Clear sticker with the name I have dubbed my bike. ;) Preferably 2" - 3" tall, 6"-8" long.

Now that I think of it, ideally I'd want any decal to be removed without stripping off the clear coat / finish.

That leaves a clear sticker. Decals are too fragile.

Mi ideas are limited; I used a Dymo label maker (modern digital age version) to make a label for my R20 "TWENTY". The stuff is fairly thin, sticks like crazy and you get them in a range of mono colors. Of course it helps to have a Dymo label maker at work.

There are products that can be printed on with an inkjet or laser printer. You'd have to look on printer product sites.

That's about it from me.

I'm not clear about the instructions above. Let me se if i have this right. While riding, look straight ahead and while keeping my head up and looking forward, tilt my eyes down until I can see how much in front of the handlebars the hub appears to be? Correct?

I installed a longer stem and I'm now stretched out a bit more. I haven't riden the bike much yet, so I'm not sure if I'm satisfied yet. I'll make the observation you have asked me to make and report back. Or, feel free to simply reply (for the benefit of others who may be watchng and who may decide on doing the same thing) with your comments to the following.

If my technique of getting the measurement is correctly described above...

If my bike's hub is visually located behind my handlebars...You would suggest?

If my bike's hub is visually located even with my handlebars...You would suggest?

If my bike's hub is visually located in front of my handlebars bye 0-1"...You would suggest?

If my bike's hub is visually located in front of my handlebars bye 1-2"...You would suggest?

If my bike's hub is visually located in front of my handlebars bye 2-3"...You would suggest?

Etc.

Bye & thanks

Yes, that's correct.

If the hub appears 1 inch in front of your bars, then you could probably benefit from a longer stem. If the hub appears behind your bars by about 1 inch, then your setup is equivalent to an aggressive mountain biking position (anything beyond 1 inch and you may be stretched too far). If the hub appears even with the bars, then you're good. These are all just guidelines.

But before you go and change your stem, I'd recommend starting first with getting your saddle height and fore-aft adjustment right, then work on the reach.

OK, I'm gonna use these....

http://www.papilio.com/hps/product.p...2&cat=0&page=1

Apparently it's one of those static cling things and is water-fast, although the sticker itself will probably peel right off in the rain. ;) I will report on whether it works.

Swift Questions - Some Bay Area-Centric
 

Hi There,

I've been lurking for a few days on the thread, and am generally excited by the reviews I see here. Seems like a great ride, and I want one. The one significant downside I'm seeing is that there is no place to test one around the Bay Area.

So, I have a few questions. First, the non-geographically specific ones.

1 - Is there a non-folder that is most comparable as far as the ride? Ideally something made made by
a larger manufacturer I could go get on locally?

2 - How much of a "Folding Premium" do you think is included in the price? A good way to rephrase would be "how much would you pay for the same bike if it didn't fold?"

And now some regionally specific questions...

3 - Anybody know of a good mechanic in the bay area (ideally in the east bay) that can work well with the bikes?

4 - And finally, the long shot: Any chance someone locally would be willing to provide a test ride of their bike? I would be more than willing to provide a few bucks, a cup of coffee, some tomatoes from the garden, etc. I'd be willing to travel most places in SF, Peninsula or the East Bay.

Thanks,

GR

Not really. Other than BMX, non-folding bikes with 20" wheels are even more rare than 20" folders these days.


I wouldn't bother to think of it that way. Either you want/need the convenience of a folding bike, or you don't. If you do, and you don't need a bike that folds small, and you want a stiff frame and standard components, the Xootr Swift is the most economical choice.



Swift bikes are almost completely standardized parts, so any decent mechanic can work on it.

These guys are supposed to be Xootr Swift dealers. They even advertised on craigslist a while back:

Oceanworks
2703 Tenth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 849-1383
www.oceanworksberkeley.com

Ironically, they're a car repair outfit. Let us know if they're still around.

Oceanworks...
 

Phone and website are both dead - perhaps I'll stop by and find out.

Started shopping for a flolder and the Swift is at the top of my list. Several questions...
1) I understand it can be packed in a Samsonite Oyster 29" with some dissasembly (correct?). I don't want to go with a larger suitcase.
2) Can you buy just the frame and build it up yourself? If so, what comes with the fame? (seatpost?)
3) Is the Swift sold in Japan at a better price than found in US? Same name? Where can it be found in Japan?

I got the frame by writing to Xootr, who put me on to Peter Reich the designer who sells the frames. Mine came with original Xootr headset, seatpost and steering riser.

