They are a lot wider than the stock Swift bars (560mm centre to centre) which initially put me off them but in practise they work very well and allow a great number of positions to stave of stiff neck, wrist, shoulder etc. I have them linked to an adjustable stem which offers an even greater number of permutations. They do look a bit odd and bulky compared to the standard bars but they are light and give great control over the bike. I also have a bar end bell fitted (left hand bar end) which is a very handy gadget that does not require any bar space. The bars are made by Modolo who make several variations of the Butterfly design; the one I have is the only one I could find in the UK. If you like to travel any great distance on your Swift I can highly recommend them. All the Swifts brake and SRAM shifters fit without modification.

Hi Paul,

Just noticed the extra clamp built for the handlebar bag. Looks like a stem mounted to the handlebar post with a super-narrow handlebar. Neat trick.

-G

Found Some!!!!

Worldwide Yacht Support in Lodon can supply Boeshield T9 but it is not cheap. I found a US supplier selling 4oz bottles for $4. which is about £2 but in the UK it will cost you £8.65 plus postage! It cannot be bought mail order from the US for some reason.

Contact www.worldwideyachtsupport.com for details. Don't worry about it not being in the "Cycle-lube" bottle because Boeshield comes in a variety of containers (aimed at different markets) but the same formula is in every bottle or can! It is good stuff - but at what we have to pay for it in the UK it should be.

Yes, it is a really great idea supplied by www.sjscycles.co.uk. (look under lights - accessory brackets) I have used it for lights or the bar bag in various positions on the stem riser. It keeps the bar clear of clutter and, by dropping the bar bag down the stem, allows bar mounted lights to shine over the bag and onto the road! There are two models, the one I use is 55mm long, front to back and the other is 105mm. It is light but much stronger than the Minaura brackets and fits the standard diameter stem riser of the Swift and other bikes. I tried to copy the photo from the sjs web page without success but below is their description.



Thorn Accessory Bar (T shaped) with 55mm extension - mounts to 1 1/8inch steerer tube for lights/computers etc



Other products in Accessory Fitting Brackets



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Thorn Accessory Bar (T shaped) with 55mm extension - mounts to 1 1/8inch steerer tube for lights/computers etc
Price: £14.99







Description

Customer Reviews
A really useful T shaped bar for lights and computers when handlebar space is at a premium. Takes up the space of a 1 1/8 headset spacer on the fork steerer tube (27mm deep clamp). Dimensions: extends 55mm forward, striaght section width 150mm and 22.2mm diameter. Single clamp allen key bolt at rear, hard black finish. 95gms.
Thorn Accessory Bar (T shaped) with 55mm extension - mounts to 1 1/8inch steerer tube for lights/computers etc

Get it from the US from Aircraftspruce - they're of the cheapest plus they will ship. Make sure you select the squeeze bottle, not the aerosol, that could be the shipping reason. What's your US source?

Paul, assuming you've bought and used it -did it stop the slipping for you?

Yes it is really good stuff to use on the seatpost, chain etc.

Dropping the chain
 

Hey all. I've been absolutely loving my Swift. It is fast, fun, and makes great sense with city living and occasional multimodal commuting. Despite its less-than-miniscule fold, I'm able to take it with me most places: I pop it in the cart while grocery shopping, stand it in the corner of my office, carry it to the teller window at the bank, etc.

It has been completely up to the task of my 30 mi r/t commute; after some fiddling to address creaking and groaning, the ride beats the pants off my hardtail with slicks.

My one issue has been with dropping my chain-- usually (but not always) while shifting; if not then, then over a bump or through a pothole. I gather that this is a common problem with a single front ring setup (though once the drop was off the big ring of the cassette rather than off the front!). But it seems to be getting more frequent-- at least once a ride, sometimes twice. Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, what are my options? I gather there is some kind of roller device? I'd rather avoid hanging something off the bike if I can avoid it (if I can't, I can't). Would shortening the chain help. or would it just make it that much harder to put the chain back on when it pops off? Any advice would be much appreciated.

