I plan on making a little 5mm spacer/adapter on the lathe for the left side (or 2.5mm for each side) which will extend the length.

Spacers solve the centering problem but not the chainline problem.

how bad could the chainline be if you add spacers?

With a single chainring, the chainline (mostly) sucks anyway.

Depends upon where the R seatstay is, whether you want the rear wheel rolling in the centerline plane of the bike (adds to stability in turns and general euphoria), and how often you want to buy chains. Torquing a tortured chainline will distort the chain life.

juan had to have a shop mod a seat stay to get a 130mm hub to work on his R20.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=288341

juan, can you post a pix of your hacked seatstay?

But it will suck worse if the sprocket is moved another 2.5 mm toward the centerline.

ISO black swift folder (steel)
 

Guys - Where would be the easiest place for me to get my hands on a "stock" steel black swift folder? I called Human Powered Machines in Oregon but the wait is just way too long. I live in NYC but have not been able to track down Peter Reich. Does anyone know how to get in touch with him and/or if he's still selling steel frame models?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

eBay

You might try Mac or Jan out at HPM if they can get hold of Peter. Also, if you are living in Manhattan, contact Recycle a Bicycle in Brooklyn. A woman there was able to convey a message to Peter for me.
Good luck on contacting him.
Lyndon

Call Bfold on 13th Street, see what he's got.

I got my used steel swift from Recycle a Bicycle. They sent it over to vienna for me. Karen Overtone there is in contact with Peter.
What about the phone numbers and cotacts at http://www.swiftfolders.com/? I hat the impression, that they point directly to peter.

My Surly fixed hub is 130mm. On my silver Swift with 132.5mm rear spacing, I put 1x1mm spacer on each side of the hub axle. On my blue Swift with 135mm rear spacing, I put 2x1mm spacers on each side of the axle. The advantage of a solid axle is you have that extra room to play with spacers. So long as you have equal spacers on each side of the axle, the chainline will go relatively unchanged. An extra 1mm spacer on the non-drive side will push the chainline .5mm outwards, and vice-versa.

James as always your fixed Swift is an inspiration. With guidance from your earlier hub and chainline advide, I'm slowly putting together the parts for my conversion.

One more, but probably not last, question. With your drop bar it looks like your using a cross lever, which I'm guessing is short pull. How did you get it to work with the v-style brakes, which I would have thought would have needed a long-pull leaver?

Thanks from me and all other aspiring Swift fixers,
Jonathan

I have the Nashbar cross lever with the brake pads set close to the rim. One of the advantages of 20" wheels is they stay true longer, so you can set the pads close and not worry about them rubbing against the rim. The cross lever also works well with a Travel Agent.

Pletscher Orion Seatpost Clamp
 

Just received a Pletscher Orion seat post clamp from Germany. Previous posts on this site state it will fit the 34mm Swift seat tube but the one I received is designed for smaller diameter posts. I have fitted it as the clamp seems quite pliable and moulds to the larger seat tube. Has anyone else had problems?

I am using it on my bike. Yes, you have to go to the limits, then tighten it as much as possible. I am not using it for the top loading aspect, more as a simple way to add my metro bag. I do like it as it allows me to shed 3 lbs. for the weekend rides.

Thanks. I am using a rack top bag with fold out panniers on it; just to carry waterproofs (always needed here in the UK!) and other bits for a day ride. Like all things Swiss, it's a quality product but I was concerned that "stretching" it to fit around the Swift's seat tube may put a strain on it and the tube itself. It looks OK though.

Don't shoot me for asking dumb questions...but, if you get both chain rings within 1mm of true "chainline" alignment, and they sit some 200mm (of free chain) apart... isnt that something like under .4 % variance? I dont see how this hurts the chain.... measurably. I mean chains are designed to survive slight misalignment... that's what makes them so great!

Just wondering.

Chain alignment on fixies can be out of line by as much as 3mm and not affect the ride. Rule of thumb, though, is always to get them as close to centered as possible (for efficiency, etc.). Centered chainlines are also more aesthetically pleasing, esp. if you post pics.

hey wavshrdr, i've been reading this forum and what a beautiful bike man. it is jaw dropping. i really want to mimic your tire and seat set up.

two questions: are you running the BA's on full pressure? also, how do you connect the telescopic seatpost to a thudbuster?

again, beauty of a bike.

