts the saddle quite a ways backward, and by using an extremely short (38mm) stem flipped backward. Looks weird, gets lots of questions, works great and the improved saddle angle puts less pressure on my boys. I have not tried this on my Swift, but it could eventually happen.

As mentioned above, the standard Swift seatpost is already a "layback" model, and combined with the 72 degree STA allows for a pretty "rearward" saddle position by most standards. But for folks like us, still not enough for the Brooks saddles' bizarre rail design. Rather than Brooks, I use Selle An-Atomica Titanico saddles on all my bikes. I find them more comfortable (softer leather, and permanently waterproofed to boot), and their more conventional rails allow for a considerably more rearward position. A cheaper option would be the Brooks knockoffs made by velo-orange, which also have longer rails and offer more fore-aft adjustment.

mtalinm

hey, so has anyone added a front disc brake to the Swift? I love mine year-round but would just like that little extra bit of stopping power for the rain. Seems you would need a disc-friendly fork and a new wheel with a compatible hub (if that is in fact required).

I'm not so worried about the back brake - I hardly use it anyway except to slow descents, and rim brakes are fine for that.

fietsbob

Not a Swift Per Se,
Have 406 wheel 160 BB7 discs on my bike friday pocket Llama.
and the front has to be carefully applied
bike can stop real short, rider remains in motion..
So, I use the rear for slow speed stops, a lot.

Macmmclain

Disk brake mount can be bought at www.gaerlan.com or make your own out of 3/16 or 1/4 CRS. I have TIG them on but you can also braze them on.You can add a diskbrake mount to a fork using a diskjig or just use the hub with disk on it and the brake and front adaptor and rotate the mount to find position. You might have to shave away some of the bottom to make it fit the contour of the fork. Then tac the two ends first and then tac each side, working back and forth so the mount does not pull to one side or the other. Keep checking the mount is on straight as you weld it on. Someone asked about the thickness of the metal where the mount go. Usually it is fairly thick there because when the fork is made the forging process push the larger diameter tubing down into a smaller tubing diameter and increases the thickness. I have cut some 20" fork down there to make 16" forks and they are quite thick in that spot. The pictures are where I have tac on a mount and went back to check it out with the front hub and disk brake. Mac

robsta

Quick question
Do the standard Dahon fenders/mudguards fit on the swift?
Thank you
Rob

red5un

been lurking on this thread for months now and finally built up my own custom swift. after riding a birdy for the past 9 years i wanted something simpler with 406 wheels. kinda went crazy making a super light (super as in not bank breaking ultra) single speed swift. still considering making it into a fixie, but frankly, i love coasting.

so i picked up the frame personally from peter in Brooklyn on a business trip. that man is a saint. aluminum frame custom painted white with suguino cranks and single speed conversion kit. the fork is the Trigon carbon fork that kaito used on his swift. got it from performer.com.tw and they powder coated it white for free. the first one actually got crushed in the mail and cracked. george and nellie from performer sent me a new one right away, again a pair of saints. picked up the pair of kinetix wheels and white kojaks from dahon spares. they are incredibly light. the 74mm to 100mm axle nuts are from speedmatrix depot. the stem, guidonnet lever and cabling is from velo orange. nitto rb-21's, white brooks-esque saddle, titanium QR skewers, crazy light kcnc seatpost and white tektro 556's are all trawled from the ebay. funny thing about the front brake, it was about 2mm too short on one side and i thought i could get away with it. well, i didn't and popped the front tube and tore out the side wall of the front tire. the guys at my local (urbane cyclist in Toronto) fixed me up with a little hand milled front brake extender that dropped it down by a cm. they also dug up an orange stelvio tire that looks pretty damn sharp. finally the pedals are from fyxation and a set of straps are on the way.

as a final touch peter told me that tradition is you can only put on the swift folder label after your first ride. decided instead of just putting on the decal horizontally i'd wrap it around the top tube on an angle. has a nice swiss design touch to it.

now the only problem i have is that there isn't much more i can mess with the bike. had a really good time building this one up, guess i'll just have to ride it.

or get another.

oh forgot to mention, it weighs just under 17lbs.

Dynocoaster 

I just noticed on the Xootr site that the single speed is sold out.

mtalinm

you can always get their conversion kit for a frame with a hanger, it's like $20. that sure would make it easier to pack for travel; I may get one!

there__

Hi redSun,

That's a great looking swift! By any chance do you if the carbon fork you're using will allow running 451mm wheel?

red5un

it's actually built for 451's. i had to drop the calipers down a cm to reach the rims.
i chose 406's because they're easier to find replacement tubes and tires.
well, at least easier than finding 355 replacements for my birdy.