I didnt see a mention of this yet.
If so, sorry for dbl post.



https://commutebybike.com/2007/09/27/...the-del-norte/

Steel track drops and dual brakes?
Steel bars and a ****ty 2-bolt stem?
Tensioners that have to be loosened to get the wheel off?
What is that DT braze on for?

Looks like swobo has successfully designed another pile of **** I wonder how overpriced it will be.

What's wrong with two bolt stems?

well, at least it looks good.

I like that they put fender and rack braze-ons on the bike.

Track drops on a bike that's so clearly meant for road use is just pandering to the drooling fixed gear masses. That looks stupid and uncomfortable.

in general nothing. They don't hold the bars as well as 4-bolts though and cheap ones tend to be especially bad. This eliminates the only advantage of steel bars.

it's final. i hate swobo.

It's not terrible, but the track bars are dumb. Calipers are also kinda silly with big tires, and I don't understand the point of 130 spacing, unless that braze-on is intended for a cable for a Nexus hub later on or something.

Agreed, but the price-point will determine my final opinion. If it's ~600, it seems like it could be a decent competitor to the San Jose/One Way market.

...but worse than the track drops is the silver bar tape. It's criminally ugly. And dutret has a good point about the built-in tensioners. What a PITA.

Bingo.

Basically Swobo has added the only things missing from a steamroller... Fender and rack eyelets.
Then made it uglier with those red wheels, and stupid bars.

but surly has the crossxcheck already.

Given swobos past offerings I think we can safely assume this is going to be more then $600.

This thing is not a new idea, more than one
mechanic around here runs a singlespeed (not fixed)
on a Surly Cross Check. Yes, clearance for big tires
is good, yes the ability to use fenders is good.
This bike rubs me the wrong way--it tries to pass
itself off as something it ain't. Probably a solid
bike but it has more faux bling than zip.

Come on duret, you should know better than this. Derail the chain and slide the wheel off without touching the tensioners.

how do you derail a properly tensioned chain?
i say if you don't like the tensioners, just take them off or leave them un-tentioned.

push hard.

The problem is that it's stuff like that looks kind of cool but isn't all that useful that drives the price up.

Seems like getting the chain back on would be the tough part. I've derailed a tensioned chain before, but I've never set one back on without releasing the tugs.

put it on a few teeth and turn the wheel or cranks. It'll make a nasty noise and possibly bend the chain but it you can't get it on it's way to tight.