http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...raithwaite.jpg

OK, this may scare the horses a bit but it is always nice to find somewhere you feel at home!

My name is Braithwaite, you may note from my forum entry that the final 'e' is missing. This is because my name is one letter too long to fit the forum registration! The village of Braithwaite is set in the English Lake District and is about 35 miles from my home. It is surrounded by steep hills (or fells as we call them) and is a short walk from the tourist town of Keswick (Kez-ik). The lakes of Bassenthwaite and Derwent Water are nearby.

If you look closely, my Swift is in the picture!

Great place to live and some stunning cycling routes. As good as anywhere in the world on a nice day!

Bike looks great!

Fancy that - a whole town welcoming you personally!

Your Swift with the drops looks like the business. I just put some bullhorns on mine but so far am not terribly satisfied.

You can buy a new wheel with hub already installed. It is cheaper having your LBS store rebuild the wheel. Price is dependent on the hub choice mainly but here is one link http://www.utahtrikes.com/PRODINFO-S...Wheel_Kit.html

I would choose steel over aluminum and powder coated over regular paint.

i like the alfine 8 on peter's model. been riding it for a month now

I bought a Nitto M12, but couldn't make it fit on my Swift.

I ended up with the Nashbar cheapo front rack - but it worked out fine. I carried a 20 lb turkey on there! I also used it with front panniers all the time - the only adaptation you need to do is make some way to anchor the bottom of your panniers. I got 2 stainless steel hook from my local hardware store and drilled them out to fit on the fork braze-ons. Then I replaced the hooks on my pannier bungees with keyrings - then attach keyring on fork hook, and upper pannier mounts on rack - secure, and strong.

Magnus, thanks for your input on the rack issue. If I decide I need to supplement with a Nashbar front rack, you have spelled out what needs to be done!

Do you miss your Swift?

This is indeed correct. The fenders sold by Xootr have some of the existing hardware removed, and you're suppose to attach the rear fender to the chainstay bridge using a ziptie. I don't know why that is, but so far I have not had any issues with this set up.

Sometimes... It was a great bike in many ways. If I had discovered Schwalbe Big Apple tires sooner, and Xootr had brought out their front dérailleur mount, then I might well have kept it. I liked how the ride was really close to that of a full size bike, and I could stand up and hammer. It also fit me better than my Birdy, because I'm having a hard time finding a longer stem for it.

On the other hand, my Birdy is a great touring bike - superbly comfortable for long distances, clever racks front & rear that add minimal weight and fold with the bike. Smaller fold than the Swift, and it actually stands on its own when folded.

As it is, I see no reason to replace the Birdy. But if it got stolen, or broke, then the Swift would certainly be on my short list!

Swift pics!
 

As promised, here is my Swift with the following additions:

(1) XL riser
(2) Water bottle cage
(3) VP 117-A folding pedals
(4) Kickstand
(5) Dahon Traveller Rear Rack
(6) Schwalbe Marathon Racer tires

Attachment 164316 Attachment 164317 Attachment 164318

As you can see, the rear rack does not interfere in any way with the fold, although it does add to the length of the folded package. The only imperfection in this arrangement is that the rear rack is tilted slightly towards the rear, but as long as items on it are strapped down, I don't think this is going to cause any problems. At least it didn't tonight, when I had a bag strapped to the top (with a cargo net) on my ride home.

Nice bike Urbanis. Like your flooring too!

Yes, they did much nicer flooring back in the 1930's!

fwiw, I just got the SKS fenders used on Dahon bikes, and they seem to fit perfectly fine (though I haven't yet been out for a long ride), I kind of preferred them to the Planet Bike fenders as offered on the Xootr site. As with the Planet Bike fenders, I'm using a ziptie for one attachment on the rear.

@urbanis

thanks a lot. this will be really helpful for me and many others in future. i'm debating whether to get this dahon rack or thor's custom detachable pletscher rack. advantage of this is, no extra work when folding. with pletscher rack, you need to open a quick release mount on seatpost for rack every time you fold, but you can get it to fold a little smaller for bagging.

i second the nice flooring.

