Hmmm, that sounds like an interesting idea. If you have time, I would be interested in the result regardless of success or failure. Good luck!

I have a 5 year old steel frame and Peter said it was 32mm although I think he meant 31.8mm. Needs front derailleur clamp on.

Definitely not 40mm.

Newbie Swift Questions
 

Hi All. I've been lurking here for a long time, and now I have some questions. I love the idea and looks of the Swift, and I'm trying to decide if I should pull the trigger. I don't know much about bikes, so bear with my stupid q's

I'm a commuter, either 6 or 14 miles each way, depending on whether I ride the whole distance or take the train. The ride is a flat straight shot (chicago's lakefront path). Right now, I do it on an old, light mtb with slicks. The whole ride takes me about an hour on the way there. A little longer at the end of the day.

1) Will the Swift be faster? I'm in decent but not superb shape and I'm tired of being blown past by people who look even less fit than I am, especially in stupid lakefront headwinds.
2) Not a dealbreaker, but can you put a rack and child seat on a swift?

The longer version of these questions has me going back and forth between the Swift and something like a Bianchi Castro Valley. I could probably get away without the fold, but the fold helps for a variety of reasons (not least is small storage space at home). I just don't want to feel like I'm paying a big speed penalty. Thanks for your advice.

I was riding both the Lakefront Trail and the Des Plaines River Trail (full length of both) last week on my Swift. I typically stay near ORD on Chicago trips, and take CTA trains into the Loop. Did so with the Swift... just fold it and carry it through the turnstiles, holding it over the turnstile spokes. Several pax on the train asked about the bike. I saw no other folders ... the Loop is a bikeshop desert. The only riders faster than me on the LF Trail were all-out roadies... no MTBs were faster. I was alone on the DPR Trail except for a few trail runners. So ... the Swift is the bike for the Windy City.

Racks: seatpost
Childseat: wouldn't try it

Apples and Salsa
 

Thanks for your recommendation. I got the Big Apples, and they deliver a really plush ride. The bike, already stable for a folder, is now incredibly so. Suspension? Fuhgeddaboudit.

The Big Apples have the reflective stripe on the sidewall. I thought I saw some Big Apples on a full-size bike that did not have the reflective stripe, so this was a nice surprise.

While I was at it, I made another great upgrade -- 2 Salsa seatpost QRs. Expensive ($25/each), but worth it, IMO.

UK import tax on a Swift...
 

Sorry about the delayed reply - I've been travelling (sadly without the bike) for the last few weeks.

I got hammered by customs importing my Swift and paid about £180 in total I think...but with the decent dollar exchange, it was ok. and obviously Peter @ Swift didn't charge US sales tax.

Buying it out there would be ok, but obviously you would be 'breaking the law' if you bought it back into the UK and didn't pay sales tax.

If you do shipping, pay the extra and get Priority US Postal (insist on a tracking number(, or even better, use UPS, Fedex etc. - I don't rate the USPS service - my Swift was severely delayed, and I couldn't figure out where in the system it was (to be fair, this was probably a UK postal issue, because of the tax -but I couldn't 'find' the bike)...

Let us know how you get on.

Found out that there's a place in the netherland doing them!

By the way, for the people looking for the 40mm front derailer clamp ... here is the shop that sells them.

http://translate.google.com/translat...en-US:official

What is the seat tube diameter for a Dahon Helios? Here is the link for the front derailer clamp for that bike.

http://translate.google.com/translat...en-US:official

Alternate Handlebars?

Anyone have suggestions for different handlebars for the Xootr Swift, that can use the original grip shifter and brakes? I'm planning to do a century in a few weeks on my Swift, and I'd like to get some more hand / riding positions.

Here is Sheldon Brown's solution ...

http://www.sheldonbrown.org/raleigh-...nal/index.html

Now that I think about it, is this right? I could have sworn that there was an earlier post that wrote that the steel swift has a smaller seat tube that the aluminum version.

later edit --> I see that stargazer48 addressed this above. Maunakea ... is your seat tube 40mm?

So, uh, I don't look like a big enough dork when I'm on a folding bike, is that the idea? :D

Unfortunately that won't work for me, as my handlepost is already crowded with 3rd party water bottle cages. Nowhere else to put the danged things on this bike....

I had a friend using a caliper measure the seat tube and it is 32mm. Sorry Peter.

Hah! Last I checked, no one cycles to be cool ... that is what motorcycles are for.

Did you see the hubbub bar-end mount for the shifter? That would avoid cluttering the handlepost.

I like the iPod remote control mounted next to the cyclocomp. That's funny.

OK, I've settled on a slightly more standard solution -- Ergon grips plus bar ends. I had to pick up a bigger handlebar to make it work, seems ok so far.

Next up is fussing with stem size and height. It seems like the best thing to try right now is raising and lowering the stem and maybe flipping it to experiment. Any recommendations on this process are appreciated.

I know this is probably going to sound idiotic but... Has anyone tried aero bars on a Swift / 20" wheeled bike? I doubt I'd go this route, but I am a bit curious as to whether they'd work.

