Thanks for the feedback on the tires sizes. I t looks like I can fit something wide enough on there to make me happy enough.

I picked up a lightly used Swift on craigslist today. The guy I bought it from has had lots of different folders and this one he bought for his son who rode it around the neighborhood a few times and then was apparently done with it. I checked out the bike, we chatted and I mentioned I had a Mini Velo and he said he was considering getting one from Bikesdirect. Anyway I finally decided I wanted the bike and paid the cash and brought it home.

My first impressions of it is that its looks very nicely put together especially the frame. I looks like something that would cost $700+ so thats a big positive. When I got on and rode it it felt twitchy, but I had just got done doing some test rides on an 61cm BD Gravity Swift (it just hit me I own 2 Swifts at the moment LOL) so its a bit of an unfair comparison after riding something with that big of a frame. Of course the other issue is it has the short straightbar which is something I don't have on anything I own. After riding the Swift and my minivelo back to back i liked the mini velo better, but I am interested in trying out the Swift with drop bars which is what I planned on doing from the beginning. I threw some on just now to sit on the bike and it feel so much better. I am only going off of feel, but the bike does seem pretty light and it does feel solid like my mini velo. One thing I really appreciate is I looked at the Swift parts on the Xootr website in case I wanted the taller riser stem and I was surprised at how reasonable everything was. $19.95+ $7 shipping for the riser stem? Thats very reasonable. I figured it would be at least $40 before shipping.

I do have one complaint that is seems like both quick release on the seat post need to be really tight on the post isn't secure and they are a pain to open and close. Hopefully someone can shed some light on that or I am doing something stupid becasue of the heat here. LOL

All in all I am really happy with the purchase and I look forward to tinkering around with this in the coming weeks. I have plenty of goodies I can throw on the bike depending on what direction I decide to take. Over the past few years I keep moving up the folding bike and small wheeled bike chain slowly and its fun to look back at the different folders I have had.


http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_2645.jpg

you're not stupid; this is the one design flaw of the bike b/c you lose your seat position and hurt your fingers like mad trying to open the two QRs.

one thing that has helped me slightly is to lube the QRs so they don't get stuck as much. but it still takes a lot of pressure to get them tight enough that the seat doesn't shfit around.

The QRs for the Swift is a really important issue: The seatpost is actually a part of the frame integrity, so both the QRs need to be tight. The best thing is to clean the cam surfaces and lube them, Boeshield T-9 works very well for this. Otherwise they may break in your hand and ruin a great day.

The post itself needs to be clean so there is no grease or oil on it, as with any seatpost. But actually the designer recommends you coat the post with T-9, let it dry overnight, then wipe it down well; this will cause the wax to sit in all the surface scratches and prevent stuck problems. I have done this from time to time and never had a problem with a loose post.

Oh, and also don't over-tighten the QRs: It will lead to stretching the seat tubes and cracking.

I cleaned and lubed the QR and its much better. Thanks alot for the info. I was concerned about getting them too tight as well, but I think I have them in a good place now. Are there better quality QR out there I could buy? These seem to me to be relatively cheap ones, but I could be wrong. Honestly I don't know how much I will actually be folding the Swift, but I figure its worth asking some questions.

Peter Reich sold me some better QRs that he said were the best he could find and they've been great. The cam isn't visible on the outside like a regular QR it's more internal.

About the stem riser, if you don't need to detatch that there are a few choices for stem risers that bolt on so more secure. I have never needed to detach the bars and use a stem riser I think I got from airnimal.

If anyone is struggling with seatpost slippage or QRs too stiff - try lubing them first before seeking new ones.

Regarding seatpost and losing your position - I have a tube shoved down the lower seat tube resting on the BB shell, cut to just the right length so that when I put the seat post down, when it hits this tube it's at the perfect height. The tube has a split pin going across so I can hook it out with a bent coathanger if I need to change the length. This tube is actually my original stem riser, which snapped.

i love the kalloy qrs with rubber grip.

Mr Reich fitted Salsa Flip-offs on the Swift he built for my wife. I asked him to upgrade the QRs because of the discussion about them in this forum.

I bought some Salsa Flip-offs but have always been a little unsure of their strength as the shaft of the unit is much thinner than the stock part supplied by Swift. Have you had any problems?

In addition to the Mrs's Peter Reich-built Swift, I recently acquired a stock Xootr Swift single speed with the stock QRs. We've encountered no problems with either. Lubed with Boeshield T-9, both the Salsa Flip-offs and the stock QRs lock down tight. However, I envy the Mrs her Salsa Flip-offs because they are much easier on the hands. :thumb:

I am settled on switching the stock v-brakes on my Swift to cantilevers to go with my tiagra brifters. Does anyone know what I would need for the brackets on the headseat and rear fork that the canti's hang down from? Is there something I could buy or would I have to do some fabricating? Thanks

For the front, you get hangers that go around the steerer under the headset nut. For the rear, you can get a hanger that is fastened under a seat skewer, but I suspect folding will be a massive problem. Similar problem at the front, you won't be able to remove the steering riser when folding.