I just finished a 10 day tour around Southern Japan on my Swift. I bought the Swift specifically for this trip, which was to include riding one way to Kumamoto and then returning by bus to Miyazaki where I live. In total I spent 8 days riding of which 3 days were really only half days, less than 3 1/2 hours riding time.

The bike did very well with the biggest problem I had being the chain coming off the chainring several times each day. A few days before the ride began I changed the chainset to a Campy ten speed and I think the bevels on the chainring contributed to the problem. This didn’t happen with the Tru Vativ chainset I borrowed off my Dahon when I originally built the bike.

In all I did 420 miles with 17,000’ of climbing the longest day was the last one, 115 miles. My gf met me for a few days in Kumamoto and when it was time to leave I folded the Swift up and put it on the bus so that we could go to the airport together. After seeing her off I rode for a few hours until finding a place to camp. I was having so much fun I decided to ride home instead of take the bus. But at least I did get to take advantage of the fold once on the trip and justify buying it.

I carried 25 pounds of camping gear, clothes and tools most of it was carried in a daypack strapped to a rear rack. About 8 pounds were carried in a handlebar bag. The bike handled pretty well in spite of the weight. I did notice some twitchiness because of the heavy handlebar bag and next time I’ll do something to get the weight lower on the front. This was my first loaded tour or any kind of tour for that matter and the Swift helped to make it a great trip.

nihonric, that sounds great!

I'm really interested because I'd like to set up my Xootr Swift to carry cargo rather put it in a messenger bag on my back.

What sort of rear rack did you use? Was it anchored to the seat post, the seat post clamp, the seat stays?

In any case, congratulations on your tour!

Thanks,

Jonathan

The rack I used was this one <http://www.rivbike.com/webalog/baggage_racks/20094.html> from Rivendell made by Nitto. It bolted on with very little bending/modifying. I attached my rear fender to it with zip ties and it all worked fine. At first I mounted the rack as low as possible thinking lower center of gravity was better but later I bent the horizontal rods upward which raised the rack and left a space between the fender and rack. In this space I attached my tent with a strap leaving more room in the daypack.

I rode the bike today after putting a different chainset on it and couldn't get the chain to come off even though I was trying. The problem was the Campy chainset.

nihonric, by "chainset" do you mean chain ring, chain, and cassette, or just chain and chainring?

Anyone got any news on the new steel Swifts? I emailed Peter but haven't heard back and it's spring so...

By "chainset" I mean the chainring and crank arms. I installed and old Sugino with 52 teeth and the chain hasn't come off since using it. I wish I had it for the trip because I cringed every time I changed gears.

Unless you're dead set on having a rear rack, a front rack works really well and doesn't interfere with the fold as much as a rear rack.

Some pics & text about my front rack set up here: http://yangmusa.blogspot.com/ A bit further down, you'll see that sadly the gorgeous Nitto front rack doesn't fit.. But the Nashbar one was a steal, on sale at $10 and still going strong after a year of abuse.

Magnus

Thanks yangmusa,

I really like that set up and would like to try it for my commute. How stable are packages bungied to the front rack? Do you think it would work for soft packages, like a dry bag filled with clothes and lunch?

I realize the cost of an experiment -- the rack is still $9.99 at Nashbar -- isn't too high, but any advice would be appreciated!

Jonathan

Has anyone seen this misalignment? Rear wheel is slightly tilted to the left.

Hey Jonathan,

I don't always use the panniers in the pictures. I've often bungeed large & small loads on the front, and found it works fine. For smaller/soft loads, I usually just use a bungee front to back. For bigger loads I generally add a strap going left to right also. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me when I had a 20 lb turkey on the front for big family thanksgiving! (Mind you, for loads that heavy it has a noticeable effect on the handling. I wouldn't say dangerous, but a little heavier & slower).

If you look closely at the picture taken from the side, you'll see that I've mounted a bottle cage on the front of the stem. This doubles as a very convenient hook for my laptop case - it rests on the rack and the handle goes over the bottle cage. I secure it with a bungee, but it would probably stay on without.

cheers, Magnus