I can address the creaking and groaning:

Get yourself a bottle of Boeshield or 3-in-One and apply a light coat to the seatpost. If using Boeshield, let dry for a few minutes. Wipe-off excess in either case. Apply a few drops of lube to both quick-release clamps, and a light application to the seat tube ends (where the tubes separate during the folding).

As for the chain drop, it's been a while since I had a multiple-gear setup on my swift, but I do recall the chain dropping during rapid multiple shifts or shifting while riding over a bump. Maybe someone else here can help you with that. :)

This is certainly a common problem and I used to have this all the time on my Dahon Speed Pro (single front-ring, 8-speed rear just like the swift) but interestingly I've never had this problem on the swift, and I've put in many miiles now over the last few months. My swift has the standard chainring and chainguard on, and I keep the chain lubed regularly (with the new finish line pro-road ceramic lube). The Speed pro had a 105 10-speed chainring (much narrower than the swifts) and I didn't lube the chain enough. The chain would fall off about once a week, always under hard accelleration. If you look at the moultons with a similar setup you will see that many of them have a device to keep the chain on. Mind you the Speed pro has a similar device and that obviously didn't work.

So my advice would be to make sure the chain is well lubed (and you clean it properly first) and if you've changed the chainring, check if it's a narrower profile to the standard one.

Failing that, it might be to do with the tension in the rear mech - as this is something set up by the shop (or not) there is likely to be a variation in tension between yours and mine that might explain why some of our chains come off and yours does.

It would be useful to see a show of hands to see how many othew swift owners have this problem, and how many don't.

I've had my Swift for over a year and have not had the chain derail even after changing the rear cassette to lower the gearing. It shifts perfectly everytime. Of course, having now said that I bet it jumps off just to spite me!

My girlfriend's chain jumped off several times while we were touring San Francisco. All of those times she wasn't even shifting. I suggest getting the roller thing from gaerlan.

The chief purpose of the chain guard is to prevent the chain from falling off. (I can elaborate but njo time now.) If there is a chain guard on both sides of the chain on the crank, then it is extremely unlikely to fall off. Regardless of widths.

Falling off at the back is purely a derailer adjustment issue.

Does anyone have some news about the new swift frame?
I got this great Torpedo Duomatic hub (two gears - switching by back-pedaling - no cables required) and it performs very well on one of my other bikes. But I'd really like to see it on a swift frame. My fixed swift is absolutely perfect and I will not change a screw, so I am looking for an other frame.
Is the re-designed swift-frame allready available?

I haven't been posting for a while since James and others offered useful advice about a fixie conversion.

In any case, I just unfolded my Xootr swift and couldn't put the seatpost into the seat tube. The reason: the seat stays had broken a bit below the pivot right by the lower seat post quick release. I'm attaching a picture.

I guess a crack might have been there for a while, but I never noticed it and had ridden the bike earlier today and then folded it with no problem that I noticed.

I've emailed Xootr, but couldn't expect anyone to get back to me until after the holiday weekend. Has any one else had anything like this happen to them?
Thanks,

Jonathan

Whoa..that really sucks. I believe another Swift owner here encountered the exact same frame failure using a non-standard seatpost. Have you been using the stock seatpost?

Xootr warrants the frame for life, so you shouldn't have any problems getting a replacement. It's just too bad this happened in the middle of a long weekend. Just hang in there.

Thanks for the kind words, James. It does suck that it happened on a long weekend of rare nice New England weather.

I've been using the standard seatpost.

I seem to remember you had a frame failure. If that's right, was it at all like mine? How did Xootr deal with the warranty issue?

Jonathan

My frame failure was a crack at the lower seat tube clamp area (due to a manufacturing error, the tube had been honed eccentric, one side being thinner than the other). I emailed Xootr with a photo, and I received an email response 30 minutes later confirming that they would be shipping me a new bike. I'm confident they will do the same for you.

