Me neither...

Are you removing the seatpost suspension, too? Or just the fork?

Me, I want nothing to do with suspensions. The beauty of bikes for me is their simplicity. Acronym: KISS.

Werewolf: The pump is a Topeak mini morph and it came with a nice bracket that is held on with zip ties. I secure the pump with the handle pointing down because it's easier to remove the pump that way.

I'd be the first to admit the suspension mod definitely keeps my Swift out of the "clean lines" catagory, but I knew that going in (btw the kickstand was just added for this trip to make posing the bike for pictures easier). It does accomplish its primary purpose of greatly softening the ride on the local Katy Rail-Trail, which has suffered a lot of erosion and rutting due to the heavy rains this year. I recently built a sort of touring MTB for that purpose, so my Swift will be returning to duty as my high-speed-take-anywhere-anytime trainer, with drop bars in the works. I'd hate to ride the Swift into an early grave due to the constant jaring to the frame and rock dust in the bearings. Also why I've been interested lately in the Pacific Reach Trail and Jur's new Birdy, they've got nice lightweight frame suspension built for (fairly) rough trail use.

So yeah, I'm with you on the KISS principle with regards to the Swift. Except for having gears. Love em, use em all the time.

Noteon: I'm removing all of it including the Dahon telescoping seatpost + suspension post, and I'm up for a replacement for the Brooks B17 too. It may be a WTB Race V saddle I've been trying out with the stock Swift seatpost, weighs less than half the Brooks. Not as comfortable yet, but I'm hoping it will break in some as it gets more miles on it.

Hey, do you have some trick for preventing the seatpost from marring the rear fender when folded? I find that really annoying.

Werewolf: I just re-read your post and see I'd missed part of your question. The bottle mount is a Minoura BH-95 Cage Holder which I'm not real impressed with, its seems flimsy for a 24oz bottle mounted above the front fork. No knock intended for people who love em, I just don't trust it. I think when I re-install my original Xootr riser I'm either going to drill and tap holes for a bottle cage in the same position, or look for large old-school accessory clamps. Ideally I'd like a bottle cage on either side of the riser, extra capacity for longer rides.

Noteon: My trick with this seatpost is to remove it completely, so no fender contact possible.

BTW the fenders aren't the normal SKS brand you see on folders, they're a pair of Planet Bike front fenders for recumbent bikes with 20" front wheels. I found them being closed out dirt cheap someplace. I made simple mounts from aluminum angle stock for the front ends which are normally unsecured. I also used wide tires for a time, so to gain extra clearance I replaced the stock supports with struts canabalized off a pair of mostly-ruined SKS fenders I found at an REI garage sale. I'm stricken with the CHEAP gene so I sometimes have to get inventive.

Now that I think about it, I haven't collapsed the seatpost to keep the bike folded since I installed the fenders. I think it probably wouldn't touch the rear fender since its a shorter than normal. I'll have to try that this evening.

If you can't find a fork that satisfies, you can try to find a suspension stem. The ones I know of aren't made anymore, but they show up on ebay pretty frequently.

Softride Stem
http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkw...fromZR8QQ_mdoZ

Girvin Flexstem
http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkw...fromZR8QQ_mdoZ

This is not an actual trick, only an idea ... a plug made of Delrin, to fit inside the bottom of the seatpost, with an O.D. slightly smaller than the post's O.D. and with rounded edges to help it slide? Maybe just a trimmed rubber plug or cork would do.

Regards
T

^ I made such a thing for the Yeah. Several more in the pipeline (Swift, Birdy).

Thank you, Mr Itsmoot.

A cork's about my speed. Hmm...thanks.

Does anyone know if this one will work?

http://www.nycbikes.com/item.php?item_id=484

http://www.nycbikes.com/item.php?item_id=484

That particular fork won't work because the steerer is too short, AND the steerer diameter is undersized at 1" diameter. The current Swifts use a 1-1/8" diameter steerer. The diameter could be adapter with reducer shims or a reducer headset, but the steerer length is a deal killer.

The suspension stems faffer pointed out would be good simple solution. Unfortunately the most popular brands mentioned, Girvin and Softride (aka Alsop), have either gone out of business or quit making stems. Softride is liquidating it's remaining stock and lists them here, but the only ones left are 150mm extension which is waaaaay long. If you go that route you'd want the model with the 1.125" threadless clamp. Normally I'd recommend a used one on eBay. But I've watched the auctions for suspension stems for the last 6 months or so, and the 1-1/8" threadless variety is not only getting rare, the prices they're going for are incredible.

If you're got your heart set on a adding front suspension fork send me a private message.

This is a bit off topic: Seems to me suspension stems were just a little ahead of their time and marketed to the wrong group, mountain bikers. They gave them mixed reviews, I think mainly because they needed more travel than the stems offered, they expected too much, and the stems had a nasty habit of causing endos on steep downhills with inexperienced riders. But now with the slowly increasing interest in not only folding bikes but commuting and recreational biking in general, and with an older crowd who may be prone to wrist pain already, suspension stems could do very well. A modification of the Girvin design with its simple elastomer shock absorber would be just the ticket.

