I replaced the Q/R on the seat post and steering column with salsa skewers. They are stainless and aluminum alloy. No rust after a year of taking in on the ferry twice a day.

I have absolutely no idea where I bought them at this point.

good point--I'll give that a try tomorrow!

I don't like to hear that about the clamps. It hasn't happened yet, but in order to get the seat post to stay put I need to push down both of them very hard.

my new swift
 

Well,
after reading the folding bike forum for a while and having a passion for a bike I can put in a suitcase once a year for a trip to L.A., I decided on a Swift folder for my purchase. The bike arrived super quick (2 days) but with some dings to the paint. I contacted Swift and ended up getting some touchup paint and a pair of fenders to compensate for the defects to the paint job.

The bike has been great, nimble and quick except for a jarring ride with no suspension on bumps. As I am an oldster, this is a challenge that I'm slowly getting used to. I still need to decide between the nimbleness vs. comfort compromise/solution. Maybe adding a front suspension might be the way to go.

I admit I bought this bike because it is easily hot-rodded. My knees didn't enjoy the pedal setup so I added a pair of Kneesavers http://www.kneesaver.net/ which solved that issue. The gearing is not useful for me climbing moderate hills so I scored a 47 tooth chainring on e-bay which has been an amazing help. Now I can really zip & zoom (I clocked 23 mph today while zooming).

The paint job is terrible (the paint scrapes off almost by itself, the fold is super fast, the fold is large (wouldn't fit in a bike nashbar bike bag), but easily fits 3 times a week in my Honda Fit. Now I hope to fit it into a Samsonite Flite suitcase.

This bike isn't only fun to ride (it goes fast!) but is much, much, faster (and more exciting) than my 26" mountain bike.

my 2 cents ,

Hokey

I fit mine into my '06 Smart car (smallest car on the road). Quite a sight pulling the bike out of the back and unfolding--the mechanics at my garage asked if the bike came as an option with the car!

Bill

Mine's paint job is holding up quite well. Except around the chain stay where the chain has rendered countless chips. I should get some touch-up paint. And protectors.

Hokey, I have a bad wrist and have found the ride jarring too. The front fork and my arms are almost parallel. So I ordered a Pantour suspension hub with Big Apple tire from a bike shop well known among folder fans, which does mail order, but then cancelled the order after an email arrived a month later saying Pantour had sent them the wrong hub and then waiting another ten days and still no replacement hub had arrived. :notamused:

But I recently bought from Xootr for $22.95 plus shipping their longer stem riser (12" rather than 10") which has me sitting a little more upright, and that has taken much of the weight off my wrists and the ride feels suppler. It's a relatively inexpensive thing to try.

Regards
T

P.S. For rear suspension, I can recommend a Cane Creek Thudbuster ST suspension seatpost (extra-extra-long post, not the standard XL which appears on their website) which is excellent.

timo, thanks for the tip. of course my new hobby is nickel and diming me to death. bike nashbar and performance cycle may soon have to bail me out - of course this sudden economic crisis has got me scared-alas.

but, can anyone recommend a good suspension fork that will fit on the Swift folder and provide comfort but be efficent as well?

and by the way, I forgot to mention that Swift's customer service was just outstanding for me.

hokey

The member xootr_swift added nice suspension fore and aft on his Swift but it's not inexpensive. Instead of getting nickeled and dimed, you'll get Franklined :) Not to mention the shop charges if you're not inclined to do the work, and finding a competent shop willing to do it.

Tim's suggestion on the taller Swift riser, to sit more upright and remove some weight off your hands, is a good starting point and fairly inexpensive. You can also try ergonomic handgrips like the Ergon or BBB Ergofix. Another option is wide, high-pressure tires run at lower pressure (or at least one on the front) to help smooth out the ride.

For what it's worth, I've added suspension to my Swift for cheap but it took lots of head-scratching and patience searching for the right parts. I've also recently decided to remove the suspension because it knocked more than 2 mph off my average speed, and I was none too swift to begin with :D

My Swift with fork and saddle suspension (both SR Suntour). "Upgrade" cost was about $120, added around 7 pounds :( But being a tinkerer it was kinda fun too.
http://www.geocities.com/hikindad@sb...30cropped2.jpg

Wow, you've done a lot of work on your Swift! How did you attach that pump and water bottle?

Any reports or reviews on the new steel Swift? I did get a response from Mr Reich re his earlier offer to exchange my aluminum Swift for the new steel ones when they come out, but he - uh - doesn't sound like he's that into it any more.

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.