I solved this problem by cutting down the stock seatpost and inserting an aftermarket layback seatpost of the correct OD (sorry I don't recall what that was). I inserted the stock seatpost into the seattube enough to properly support the fold and cut it off at the top of the seat tube. I then slotted the cutdown seatpost and installed a seatpost clamp. The other advantage to this mod is that once the aftermarket seatpost height has been set to the correct height, you can remove the entire assembly for folding and reinsertion is a no look affair. If you need more height you can cut off the stock seatpost higher although Thomson has some fairly long seatposts. The Thomson seatpost is so light the entire assemble actually weighs less than the stock seapost alone. I have a picture of this set up on a previous post (#1930)

You can use the stock Dahon telescopic post, available from Thor, for this identical mod. In fact the telescoping post is made by the same people as the stock Xootr post. Or you could do as above and cut the stock post, the inner needed is 27.2mm.

dyamamoto and Dur: thanks guys - great suggestions.

I'm not sure my hack sawing skills are up to modifying my seatpost, so I did check out the Dahon telescopic post. Thor doesn't have a picture of it but this site does so I can see how this would work:

http://www.gaerlan.com/dahon/misc.htm

Yet another question about converting a Xootr Swift to 451 wheels and caliper brakes.

If you've used Tektro 556 brakes, how does the Xootr work with the recessed mounts? If it doesn't have you tried any of the suggestions made by Sheldon Brown here? Another method I've read about in the mechanics forum, here, is the use of the nutted bolts on Tektro 800a brakes in the body of the 556 brakes. What would you recommend?

Thanks,

Jonathan

I had to drill mine. No big deal. The only thing I wished I'd known then that I know now is that you can get much longer versions of the recessed cylinder nut that came with the tektro brakes. So if when you fit them it feels like it's only hanging on by a couple of turns, get a longer nut.

Richard.

Joako:
When you finish building it, can you tell me how the steel Swift compares to the aluminum? It seems that very few people have ridden both, and I'm curious about maybe switching.

That is a tiny chainring.

Will do


Yes, because the Nexus 4 1st gear is 1:1. No wonder why they are not making it anymore.


Does anybody knows of a bike shop in NYC that do welding/braze-ons? The rear triangle was setup for drum and caliper brakes only. Or, has anyone tried running caliper brakes with 406 tires? Thanks.

We had a couple of hours of dry weather this morning (the first in ages) so I took the chance to get out for a short ride and take some photo's of how my Swift looks now. If you follow this Swift thread you will know that I, along with many other owners, am constantly tweaking my bike to get the perfect set up. Well, I've been at it again!

My Xootr Swift is three years old and is pretty much a standard bike. Any changes I've made have been to saddle, handlebars and luggage carrying, everything else (brakes, wheels, drive chain, chainwheel and bottom bracket) are as fitted by the factory. I did replace the stock cassette with a SRAM PG850 eight speed set with 11 - 32 sprockets to take account of the local hills and my 58 year old knees.

I bought the Swift so that I could put it in my car and travel to locations away from home to cycle fresh roads. I did not want to carry my conventional bikes on a roof rack or hanging on the back of my small hatchback so a folder seemed to be the answer. I wanted a good bike that happened to fold rather than a folder that was a reasonable ride. Folded size was not important so long as it would go into my car - the Swift scored on all points. If you scroll back through this forum you will see many photo's of by blue Swift sporting various bags, pedals, handlebars and saddles - I think I've finally cracked it!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/DSCN4148.jpg

I have fitted a rack and I think it will stay! It's a Tortek lightweight model that provides a platform for my AGU Yamaska bag. When I first fitted the rack I attached the "arms" to the lower seat tube q/r. It worked and looked neat but it did mean that the q/r skewer would not screw far into its retaining nut. Knowing how important the seat post q/rs are I decided to re-locate the arms to the rear triangle via 22mm 'P' clips. If you look at the photo of the bike minus the bag you will notice that the rack platform is level with the top of the Swift's main frame tube. This, to my eyes, is a nice touch as it looks to be part of the package. I think that carrying luggage low on a small wheeler is a good idea as it keeps the centre of gravity low and stops the bike looking "top heavy". The rear bag also sits in line with the front bag which is located on a Rixen/Kaul Klickfix Caddy bracket. This new bracket bolts around the steering tube and keeps the bag close to the bike.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/DSCN4156.jpg