Whoa. That is the second Xootr that failed like that. Now I am leery of the design...

The other failure was here
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...lighter&page=3 post #67

Shhh. Jur, you weren't supposed to tell anybody. James_Swift has already given me enough grief... :D

Looking at his pic, looks like he has one of the thinner walled seat tubes. I seem to remember that they increased wall thickness.

Thicker post.

Jur, as for the design, do you think this is the price of not having a proper downtube?

I'm thinking of going the BikeFriday route for the front derailleur now. Since I've moved to the Bay Area/San Francisco, the number of hills has increased dramatically. I'll probably pull a james_swift and convert the swift to a fixie.

I think so, yes.

Riding my Swift, I am amazed by the vertical compliance of the frame, ie riding over bumps does not transmit the shocks sharply as with a diamond frame, it feels like I have soft tyres, but I don't - they are at 100psi. So I have been thinking about what gives the 'give', and it must be a combination of the top tube bending and the seatpost+seat tube bending.

Top tube bending is OK, but the seat post flexing places a stretching stress on that chainstay where it is welded. And now we have 2 cases of failure (and perhaps more unreported ones?) in exactly that spot of maximum stress.

For those cases of failure, an important data point would be to know ho much the seat post extended into the bottom portion of the seat tube? Could you have a check to see what this dimension might have been? I am thinking along the lines of only a short extension past the seat tube joint, resulting in insufficient strengthening given by the seat post.

Very interesting. I'm wondering if it's a design flaw, or a flaw in the materials/manufacturing? In any case, I'm keeping a close watch on my frame. Riding a fixed-gear up hills in San Francisco that one normally wouldn't without lower gears I'd imagine places huge amounts of stress on the seat tube/stays, as well as the bottom bracket. I'm actually more concerned about the really choppy road and deep potholes I have to ride through on a daily basis, and try to avoid them as much as possible, and/or unweight the seat for those which are unavoidable. I'm happy to say, however, that the frame has held-up perfectly to all my abuse.

With my current saddle height, I have a good 10 inches of seat post insertion into the seat tube. Upon inspection of the seat post, however, there are clear indications of friction marks that extend a few inches up from end of the post, possible evidence that the "truss" assembly does indeed pivot/flex slightly during riding. Is it possible that as the friction on the seatpost begins to wear-away the material, the extra play between the bore of the seat tube and the seatpost allows increased flex in the truss assembly, eventually causing the seat stays to bend beyond their breaking point? And if so, does this mean we need to replace our seatposts when they start to show excessive wear? That would suck.

[QUOTE=creaturely;5177891

My one issue has been with dropping my chain-- usually (but not always) while shifting; if not then, then over a bump or through a pothole. I gather that this is a common problem with a single front ring setup (though once the drop was off the big ring of the cassette rather than off the front!). But it seems to be getting more frequent-- at least once a ride, sometimes twice. Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, what are my options? I gather there is some kind of roller device? I'd rather avoid hanging something off the bike if I can avoid it (if I can't, I can't). Would shortening the chain help. or would it just make it that much harder to put the chain back on when it pops off? Any advice would be much appreciated.[/QUOTE]

I've been through three Dahons that had too long chains. Once the length was adjusted I never experienced a drop-off, even on the bike with no ring guard. Also check for deformed/worn chain rings and that your rear hub is square with the frame.

The seat posts are anodized, but the frame is not, so it would wear faster on the inside of the seat tube.

This issue emphasises the importance of doing up the seat QRs firmly, so the seatpost is gripped tightly by both with very little scope for movement.

Good advice.. I usually make sure each QR grips the post firm enough to keep the post from rotating on their own. then I cinch them both down... I've been using a 34mm Carbon post of over a year now without incident, but I'll pay particular attention now ..