Thanks...I'm thinking if I leave enough slack on the cable that feeds into the hanger then the fold wouldn't be a problem still. I don't mind sacrificing the braking power a little bit.

What about separable cables (a la break-away) ? A bit of a hassle, but...

http://www.loosescrews.com/index.cgi...d=741903411683 items 2 and 7. For item 2, just a few days ago I noticed one on ebay that fastens under the nut.

Awesome, thanks. I'm assuming that the cable hanger in this link below would be one that fastens under the nut? It is for a 1 1/8 threaded headset.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1435656...in/photostream

Hey, I'm a little worried that my seatpost might be too short. I can see the bottom of it through the lower clamp in the seat tube, so it's only an inch or two into that lower portion of the tube when at the proper height. I'm wondering if this is a safety or ride quality issue. Incidentally, I'm 6'2".

Yep that's it.

In the link I gave you can click on front and rear cable hanger entries in the left list, showing some more. I didn't see one for 1-1/8" though.

The front is not a problem for folding, the cable housing seats on the hanger. Perhaps the back would be fine too, if the hanger could be on the lower seat clamp.

I would get the longer post - the post is part of the frame integrity so both QRs need to have an excellent grip on the post to ensure frame integrity while riding.

That's exactly what I did for cantis on my Swift. You just pop out the cable housing from the cable stop and the setup just hangs there as per v-brakes or calipers for the fold.

Ditto on my set up. Sora brifters with canti's. Stem riser removal is not a problem at all.

Thanks again. I'm glad the cantilever brakes are going to work out.

On another note, I'm wondering if anyone who has fitted a 60t chainring had the problem of the chain rubbing on the seatstay when in the smallest rear cog. If so, did you come to any good solutions? I have one idea which I'll get to. Here's my current setup. I have the one ring which is the way I like it, and at the moment it is on the inside position of the crank arm and I still have the stock 116 mm bottom bracket. One more thing, I'm upgrading wheels and these upgraded wheels have a 130mm hub width which is a little narrower than the 135mm hub on the stock wheel I current have on the bike. So I'm guessing that will make the problem worse as the seatstays will be compressed even closer when I put on the new wheel. But I'm thinking this could be beneficial because I could use axle spacers that go between the axle and the dropout which would keep the seatstays where they are now while meanwhile the cassette gets moved in 2.5 mm on each side (135mm-130mm/2) thus getting rid of the problem. I'm thinking this is what I'll have to do but wondering if there are any other solutions. I was kinda hoping to not need spacers cause as it stands now with the stock 135mm hubbed wheel, its hard to get the tire into the dropout since its such a tight fit and the 130mm hubbed new tire I'll be using will get rid of the problem if I don't have to go with the axle spacers. But life is full of compromises I guess...

If you look back through this thread this is a common problem, and some of us have had this with smaller chainrings. Spacers will help, although locating them as you fit a read wheel is a bit of a pain. Better still if you can have the spacers as a fixed part of the hub. You can also move the BB slightly to the non-drive side, although watch the clearance between the large chainring and the chainstay. If you think about the geometry, changes at the rear hub are going to have more of an impact than changes at the front. I run a 61T chainring in the outer position, and can't stop the rubbing so I've given up on the 11T cog but I'm running 9 speeds so still have 8 sprockets I can use and 61/12 is a big enough top gear for me.

K, thx. Move the cassette or move the chainrings...sounds pretty logical.

Monster pile
Do you have any updated thoughts/opinions on the comparison of the minivelo and the Swift? Do you still think that the Swift is more twitchy than the minivelo? I am trying to decide between the two, Swift or Mercier Nano minivelo, and would value your educated comparison. I also prefer drop bars so I am leaning toward the minivelo.
Thanks,
PCG

Let me preface my thought by saying I haven't rode the Swift on rides mor ethan around the neighborhood. I might end up selling it because I need the cash which kinda sucks. Also keep in mind the mini velo I have is one 4 prototypes and so its a bit different from the ones bikes direct has now. I think the geometry is pretty similar though in general.

The Swift is a very nice bike and by far the nicest folder I have ever actually ridden. Its a nice bike, but I guess the breakdown is why I like my mini velo better.

I like the relaxed seat tube of the mini velo better. It also has a lower bottom brakect as well which I seem to like alot. The Swift's bottom brake is around 3/4" taller part of that could be tires, but its a noticeable difference. All this I think makes the Mini Velo seem a bit more stable to me. People like different things though.

Mounting a rear rack on the minivelo is as easy as buying a rack and putting it on or in my case pull one out of my parts pile. If I was determined to keep the Swift I am sure this is a way to put a rack of some kind on the bike, but I am not going to worry about it at this point. I am sure there is something that could be done.

The mini velo comes with drop bars and more speeds. I toyed with putting a Sora group on the Swift and some cantis, but thats not going to happen now. I like the downtube shifters on the mini velo so I don't feel the need to upgrade them, but if that was something you want to do both bikes would need some money for that.