This weekend I did another Audax ride , 200km, on my Swift. Everything went smoothly. Although my butt was a bit sore after 8+ hours in the saddle. The ride organizer asked me, "Aren't you a bit brave to ride THAT in an audax?" I was unsure exactly what he meant; later I realised that for most people, small wheels = toy. So he was asking wasn't I brave to do a hard 200km audax ride on a toy.

It's my secret weapon. People dismiss me, then look surprised as I drop them. :D

I've decided to stick with the stock straight bar for now and will just add some grips/bar ends for now.

I'm thinking adding these...
http://www.ergon-bike.com/us/grips/gr2.html

Questions for all...

Anyone have any comments regarding adding Ergon GR2's to a stock swift with gripshifter?

Easy to install? Installation tips?

Am I correct in assuming that I should purchase the narrower Gripshift version of the the Ergon GR2's

I'm new to bar ends... any and all comments/suggestions/product recommendations/install tips are appreciated.

Swift folder bag?
 

Hi Guys,

This is my first post to BikeForums :) My wife and I bought Xootr Swifts from Oceanworks in Berkeley last year and are very pleased with the bikes. These have been used for casual cycling and I use mine to run errands around town. Ours are the faster blue color...

I'm thinking of buying the carry bag that is shown on the swiftfolder website, sold by Human Powered Machines in Oregon. Do any of you have these bags, and are they specially configured to hold the front wheel/seatpost/stem components? Are they working out well for you?

Thanks,
Harry

so i got a freewheel for the other side of the track hub on my fixed swift folder... of course, if i want to run a freewheel, i need brakes. it looks like my options for brakes that work with both front and rear are either humongous-long-reach calipers, like the ones at the bottom of this page, or cantilevers.

so what do you recommend? for calipers, do you know what reach i need? i have 406 wheels, and a rough measurement with a ruler suggests i need 90-something mm for the rear and a little less for the front, which is kind of ridiculous for a caliper. or if i go with cantis, what do i use for housing stops?

If you want road calipers the only option I know of is to fit 451 wheels and then the tektro R556 calipers will fit. But whether you can/want to change to the bigger wheels is another issue. The bike was designed for both 406 an 451 wheels and Peter Reich (the designer) reckons the ride is better on 451 wheels. Fewer tyres to choose from though.

For 406 wheels I'd stick with V-brakes.

yeah, i asked peter, and the answer was flat-out "there are no calipers for 406." so i've ordered a pair of tektro 926a mini-v brakes, and hopefully these'll work with drop levers. i'll post on here when i've tried it out.

Hi all.. I tend to lurk around here most of the time, but lately I've been thinking about swapping out the stock flat handlebars on my Swift for a riser bar. I'm taking Park Tool school classes at my LBS right now (it was nice to see other women in class), so I'm finally starting to feel comfortable taking apart my bike and attempting upgrades. Any ideas on what things I need to consider before I try this and recommendations for good parts dealers online? Thanks for your help!

On the subject of alternative brakes for the Swift, I've ordered a set of Tektro cantilever brakes and a brake cable hanger to swap-out the front V-brake setup on my Swift. I'm using a single cross-lever on my bars, and the cantis would be perfect. Expect photos and a write-up as well. :)

Hi cosmodc. Haven't seen you around here since you last posted pics of your Swift.

If you are planning on using the stem you already have, then you'll want to look for a riser bar that has a 25.4mm clamp diameter. Then you'll need to decide how high of a rise you want. Typically, you can get risers in .5", 1.0", 1.5", and 2.0" (or higher in some cases). You'll want to check the length of your brake/shifter cables to see if you have enough slack to compensate for the increase in bar height.

To remove the bar grips, I find that a chopstick and rubbing alcohol work best. Just jam the chopstick under the grip and drizzle a bit of alcohol between the bar and grip and it should come off easily. To re-install the grip, wipe the inside of the grip surface with a bit of alcohol and slide the grip on to your new bars.

Your new risers will most likely feel a lot wider than the bars you have now. When I had risers, I cut about an inch off both ends with a pipe-cutter I bought for cheap from the hardware store.

Let us know how your project turns-out.

Oh yeah...for parts, you might want to check this place out.

