flea

As a bit of a novice when it comes to mods, I've not done anything extremely exciting or even extreme when compared to the mods done by you or the others on this list. I wanted (needed) better gearing for the extreme grades around here so opted for a DualDrive, that's how Peter got involved. I also wanted a black bike, so have gone the (foolish?) step of having a Xootr frame stripped and powder coated. Otherwise the only special item is a B17 saddle. I had thought of some other handlebar and/or brake changes, but am thinking I'll be making some changes once I've had the bike for a bit.

james_swift

Sounds great! Post some pictures if you can.

flea

Will do when it gets here. Cross your fingers that it's soon.

OziSwift

Hi James and other Swifties

Peter Reich told me about this forum long after I'd ordered a frameset from him. I'd wanted a folder frameset to build up a folding touring bike and no other manufacturer (Bike Friday, Moulton, Dahon, PBW etc) would sell me just the frameset. So about this time a year ago, I ordered an unpainted frameset from Peter and assembled the bike - after frame mods - over the Aussie winter. I enjoyed putting it together so here's the history.

A local company down here – GripSport – specialises in frame repairs and welding dropouts to frames with no disk brake tabs. Jon Weaving undertook to weld disk brake tabs onto the fork and rear dropout/seat stay to the IS 2000 disk brake mounting standard. He also powder coated the frame in my choice of colour.

Besides the disk brake tabs, I added a 4" after market quill extender. I could have used a stem with an acute rise but I prefer a flat [little rise] stem – especially with drop bars. I have long legs but an average torso so I needed the handlebars to be higher tham I could achieve with the normal riser.

I had hoped to use a bar end shifter to change the internal 3 speed hub gears but it was too difficult to get the shifting right so I used SRAM’s 3 speed twist shifter attached to the drop bar using a HubBub twist shift adaptor.

Using the 3 speed hub, road cluster and 20" tyres, I have a gear range of 105 to 22 gear inches, which is ideal as far as I’m concerned. It would be worthwhile replacing the cable guide under the ‘top tube’ with a model that handles three (rather than two) cables. Cable ties are a wonderful thing though, for the rest of the cable routing.

The bike rides a treat; steering is a little ‘quicker’ than my full size bike and the disk brakes are fabulous. Next time I’m bombing down 17+ km of twisty mountain road with a 9 – 11 per cent grades, I won’t be thinking about overheated rims and tyres blowing off. The full specifications for the bike are shown below if you’re interested in the detail.

The folding, disk braked, 20 inch (406 mm bead diameter) touring bike

Frameset : Aluminium XOOTR Swift Folder
Fork: Rigid chrome moly with after market chrome moly disk brake tabs welded to fork leg
Rear Triangle: After market aluminium disk tabs welded to dropout and chainstay
Headset: Chris King 2-Nut
Steerer : Chrome moly with after market 4" extension
Stem : FSA OS 115 – 100 mm, +/- 10o rise
Handlebars: Aluminium FSA Wing Pro drop bars, 42 cm
Bar Tape: Red
Brakes : Avid BB7 cable activated road disks, 160 mm (mechanical)
Brake levers: Cane Creek SCR 5c (compact), Black
Shifter – SRAM 3x hub: SRAM 3 speed twist shifter mounted on HubBub (Rohloff twist shifter) adaptor for drop bars
Shifter – rear derailleur: 9 speed Dura Ace bar end
Derailleur – rear: Shimano Ultegra RS6600 short cage
Cranks: FSA Gossamer 175 mm, aluminium
Chainring: FSA Pro Road Compact, 46 tooth
Bottom bracket: FSA Mega Exo
Chain: SRAM PC59 9-speed with Power Link
Cassette: Shimano (custom) 11-12-13-14-16-18-21-24-28
Hub – rear: SRAM 3x9 Dual Drive, 36h, disk compatible, with Click Box
Hub – front: Shimano XT, disk compatible
Rims: Velocity Fusion 36h, 406 mm bead diameter
Tyres: Continental Grand Prix, 28-406
Pedals: Shimano SPD M920 double entry
Saddle: Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow

I've been trying to attach some other photos, but the file size is too big. When I find out how to make the images smaller, I'll post them on the forum. I logged ont this forum today for the first time and I wish I'd done it a long time ago; may have saved me some heartache . It's been a great read and I hope it continues. Sorry it's taken so long to get the details to the thread.

maunakea

Great mods. To get pix under 100KB, you need to use Photoshop or other photo editor. Photo editors allow you to define a target file size (and corresponding resolution), or vice versa (resolution, with corresponding file size).

james_swift

Oziswift:

Wow, your bike is so awesome. I'd like to see more pics (a lot more pls).

No need for photoshop. Just install this Microsoft Image Resizer Powertoy (granted you're running XP). After installing, simply right-click on your photos and select "Resize Pictures".

invisiblehand

Just curious, is their a weight limit for the Swift? Is it different for the aluminum and steel versions?