Hey, I got a spare Dahon traveler rack. I should by a swift to use it on...

Dahon front rack DOES work on Xootr
 

Somebody here said the Dahon front rack doesn't work on the Swift, but actually, I've gotten it to work on mine (Xootr). Bought it from ThorUSA (forum loyalty, I guess). A few notes:

• You need spacers between the front dropout eyelets and the rack; otherwise, the rack arms touch the fork before the lower attachments touch the eyelets. Bottle cage spacers would work, but what I used was two lower valve stem rings (not sure what else to call them), which is what my LBS gave me when I asked for bottle cage spacers (they had tons in their small parts bin).
• The eyelet to fork crown bolt distance on the Xootr is ever so slightly different than on the Dahon, so you have to flex the rack slightly to get them both to line up. I found it much easier to attach the eyelet screws first, then rotate the rack upwards and attach the fork crown bolt second. You'll probably cross-thread the eyelets if you try to do it the other way.
• I attached my fender stays to the inside of the eyelets using nuts. If you attach them on the outside, between the rack and the eyelets, you'll need correspondingly less spacer.

I haven't tested the front rack much, but I did take it for a quick test ride with one pannier loaded with books on one side only, to see what the worst-case handling would feel like. It really wasn't too bad. The weight made the steering noticeably heavier, but the asymmetry didn't bother me much. Not sure I'd actually ride that way, but nice to know it's doable.

Hey, which of you guys said hello at Summer Streets today while I was riding with my kids?

Nice feature Noteon and fine boys! It's great you take them out cycling so much and they will grow up appreciating how cool folding bikes are too. I totally agree what a lovely city Montreal is. I spent a week there in summer of 2005 and loved the contrasts of the French and Irish cathedrals. I'd love to go back and cycle there and meander through the beautiful Laurentian towns in the summer. Fond memories of Saint-Sauveur.

Montreal is a great city for an American folding bike because that's the only kind of bike Amtrak will allow aboard their Canadian line--at least out here on the East Coast--without disassembly and boxing. I bring a bungee and they let me stow the Swift in a luggage area, hooked to a bar of the jacket hanging rack. A Brompton or smaller would probably fit over your head on the suitcase rack. In Montreal, I roll it off the train and ride to the hotel.

Yeah, my kids are big on telling me the different bikes they see. Usually it's "Daddy, that's a Specialized just like mine!" when they see a carbon road bike that cost 20 times what their Hot Rocks set me back, but yesterday it was "Daddy, those look like folding bikes!" when a couple of Dahons pootled by. It impressed the Dahon owners, but I wanted to hear model name, year, and maximum load bearing. Oh well, they're five. Maybe next year.

@Noteon

Yep, people will sure be impressed when they hear little ones singling out folding bikes. When I set a International Marketing assignment with 10 emerging international product in 2006, the three most popular choices were the Tato Nano car, the Shanghai Tang fashion label and...... Brompton! In fact if I remember correctly Brompton ranked second only to the Tato Nano car as a project choice. Folding bikes are becoming cooler with the younger generation as each year goes by. The perception of the Brompton as a 'clown bike' in London is a rarity these days.

You should call the bearing load a BUTT rating lol:


BUTT= Bearing under Tush Threshold

Mind you I cracked a Downtube FS frame on my first folder with the seatpost only slightly too high so I understand the importance of stress loads on bikes! Should compose a classic number called 'The Buttcracker Waltz' :D

confirmed. i tried that initially and used to bag it. but over time, i would just lay it sideways on the end luggage shelves for oversized luggage

Out of curiosity would a Bike Friday Tikit store there too or only the Brompton's more square footprint?

Epicyclist, thank you for revealing the secrets of how to install the Dahon Traveller Front Rack on a Swift! I guess I gave up too easily when I saw the rack arms were touching the fork. If someone wants a rack but wants to keep the fold small, this is probably the optimal solution. Can you give us an update at some point on how satisfied you are riding with cargo on the front rack and whether this has remained a good solution over time?