Hi James, thanks for the advice. While checking out potential riser bars, I've noticed that several of them are sold at varying lengths. I have a Nexus 8-speed twist grip shifter; do I need to be concerned about bar length, or can I just buy something on the longer side and have it cut down if needed? I am going to do the upgrade during one of my class sessions, so my LBS mechanic will be there to supervise this and the cable replacement, in case I screw anything up. :)

Edit 1: Nix my question about bar length -- you've already covered that. Thanks again!
Edit 2: Pricepoint.com is where I've been spending a lot of time looking. I'm a fan of options and all, but oy, what a selection!

The Swift is still treating me very well, and I'm glad I spent as much time as I did researching here before buying one from Peter.

Just keep in mind that you won't be able to cut risers down as much as flat bars (because of the bend). What you can do is install the bar, then the brake levers (push them towards the stem until they meet resistance against the bend), then your gripshift. You can now lay the grip across the remaining length of exposed bar and measure (preferably twice), then cut. Cut the same length of remaining bar from the non-gripshift end. You might also want to take into account leeway for new grips. I know the stock SRAM grips are not standard MTB size, but not sure about your Nexus setup.

Maunakea--thanks for the advice.

Tightening worked for about 100 miles and now the clunking has returned with a vengence. I've tightened it down more than before (40 foot lbs vs 30 foot lbs). Apparently there's a risk to overtightening if I believe some of the threads out there and I have no documentation with the bike to know what the torque should be. Any idea of the correct foot lbs for the crank bolt?

Thanks!

flea: Sounds like your one crank is toast. This will happen if a crank bolt was not tight enough and was ridden like that. The square hole wears out and no amount of tightening will get it right once it is worn. This is a new bike, right? Dealer must fix.

Yeah, only 6 months old. A new Xootr Peter modified (dualdrive and new paint) for me. I'm surprised to have this happen after only 500 miles or so. I'm assuming regular serious hillclimbing exacerbated this but I'm still pretty shocked to hear that it would be in bad shape so soon. I guess I'll contact Peter and see what he says. Not what I wanted to hear as I really hate to stop riding at this point while I wait for it to be fixed :(

It's not a question of something wearing out under normal processes - it is something that was not assembled correctly and damage resulted riding it that way. No way you could know that there was something wrong. Not saying it necessarily is the crank-bottom bracket interface but symptoms do point that way.

Thanks, Jur. Yeah, I understand--looking through all the forums I agree the symptoms are most likely there. We'll see what Peter has to say. Now the long wait--this was my one functional bike!

Need chain tug and brake lever advice...
 

Hey, James et al-

I've been lurking awhile because not riding much. Long story - but in the last 6 weeks I've had knee surgery, an emergency room visit, and set two Bonneville land speed records (motorcycle). Phew!

But the best news is my fixed wheel set is 99% done. Surly large flange hubs. Sun CR168 rims. All silver. I just need to pick up a lock ring and new inner tubes, and fit my new Nitto handlebars and my Swift will be a Swixie!

Need some advice... I want to run a chain tug... what's a good one, and where can I get it without ordering it from the UK?

Also, I plan to run the stock Xootr front brake. Want to replace the Xootr lever with a more elegant-looking lever, preferably with a very narrow bar clamp like a Deore V-brake lever. I want it in silver, not all black. Any recommendations???

Lastly, I need a 100mm (10-degree or so) stem in silver alloy... I bought one on ebay but its temporary, I want to find a hollow welded version if anyone knows of a source. I have a beautiful 130mm one but its too long! So if anyone needs one like this lemme know...

Ivan

In the Swift Gallery thread, I have a pic of my Surly chaintug. It's more expensive and heavier than the aluminum BMX chaintugs, but it looks cool and matches my Surly rear hub. If you want to go cheap, here is a BMX chaintug that works really well on the Swift (you can get it in silver).

What model Nitto bars do you have? The reason why I ask is because most V-brake levers won't fit even the 25.4 Nitto bars without grinding/prying the brake lever mount (I broke my Deore lever trying to do just that on my 25.4 Nitto B105 bars).

While on this subject, I'm getting a set of canti brakes to replace the V-brakes on my Swift so that I can use my bar-end TT brake levers (on my bullhorns) and cross-lever (on my drops) without having to use a travel agent and/or to deal with the lever-to-brake leverage mismatch. Pics to follow.

The Xootr Swift accessories page has a 100mm silver stem (25.4mm).

Pics of my new cantilever brakes installed: (Nashbar Deluxe canti brakes and cable hanger)

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ift/canti1.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ift/canti2.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ift/canti3.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ift/canti4.jpg


Ride report to follow. :)