I have the steel framed Swift with planet bike fenders and I finally replaced my marathon plus' with big apples tires. I have only ridden the bike 50 miles with them and can feel the difference.
Until April, I have only ridden road bikes with drop bars. Since the folder has a straight bar, I will need more hand positions as well so I probably will enventually try some bar ends. I did get a Nashbar stem extender for under $5 to extend my stem riser by 2". When I go out for a long ride I like to do at least 50 to 60 miles. I would love to average 80. maybe with the big apples I can.
Since this is my main bike now, I have ridden about 1900 miles since April.

Bacciagalupe, which Ergon grips and bar ends did you settle on? How long of a handle bar did you get?

I got my Ergons awhile ago and initially used 'em on my Dahon. I use the original ones and cut the right grip down. Oddly enough, they seem to work a little better with a more upright position; on the Dahon the bars were 3" above the saddle, on the Swift they're even, so I assume I'm putting a little more weight on my hands now.

The bar & bar ends are both Nashbar brand, just the 580mm flat mountain bar and their bar ends. Maybe it's just my imagination but the handling feels a touch more solid now. I'll post pics at some point....

New Swift...
 

Finally... this one has been a long time in the making! When it finally arrived on Wednesday I was too busy to start work on it until Friday night. But then it flew together in a couple of hours.

The interesting bits:

• Sturmey-Archer "Phoenix" 8 speed hub
• Ti saddle
• 46 cm drop bars
• DiaCompe 287-V levers for v-brakes
• Home made twist shift adapter (like Sheldon Brown's HubBub, but it cost me $4 instead of $50!)
• Primo Comet 406 * 1.5" kevlar tires, 100 psi

I chose the Sturmey Archer instead of the Nexus Redband 8 for several reasons, but one of the big ones is that direct drive is in 1st gear, and the 305% range goes above that. So when I'm struggling up the San Francisco hills, at least it's in the most efficient gear! And this also means that I can use a fairly normal size chainring, even with these small wheels. My 42/25 combination gives me a range of 31" - 96".

The hub was super-easy to set up, though the cable routing is not exactly ideal. It works very nicely too, and if there is any extra resistance compared to a derailleur setup I can't tell ;)

As for the shifter adapter, I just happened to notice that an old 7/8" quill stem fit perfectly inside my drop bars. So I cut it down to suit the length of the twist shift and bought a shorter bolt. I also made up a 0.75 mm shim using a PET bottle, since the quill stem was just a little smaller than the inner diameter of the shifter. I had intended to mount the shifter on the right bar, but when it arrived the shifter turned out to be asymmetrical - so I mounted it on the left. I'm left handed anyway, so it may even suit me better!

So do I like it? Well, on San Francisco's TERRIBLE roads the ride is bone-jarring! Seriously, there's more pot-hole than tarmac here :( But where's there's a small bit of smooth road, this bike can really fly. It feels stiff and I really like the handling. It's very light, and accelerates well. I'm really happy with the gear range so far, though I haven't put my rack on yet and tried it with a full load of shopping ;)

Lastly - big thanks to Peter Reich for building the wheels for me, and to James_swift for patiently answering questions and letting me have a little go on his Swift fixie!

Pictures - sorry about the messy & distracting background! I'll try to find a plain background and take some better ones, but no time today.

http://home.no/yangmusa/Swift/072506Swift.jpg
http://home.no/yangmusa/Swift/072506Swift_folded.jpg
http://home.no/yangmusa/Swift/072506Swift_rear_hub.jpg
http://home.no/yangmusa/Swift/072506Swift_shifter.jpg
http://home.no/yangmusa/Swift/072506stem_hubbub.jpg

Apologies for confusing the new Xootr Swift specs with the specs for the older steel frame. I had the specs for the Al Xootr Swift at hand from an email from Steve K at Xootr. According to Steve K, the new Al frames have a 40 mm seat post. I just did a rough (non-caliper) measurement of my steel Swift, a 2003, and it looks like 30 mm seat post OD, with a 27.4 mm saddle post.

Well it's about time! That's an awesome ride. The drivetrain looks totally tricked-out! I know that you've put a lot of planning and research into the bike for the longest time, and it shows. Well done!

If you think the bike is bone-jarring on 20x1.50 Comets, take that feeling and double it and you'll know what it's like to ride SF on the 20x1.35 version. ;)

BTW: how are the brake levers working for you?

Yang- nice looking bike. Nice to see I am not the only one going with an internal hub. The SA is a good hub even if not as smooth as the Nexus. I can't wait for the new SRAM 9spd to come out! You put a lot of thought into the build and it shows. This Swift thread is probably now the most popular thread in the folding forum. Amazing for a bike that doesn't receive much in the way of marketing out than by all of our word-of-mouth testimonies!

I hadn't ridden mine for a few days and took it out last night. I am always impressed by what a nice bike it is every time I swing my leg on it and go for a ride. It is one of the few things in my life that didn't become boring in short order. I must have ADD and my Swift is the antidote...

FYI- I just checked and at this point in time this thread has had the most views AND the most replies! Woo-hooooo!!! It should be like a party. Bruce, you bringing the cake? I'll bring the drinks. James maybe you can bring some appetizers or something. We'll all meet at Peter's place and surprise him. It could be cool to have a big Swift get together.