I don't need to carry a lot of things when I ride as I only have time for day rides but, living in the UK (England - 8 miles from Scotland) and on the fringe of the English Lake District, wet weather gear is required on every ride. We have lots of lakes and need to fill them with something and that something falls from the sky at regular intervals! This means that mudguards (fenders) are not an optional extra they are essential. I prefer the look of the Swift without 'guards but needs must. The ones I've fitted are Zefal Junior 20" MGZ 2050B ones. Aren't you glad you were not a member of the committee that came up with that name?

Bike spec is as follows;

Handlebars - Easton EA70 with Specialized Body Geometry grips and ski 'bar ends.
Stem - Simca adjustable. This is the best adjustable stem I have found. It doesn't look like an adjustable model and is very quick and easy to change position.
Computer - PRO Scio W.3.5 which has a thermometer and altimeter built in!
Seat - Specialized BG2 Sport.
Pedals - run of the mill flat platform fitted with power grips. I can ride in any footwear and they are so easy to use.
Bag - AGU Yamaska which has small side panniers hidden in the side pockets.
Front bag is Rixen/Kaul 'bar bag.
Bottle holder - Rixen/Kaul - neater than the Minoura model.
Front light - Smart, which has its own bracket that bolts to the fork crown - very handy.
Rear light - 4D Toplight which bolts to the carrier's rear plate.
Stand - unbranded from Taiwan
Tyres - Schwalbe Marathon Racers. I have tried the Marathon Plus tyres but found that they caused too much drag. Our roads are impregnated with thousands of small stone chippings which give good grip but riding with the Marathon Plus tyres was like ripping Velcro appart. Not much freewheeling I'm afraid.


http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/DSCN4163.jpg

So there it is - for the moment. Still the best bike I have owned and it gets the most use.

Isn't the Swift the versatilest EVAH? :)

What happened to the Swallow???
 

Is there any news from Peter Reich regarding the new, improved, smaller folding, steel, model of the Swift which I believed was to be called the Swallow. The last message I received from Peter, (July 2008), was that it was in the works. Does anybody on this forum have news, updates, or rumors to share?
I have been waiting for this, as have a lot of others. :)

Yes, this is a good question! I am also "really interested" in the progress of this model of the Swift by Peter.:thumb:

Hi all, I recently purchased a lovely Swift -- as my wife puts it, I have a crush on it -- it's nice to meet other people who seem to feel similarly about theirs.

I have several novice questions (I haven't actually owned a bike in 30+ years) but first: how do you maintain your seat post? Do you lube it at all?

Thanks in advance, -Scott

Don't lube it! Wipe it as clean as you can get it, or wash with WD-40 even, and swab the seat tube inside clean as well. Try to keep road grit away from the back slits where the seat clamps are. I stick on a bit of tape to cover the slits.

Meaning you wipe your seatpost down with WD-40, and then wipe it back off? If so,would it be better to use a silicon lube for that? Thanks again, -Scott

Any will work. Just like jur mentioned, I have found that grease makes it harder to install/remove the seatpost and that keeping it clean works much better. While cleaning the seatpost, you might also want to lube the quick releases, as this will smooth the closing/opening of them.

FYI, the Australian Xootr website has reduced their Xootr Swifts from a ridiculous AUD1290 to AUD1000:

http://www.xootr.com.au/shop/index.p...d&productId=23

http://img.skitch.com/20090903-pypj1...xm.preview.jpg
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch

This is an alternative to ordering just the frame from the USA for USD490 ≈ AUD 590 including shipping to Sydney (January 2009 price inquiry + September 2009 exchange rate).