Both bikes look cool in there own way, but I like the look of the mini velo more. The Swift is a nice looking bike.

Whats good about the Swift?

Its a high quality bike and its worth the money. The Mini Velo is a budget bike, but at the price you get you can spend some extra money if you are at all picky upgrading it. My Shetland was speced nicer than the current Nano with a couple areas here and there.

V-brakes or canti's I would prefer these and that part of why I was interested in the Swift. My prototype also has 451 wheels and the tires are more narrow than what the Nano can fit.

The Swift folds. =) When I took the mini Velo to Minneapolis a couple weeks ago on a trip with the wheels off fit it easily in the trunk of a 2007 Hyundai Elantra and plenty of stuff fit in around and on top of it.

The Swift has a longer wheelbase than my minivelo, but I don't know if its much longer than the Nano.

Its probably a bit lighter than the Nano, but not by a great deal.

Whats the bottom line for me? The Swift is a nice bike, but there is no question which bike I would keep even if price was no issue. I like the way the mini velo ride and it fits me well. Then there is the question of cost and its more narrow for me. The Mini Velo was $240 shipped to my door. The Swift was lightly used purchased on craigslist for $400 which I think was a pretty good deal and why I purchased it in the first place. If you are looking for something to ride primarily in a roadbike vein and don't care if it folds I would go with the Mini Velo. If you want to save a few bucks you can get a black one from bike Island for $250 with some scuffs on it. If you want something that folds and want a higher quality bike and don't like super relaxed geometry get the Swift and convert it to drop bars. I have one I'll sell you. =)

Feel free to ask anymore questions that would help you pick. I know I am biased toward the mini velo because its probably my favorite bike I have every owned and I have ridden it a decent chunk of miles and the Swift is a new bike and other than putting on a longer stem which helped I haven't been able to take the time to get it really set up the way I would want it.

Monster pile,
Thanks for your candid opinions. I am drawn to the mini velo because of the drop bars & chromoly tubing & compact size. I like the Swift because of the foldability and longer wheel base, but I am not a fan of aluminum frames. So I will probably go with the mini velo and upgrade the crank arms, bottom bracket, pedals & headset, saddle and maybe a longer stem.
Thanks again for your opinions:p

Hi all,
What bottom bracket and crankarm combo are you fellow Swifties running? I have the stock right now and am looking to possibly upgrade these at some point. If you haven't noticed, I'm preparing to do some serious upgrades. I would be running the BB with a 9-speed cassette would probably need the BB width close to the stock 116mm, but a little narrower might be good. I know now of the Shimano UN54 option which is one I'm considering but not sure what crank would go well with that. I'm also thinking of going with a 175mm crank arm size. One more thing, I would probably want to stick with a 130BCD spacing on the chainring, but I'm interested to hear other option as well.

@clearcastle04, I've noticed that Vuelta sells 110BCD chainrings from 34t all the way up to 60t, so that might give you more versatility. I'm considering getting 175mm 110BCD cranks with two sets of chainrings: 56/42 (my current setup with the stock cranks) most of the time, and 52/36 or 52/34 for the occasional tour. Only their unramped/unpinned rings are available in such a large range of sizes, though. That's fine with me because I use the large chainring 99% of the time and only use the small one as a bailout gear on steep hills, so I don't need ultra-fast/smooth shifts.

Thanks...its not so much the chainrnig selection I'm worried about cause I've already upgraded mine to a Vuelta 130 BCD 60T ring which I like and I want to keep using that. Now that I've upgraded the chainring I'm thinking of ugrading the crank arms and the bottom bracket to fulfill an entire crankset and BB transformation... I'll keep scouring the internet to see if I can't find a 175mm arm 130BCD spacing crank arm set and a matching BB with 110-116mm width thats moderately to very lightweight.

Yay! I'm very excited to say that I'll be buying this bike! I've just been lurking for the last few months after deciding on the Swift early this spring, only to look at my finances and decide that I need to wait another year before buying. Unless I could find a good used one, that is ... which I just did.

I'll be converting it to drop bars (already have the parts), and by winter I expect to go for a front drum brake as well. I might try to live with a rear rim brake at least until I wear out the first rim, then convert to a rear drum. Hopefully I'll be able to post my own Swift pr0n in a couple weeks.

Not a lot of color in the silver Swift, and I do like color (my mountain bike is a bright orange with turquoise raindrop paint scheme and yellow-orange bar tape, my current commuter is british racing green with celeste bar tape, and my Madsen cargo bike is turquoise with brown leather saddle and bar tape). Not sure what direction to go: should I go with yellow bar tape to match the little swift logo, or maybe blue or red? Or classic brown (since I have a roll of brown bar tape already lying around, and could yank the brown saddle off the Madsen). Which will look best against all that silver? Leaning towards yellow despite all the grime it shows after a few months, but can't decide yet.

- Dan