Looking to go fully ridged (bike stye) I’ve had Steel 853 ,Ti , Ali , not had Carbon but i’ve been drawn back to steel again, Singular Swift looks like a good contender.
Can anybody tell me there experiances with this bike & any set ups, pictures etc, hoping to use it for a bit of bike packing & my do -it- all bike.

Worth a wee look:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/tell-me-about-your-singular-swift

I’ve ran mine as a half-fat, and now with 100mm Manitou Tower forks – probably the best HT I’ve owned, although thinking of selling now that I’m beginning to enjoy my Rooster.

Thanks zigzag69.. & that should have been Rigid 😳

I’ve got an El-Mariachi (for sale if anyone makes me a good enough offer) and had a Swift (now owned by another STW’er).

The Swift was the more ‘steel’ of the two, the Mariachi is stiffer, not always a bad thing, but it’s more ‘tough steel hardtail’ than ‘springy steel hardtail’. It’s still very much steel, but not as ‘steel’.

The Swift won’t take a suspension fork unless you track down one with a straight steerer. Not an issue of you plan to stay rigid though.

In terms of handling there’s not a huge ammount in it.

The Mariachi has more scope for adding pannier racks etc if that’s your thing.

1×10 cable routing was better on the swift, but mine was an old one not the new bolt on cable guide version and my Salsa is the SS version so cable guides are bodged.

Nothing to pick between the EBB and alternator dropouts. My alternators siezed (stripped the thread unscrewing it, or maybe somethign corroded electrolyticaly), but only cost £15 for a new plate. The EBB is easier to adjust as it can’t be out of alignment like dropouts and it doesn’t move when nipping up the bolts.

The Swift was the better looking.

The Swifts fork felt more compliant, but I didn’t quite ride the forks back to back. The Swift uses Reynolds blades, no idea what Salsa use but seeing as a lot of people use Reynolds blades it wouldn’t surprise me if they were the same although the Salsa forks do look like a larger diameter.

So in summary, the Swift was the better bike, but if I was going custom I’d:

Have the Swifts main triangles and fork.
A tapered headtube
EBB.

singular is lovely, also worth checking out Stooge, a very different beast, but a lot of bikepackers are using and loving them. charlie the bike monger has got a killer deal with a fully build stoooooges at the moment!

Buy my cherry red El Mariachi – it’s bloomin’ lovely and cheap as chips.

Did I mention they ride superb too.

+1 for an El Mar.

Got a Pace RC129 complete with rigid forks in a large, sat in a box, never been built up, why because I already have one, was going to build it up different but then added an RC127 to my collection instead. It’s a great ride, you don’t want a common salsa 🙂

Niner sir is a nice ride.

I love the stiffness of my El mar. You can heave on the bars like mad and it feels great 🙂

If it’s stiffness your after the Niner is probably not for you.
But, if it’s a nice plush ride your after, a SIR.9 is indeed lovely.

I have a Swift and a Stooge and have also had an Inbred. All good. The Stooge has bags of character and is by far the most technically capable rigid bike I’ve ridden. The Swift is very much like a bike (in the best way possible). The Inbred was v similar but just not quite as lovely.

Benji i sold a Rc129 last year lovely bike maybe a tad heavy so bought an ali one instead. i probably would have another one if i can’t get a Swift, email me with price pics etc. email in profile.

I’ve had a few rigid, steel SS bikes over the years. A couple of geared frames that I SS’d myself then graduated to an Inbred and then a Genesis iO (all 26″).

Then I upgraded to a Singular Swift which is head and shoulders above all the previous bikes. Probably the larger geometry but it’s the first rigid steel bike I have ridden which has a semblance of comfort whilst feeling fast as well. Brilliant bike and I’ll never sell it. If I break it then I’ll probably get a new one.

Recommend what you have, get a surly karate monkey, brilliant bike I love it!

Has to be a Krampus. Then you can go fat or not, with no issues, and it is a barrel of fun to boot

If it helps, I’ve just put my Singular Swift up for sale in the classifieds…

ssmith1979 after frame & forks large.. Cheers.

My ritchey p 29 is over in the classifieds….

Highly rated the p29 ^^^^ love mine and picked up 2nd hand from here too 🙂