Another question -- my understanding is that one of the nice things about the Swift is that it takes standard-sized parts -- but are the front stem and seat post standard-sized?

ie, apart from Xootr, where can one get replacements for those?

The seatpost is same as Dahon's and you can get light and good quality seatposts for Dahons. You actually need a post/seat combo for the lightest setup as they use the I-beam fitting, like this one http://www.fudgescyclestore.com/inde...=66785&o=85052

Note the standard quick-releases that come with the swift are not that great and don't have great leverage. This is important as the standard Xootr swift is a slightly thicker 34mm than the Dahon ones.

Definately worth sourcing some better seatpost QRs IMO

Juicy gossip you've after eh? Well I think there'll be a few people get excited about this...

Peter has been distracted on another, and IMO more fruitful project (for me anyway as I race on the swift). It's a carbon project with a custom carbon fork (long steerer so no riser needed) and carbon wheels. Not so practical for the daily commute as tyres are tubular but the bike as pictured weights 14.5 lbs. That's if I'm managed to attach the 2 pictures.

Post is a thinwall Dahon one.

Fork is a special order and once Peter has finished testing it he'll be ordering a batch. I'm first on the list BTW.

Hey Ricky,

Any Swift powermeter tire results yet?

You can buy a front stem in any bike store. It uses a 1 1/8 or 28.6 stem. You can also make your own aluminum stem riser to reduce weight. As for the seatpost it uses a 34mm one, which is the same as size as the Dahon bikes. Try thor or gaerlan for the seatpost.

OOOHHHHHHH :love:

The frame looks like a regular aluminum one. No wonder why Peter is mostly away.

Is this the evolution of the "Swifter" project? (Go fast build with 451 rims)

I don't know how "fruitful" this would be as any carbon-aero wheelset would most likely be excessively expensive.

I'm still testing unfortunately. Finding it hard to get enough time at the velodrome - I underestimated how much time it would take. I have tested the wheels from the Mu EX, Greenspeed scorchers, and folding and steel-bead Kojaks. Will post the results as soon as I have some.

If you take a close look at the logo on the top-tube Peter's put a red 'r' after Swift, implying this is for racing. I don't recognise the mag wheels but I recognise the tubs - they are for the front wheel of racing wheelchairs and are neither 451 or 406 but slightly smaller than a 451 I think. The wheels may be 451 which might explain why Peter said he had so much trouble fitting the tyres on.

I'm not sure you need to go to the expense of Mag wheels to loose weight. The Mu EX wheels I borrowed weighed less than 1kg for the pair (and are also quite aero), compared the the standard wheels that weigh more like 3kg.

I'm still trying to find a pantoured Rolf front wheel as used to come with the top-end Dahons.

I like the look of that - and I'm interested in the gearing. How do you think the overall efficiency of the SA hub compares to derailleurs? I wish someone would invent a hub gear that was better in all respects to a derailleur as their are so many chainline problems with derailleurs on folders.

Sorry, I misspoke -- rather than stem, I meant riser -- is that a standard part, or mostly only available from Xootr?

And so it's ok to use the narrower Dahon seatposts in place of the official Swift seatposts (I've seen some conflicting opinions on that).

Thanks again to everybody here -- I've been reading through ALL the earlier posts in this thread, and I'm now up to page 51 of 83, phew!

Only available through Xootr OR you can make your own easily. You just need the right tools.

I don't see any issues using the Dahon seatpost. As far as I remember they are also 34mm. However, I have seen a few labeled 33.9mm.

So it seems that the Swift/Swallow folder was just a "pipe dream"! I guess the project was too big for a small shop.:notamused:
Maybe there will be another individual/company to come out with a break through project bike!
We can only hope!:thumb:

What does that mean?

As for the new improved steel Swift, Peter Reich promised me that he would exchange my aluminum Swift for the new one when it comes out "soon". This was by way of compensating me for the defective Swift I received and then had to ship back, AZ to NY, at my own expense. That was over a year and a half ago. I did inquire about it almost one year ago at which time he told me that "I'm lagging on the steel frames- can't give you a firm delivery date at the moment." And that's the last I've heard.