Click onto page 60 and you will see my solution. It's the tail end of a clip on mudguard that I have bolted on to the rear 'guard of my Swift and this "parks" the seat post very neatly and stops the mudguard getting scratched. As I said in a previous posting; I try to tell people the little fin is to keep the bike stable at speed - but no one believes me!

Ah, thanks!

I believe you.

Really.

I have often thought I would love to get my hands on some of those silicone pads that are used for protection but have never seen them for sale.

You could get some clear vinyl protective sheeting and stick on a nicely cut disc. When it wears cut a new one, but it will last long.

The Xootr website sells both Schrader and Presta tubes, but I thought you needed to use one or the other depending on your wheels. Do the stock wheels take either type of tube without problems?

Thanks.

This post was from a while ago, BUT I am in the market for another folder....:)

I missed the mention/discussion of this mythical Swift Swallowtail. What is thisn new folder supposed to be?

You guys with the custom Xootr Planet Bike fenders--do they make your chain fall off when you unfold the bike? I finally figured out that was what was going on, but despite my trying to be careful, it keeps happening. The fender stay is in just the right place to engage with the chain when folded.

Between that and the seatpost not clearing them, I'm slightly grumpy about these fenders.

I have not had a problem with the chain and the fenders.

After riding with the fenders for the first 4 months, and being similarly irritated with the fold, I removed them and am now riding my loader in crappy weather. I didn't want to have the Swift out in the sleet and snow anyway.

I haven't been folding often, able to park in the underground garage at work which is pretty secure, but when I have folded I have cringed when lowering the seatpost to secure the rear wheel. The way the seatpost drives the fender against the tire just seems wrong, and I've been waiting for something to break. In doing research on the fender i realize from an old post by Peter R. that the seatpost is supposed to drive the fender against the tire--If I hadn't read that I would have thought it was a design flaw, not a design feature!

I haven't had any trouble with the chain coming off, and I must say the fenders work well for keeping me dry.
Bill

I agree on the marketing of the flexstems.I 've got a late '80's Proflex MTB with a Girvin Flexstem. Always liked it around town--great for absorbing city bumps, not really good enough for mountain biking. It would be perfect for the riding I do on the swift.
B.

If I could take the role of devil's advocate here ... do you really want an alloy component flexing all the time on something as critical to rider safety as the stem?

A recall of defective suspension stems is what seems to have led one maker to get out of the bike component business entirely.

Wouldn't it be safer to focus on suspension technology at the hub or fork, such as Pantour or Moulton, respectively? Those technologies also give the wheel better purchase on the surface, no?

Regards
T

Flexstems have a pivot. The elastomer is meant to flex. Besides, pretty much every folder has a flexy alloy handlepost and seatpost.

One of my main reasons for choosing the Swift was its lack of flex. As much as I love the words "less road buzz," I'm not sure I want to start introducing squish.

http://www.bikepro.com/products/stems/soft.html

That many (not every) folders have a flexy alloy handlepost -- what would you have us conclude from this? That flexy alloy parts in the steerer assembly are safe enough?

Regards
T

it would be interesting to know if flex at the stem absorbed the same energy as flex at the wheel/fork. I'm no engineer, but having a wheel/fork suspension system seems like it would absorb both shock and energy similiar to having softer tires--thereby slowing you down. If it was at the stem, its really just absorbing bumps that would have been transmitted to your hands/elbows shoulders.

The pic of the softride is pretty elaborate--I can see why they may have had some problems. The Girven one I had was pretty low-tech--one stainless steel bolt on a hinge right at the top of the riser--wasn't much to go wrong.

The softride stem also has pivots; bending in aluminum structural members is not essential to its function. This is a Swift thread, and the Swift has a tall unsupported seatpost and handlepost, so to reject stems for the same reason seems short-sighted.

The Swift's stem-riser is actually quite stiff, with none of the springiness of the Brompton or Downtube or Dahons. I have the longer Swift stem-riser, but relative to those bikes, it is not "tall" but rather stubby.

I realize that the aluminum in the suspension stem doesn't need to flex in order for the component to function. But the long parallelogram is subject to torsional flexing that could weaken the aluminum over time; the steering assembly is the last place you'd want metal fatigue. It's for this reason that many manufacturers of standard stems recommend replacing them after several riding seasons.
Easton, for example, says this about their Ad-Vice stem, which is much more torsionally rigid than a long suspension stem:

Regards
T

Here's a couple of Girvin flexstems:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...E:B:SS:US:1123

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...E:B:SS:US:1123

Much simplier design than the Softride. Unfortunately I've never seen a Girvin for a threadless system.

My quick video review of the Xootr Swift on my review show, wtfshow.com

http://wtfshow.com/2008/10/31/the-wt...icycle-review/