New Folding Bike: Xootr Swift (and vs. Bike Friday Crusoe)

Often I get the urge to buy bike X. Usually, the intersection of this desire, my bike fund balance, and the availability of a deal on "X" don't coincide, so nothing happens. But sometimes, these three stars align, and a new bike rolls into my fleet. Recently, I decided I really wanted to try a Xootr Swift folder, to compare how its simpler fold stacks up against my Bike Friday (just in case anyone else is comparison shopping these two out of production models). Since Xootr stopped making bikes about three years ago, they're pretty thin on the ground. In this case, I pushed the celestial alignment a bit by putting a "wanted to buy" up on one of my bike email lists. Ryan from Seattle quickly responded with a nice price on a Swift, and I've had it about a month now.

Yep, I bought a new travel bike just as travel everywhere is stopped. Great timing again.

Ryan's Swift was basically stock. A better blogger than I would have taken pictures of the stock condition, but I had a rainy afternoon off when I got it, so I immediately set to business to changing out parts from my stash. New tires, saddle, pedals, fenders, and five or six handlebar and stem combinations later, I ended up here:

The Swift has some things in common with the BF. Both hinge around a lateral axis, rather than a Dahon style vertical axis. And both are built with mostly normal bike parts (100/132.5 hubs), so upgrades are easier with normal parts. In addition, the Swift's entire rear triangle folds forward, which allows the use of track ends. This makes a fixed gear folder an easy operation, though I have the stock gearing on mine. The track ends are actually a bit of a negative at the moment: if I get a rear flat, I'll probably have to partially remove the fender to get the wheel out. I'm not looking forward to this.

Happily, I haven't flatted any of my Tioga PowerBlocks yet. I ran these on my Dahon, but in a smaller 1.75" size. These 1.9" tires barely clear the rear chainstays of the Swift, and only work because I slid the rear wheel all the way rearward. I later realized there still isn't enough clearance between the chain and tire--the chain rubs the tire lightly in the lowest gear:

Sliding the rear wheel back also means I had to make some standoff brackets to mount the fenders:

 Here's the Swift folded:

It's a quick operation: open two QRs, flop the rear wheel forward, and slide the seat post down to lock the rear wheel in place. The handlebar also pops off with a QR if needed. Since the chain stays with the crank, it usually doesn't come off, as it always does on my BF. But the BF makes for a more compact package:

Loading each bike into the trunk of my Accord, both take up quite a bit of space, but the Swift is decidedly easier to wrestle into the trunk. The Friday kind of flops around as you try to manage all the pieces and keep the fold together:

Then put the BF back together and remember you should have worn gloves:

and don't forget to adjust the rear brake and derailer cable housing, which inevitably get pulled too tight when the bike folds.

For me, the Swift wins the folding contest pretty easily. It's not a super compact fold, but for my use (throwing it in my trunk for business trips or local travel), it folds small enough. The BF is more of a packable bike than a folding bike. 

The ride quite a bit differently, as well. If I had to sum them up, I would say the Crusoe rides like a road bike or a fast hybrid, while the Swift feels more like a mountain bike with slicks. The BF fork tire clearance maxes out with my 35mm Kojaks, a slick road tire. The H bars feel a lot like the hoods position of a drop bar, and the frame has the springy, lively feel of a spirited road bike. Truly, it feels like a normal bike until you look down.

The Swift is also fun to ride, but in a different way. It has a solid feel to it. I don't hesitate to hop it off curbs or cut through construction sites. It's aluminum frame is decidedly stiffer than the BF, but it's not too stiff. The riser bars give it a '90s mountain bike feel. Initially, I thought the handling felt a bit squirrely, but a longer stem let it fit better and calmed down the front end, though it still doesn't have quite the normal bike feel of the BF. Possibly this is because the wheelbase is 2" shorter.

After many bar and stem combinations, I ended up with the cheap steel bar that come on our Trek tandem. It has a nice sweep and rise to it:

In the end, I like them both. The BF is a better riding bike for most of my needs, but the Swift rides well enough, and is a better folding bike. For now, it's fun to have both to choose from, even when all my rides are local.