Well, I think we've firmly established on this thread that racks do exist that work on the Swift! To sum up current understanding:

Front racks:
(1) Nashbar Front Rack (yangmusa)
(2) Dahon Traveller Front Rack with bottle cage spacers (Epicyclist)

The Nitto Mini-Front Rack may work, but no one has reported using it yet.

Rear racks:
(1) Xootr CrossRack
(2) Dahon Traveller Rear Rack with p-clamps (Urbanis)

There are doubtless many rear racks that would work with some clever adaptations. Paul Braithwaite has one on his Swift.

gringo_gus, it sounds like you may have folderitis. You may want to consult a doctor--it can be a very expensive condition to live with.

i think it would, have never seen one in person, but from online photos. there isn't much room beyond the brompton box, but if its only bigger in depth not height , width (considering a tire as the height , width side), then definitely. there was a lot of room to spare between next shelf above

officially, amtrak says that the only place you can put folders. but nobody has stopped me from using overhead. just a lot of weight to lift that high.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...=1241337895554

Folding Bikes Brought Aboard as Carry-On Baggage

Folding bicycles may be brought aboard certain passenger cars as carry-on baggage. Only true folding bicycles (bicycles specifically designed to fold up into a compact assembly) are acceptable. Generally, these bikes have frame latches allowing the frame to be collapsed, and small wheels. Regular bikes of any size, with or without wheels, are not considered folding bikes, and may not be stored as folding bikes aboard trains.
You must fold up your folding bicycle before boarding the train. You may store the bike only in luggage storage areas at the end of the car (or, in Superliners, on the lower level). You may not store bikes in overhead racks.

There are doubtless many rear racks that would work with some clever adaptations. Paul Braithwaite has one on his Swift.[/QUOTE]

Well, I did have for a time! As I use the Swift for day rides and carry as little as possible, I removed the rack and now have an Ortlieb saddle pack instead. I have a touring bike for carrying loads. Any "normal" rack should fit the Swift with 'P' clips securing the arms to the rear triangle.

I spent over two hours this morning reading old posts in this thread--an initiation of sorts into Swift culture--and it was fascinating to see how long-time posters have evolved their bicycles. I was particularly interested in the permutations of Paul Braithwaite's bicycle--swept handlebars, bar ends, butterfly bars, rack/no rack, fenders/no fenders, etc. Also, there were some interesting questions raised that never got answered. For example, a few people mentioned back in 2008 about a "Swift 2.0" that Peter Reich was developing with a two-part seatpost and other changes--was that ever released? Someone also asked about bags, but I don't recall that question getting answered, either. On that note, I have a bag I used for my Downtubes that I should try out on my Swift.

So, now that I've solved the rack problem, I'm looking at my handlebars and thinking about next steps. The taller riser has made the bike much more enjoyable to ride but I feel a little stinted on the handlebar length--often I like to place my hands where the ring and little fingers fall off the edge . Stock is 500mm; I happen to have a 540mm one in my spare bike parts box (same 5 degree sweep as stock)--do you think that would be sufficient? I'm also thinking about adding bar ends. I have a nasty hill on my commute (that noteon is quite familiar with!) and I find on the Swift my instinct is to ride out of the saddle on ascent. Would bar ends help with that position and should I be looking at mini bar ends or ski bar ends (like the ones Xootr sells as a Swift accessory)?

I was particularly interested in the permutations of Paul Braithwaite's bicycle--swept handlebars, bar ends, butterfly bars, rack/no rack, fenders/no fenders, etc.

I know, I really must stop playing about with the bike! The fact is, the Swift is just great at being customised and can be used as the 'do it all' machine. After much playing around with the setup I am happy with the current version; drop bars, Ortlieb saddle pack and clip-on mudguards. I may swap the standard 52 tooth chainwheel for a 50 or even a 48 as I live in a very hilly area and (in four years) have never used the top two cogs on the road - I need low gears! I own a steel framed touring bike and a lightweight racing machine but the Swift wins out every time!