A buddy of mine is looking for a folding bike to "dilly dally" on but is at least 245 lbs.

Sorry to ask, but I did a few searches "rider weight limit", "rider weight", and "weight limit" but could not find an answer. I was unable to find anything on the Xootr or Swiftfolder websites.

Fear&Trembling

260lbs for the aluminium Swift. Not sure about the steel version though...

james_swift

I sent an email with this question to my friend at Xootr. I should get an answer for you shortly.

james_swift

Yup...confirmed...260lbs.

invisiblehand

Thanks F&T and James. I will let him know.

OziSwift

Running Windows 2000 Pro but managed to use ACDSee to resize the images - hope they come up OK. If there is anything specific you'd like to see a pic of, let me know.

james_swift

That bike is a definite one-of-a-kind, especially with those radical disc brakes. Wow! Could you also post some pics of that sweet crankset/chainring?

I see that you have a lovely cache of other bikes, including a Friday.

james_swift

I forgot to mention that you can remove those rear V-brake brake mounting posts with a crescent wrench. The front ones, however, are not removable.

james_swift

An orange Swift!

kb5ql

I am thinking about getting the swift sometime soon and I noticed that the main site says they are out of stock. Does anybody know if the new frame improvements (e.g. broken seat post area ala James_swift) will be part of the late January run or do we need to wait a little longer?

I'm assuming the latest updates will be in march-april?

Also, is it possible to replace the v-brakes w/ road brakes? Will the rear triangle and front fork mount points work? I'm thinking of using these:

Nashbar Long Reach

This will be a drop-bar conversion (trying to avoid travel agents)

james_swift

My frame failure was due to an error in the machining of the lower seat tube...it was actually honed off-center, leaving one side of the tube thinner than the other. This problem has been rectified in later model Swifts (I bought my original Swift in 2005). I checked the wall thickness of the seat tube on my new Swift with calipers, and the tube is perfectly concentric (my old one measured a mm or so thinner on the cracked side). The re-designed Swift will have a new seat tube with a thicker wall for added strength. ETA for this new frame has not yet been announced.

I'm very confident in the current Swift frame for 3 reasons: 1.) Peter, Steve, and Karl have been very proactive with my frame issue (thanks again, guys) 2.) I unknowingly rode my Swift for over a week with the cracked seat tube, with a fully loaded messenger bag on SF's pothole-infested streets without any hint of a problem except for a slight creaking sound in the frame whenever I was out of the saddle 3.) All Xootr Swift frames come with a lifetime warranty. You really have nothing to worry about.

As for the brakes, since you're going to drop bars, just keep the stock V-brakes and go with Dia Compe 287-V "Æro" road levers (designed for V-brakes). Yangmusa has a set on his Swift. PM him for details.

yangmusa

I don't have much to add really - they work fine, and were no harder to set up than regular mtb brake levers with v-brakes. The adjustment is on a special brake noodle that comes with the levers, rather than on the lever itself. I find them very comfortable too.

james_swift

The Nashbar long-reach brakes max-out at 56mm. I measured the distance between the brake pivot bolt hole to the center of the rim braking surface on my Swift, and it measured 82mm. What will work, however, are the Tektro 984 Extra Long Reach Calipers (88mm reach). These brakes are for BMX applications, so I'm not sure if road levers will have enough pull.

kb5ql

James, thanks for looking this up. I think I will go with the travel agents. I actually have a set on my full-size road-bike (it was originally a hybrid/touring bike I converted to drop-bar) since this solution will be less than the special road brakes you mentioned. I don't mind the travel agents, I was just trying to do the full "roadie" setup.

When I get the bike ordered and setup, I'll come back and post my results.

Thanks again.

james_swift

Another option to the pricey Dia Compe 287-V levers are the Diatech 287V levers from Gaerlan. At $45, they're about the same price as a pair of Travel Agents, and will work much better (I wish I had seen this before I bought for my TAs, which suck btw ).

zepi

I got myself an extra-cool addon for my retro-swift.
It is an original Brooks Cycle Bag from around 1957. It looks kind of funny on the swift. And it works good.
What do you think?

interesting catalogue

james_swift

I think it looks cool...the gentleman's Swift.

rdh

I like it. It doesn't look aerodynamic, but it does look like it has plenty of room and is very functional.

kb5ql

I had one more question on possibly adding a front derailleur. I've read on this thread that some people have gotten it to work. Would it require something like this to jury-rig together?

Braze-on Front Deraulleur Clamp (34.9mm + some sort of pipe clamp)

and this?

Shimano 105 Front Derailleur (Braze-on)

I already have a Nexus-8 Hub that will be in there. My thoughts are to add the new bottom bracket with a 105 standard double crank. This will give me some added top and low end. (Pretty much equiv to a compact double for 700cc)

Hubbub on right drop and bar-end shifter on left? I won't be doing this right away, just curious to see if this is even possible.

Thanks.