• This topic has 36 replies, 19 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by Sam.
Viewing 37 posts - 1 through 37 (of 37 total)
  • Tell me about your Singular Swift.
  • jupiter
    Free Member

    A bike that I am very interested in, but I would like some owners insights. Compared to ‘modern’ frames it seems steep in head angle (should I fit a slackset?) and long in chainstay, but does this really matter? I’m 5’9” so I think the medium should be a great fit (though I do like a shorter seat tube, 16.5” ideally; a bit of slightly flexy seatpost does wonders). I like the new cream colour, and with a nice set of skinwall tyres should look lovely. So tell me about yours, especially riders of about my height, problems that you have had if any, and what you love about them. A test ride may be difficult to arrange at the moment what with life getting in the way, maybe in the new year.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Its ace, i loved mine.

    Slacker, short stem or long forks would ruin it. Its an unashamedly old skoll XC bike for people who dont swallow the ‘longer lower slacker moar carbon’ mantra rammed down their throats by some parts of ‘the industry’. It’s at its best on the kind of flatish undulating twisty singletrack you’d expect at an XC race, I rode mine all over north Yorkshire and blasted round trail centers too, but it reqires a degree of skill rahter than rellying on the bike.

    Only reason i sold mine was a set of dirt cheap tapered forks poped up and it only has a straight headtube.

    Buy if: you want an XC bike that’ll last.

    Otherwise buy a stooge, which will look similar but designed to be slacker and take a shorter stem.

    Clobber
    Free Member

    TINAS has it fairly spot on there.

    Plus to say it’s the most efficient pedaller I’ve ever had. Love it for everything.

    And also gives you the option of 650B+ for hooligan antics.

    If I could only have one bike it’d be a swift.

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    molgrips
    Free Member

    for people who dont swallow the ‘longer lower slacker moar carbon’ mantra rammed down their throats by some parts of ‘the industry’

    In summary then it’s the perfect bike for old git luddites 😉

    Had a quick check, it looks a similar bike to my Salsa, that I bought specifically because it had steep angles, for road/offroad mixed rides. It’s fantastic at that, the steep angles make the handling incredibly sharp, and the big wheels make it a lot less OTBey than rigid bikes were back in the day. I’d expect the Swift to be similarly good.

    Don’t get skinwall tyres though. They’ll look shite with that colour, being too similar but not similar enough to match.

    jupiter
    Free Member

    Interesting, I still think skinwall tyres would look good! My Favourite bike was a Kona hardtail of some years ago, so the Swift should be ideal? I have read most of a very long mtbr thread and I like what was written about this frame.I also like the Stooge, but a slightly more classic bike and look is what I am after at the moment.

    zigzag69
    Free Member

    If you’re feeling fruity, it also works very well as a half-fat with a Salsa 29 enabler up-front.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    I’ve also got an El-Mariachi like Molgrips (it’s what I sold the swift to get).

    On balance the Swift is the nicer to ride, probably owing to the thinner/lighter tubing, the forks in particular are much stiffer on the salsa.

    But that’s splitting hairs, I’ve had the Salsa two or three years now and it’s a very good bike.

    In summary then it’s the perfect bike for old git luddites

    I’d prefer to think of it as a bike for people for who’m 90% of the riding is in mud and really don’t want faff 😀

    Gone back to a rigid fork for the time being, might keep an eye out for a Swift to swap it for.

    retrobri
    Free Member

    Lovely bike and so versatile. SS, geared, bit of bounce up front…just awesome! especially where I ride (Chilterns) it’s a perfect match for XC days out and attacking singletrack!

    Mine is currently in rigid/geared mode and stupidly fast 😈

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    Skinwalls look right with a silverbits build. Big black hoops on a bike with lots of silver look a bit much.

    Wife’s got skinwall ardents on hers. She’s 5’6 and with a 50mm stem it fits her nicely. She loves it, it’s transformed her enjoyment of mtbing because climbs are now enjoyable, rather than the dejecting morale-sapping drag she found them to be on her old 26″ orange HT. When I look round now on uphills, I’m always delighted to see how close she is behind.

    I’m 5’11 and I pinch it for a thrash every now and then. It’s a bit short with 50mm stem, I’d stick a 90 or 100mm on there if I was going further. 1st proper go out round the local loop I set a bunch of PRs, I expected the uphill ones, but there were a couple downhill including a 2015 KOM in there too, and I didn’t feel like I was pushing it as hard as I been on previous rides.

    If you’re going to be upset at knowing you haven’t got the lightest bike, or the most modern headtube, maybe it’s not for you, but if you want a bike for riding as fast as you fancy, and that’ll put a smile on your face when you do, it’s a winner.

    Only caveat is the straight steerer. Unless ur 100% rigidd til u die, keep your eyes peeled for a 1/8th steerer 29er fork for the parts bin in case you fancy boing in the future.

    willjones
    Free Member

    It’s at its best on the kind of flatish undulating twisty singletrack you’d expect at an XC race, I rode mine all over north Yorkshire and blasted round trail centers too, but it reqires a degree of skill rather than relying on the bike.

    +1

    Gratuitous pic, on North York Moors having just blasted round a trail centre:

    I’d love to pick up some tan wall ardent, but not been able to find any, anywhere.

    fatladridesbikes
    Free Member

    I’ve had 3 Swifts and loved them all. They handle everything that general XC riding will throw at you without flattering rubbish riding.

    Moved from 100mm Manitou’s to rigid and then fitted a 29+ upfront. All were great fun to ride.

    Having said this I prefer my Rooster which is like a Swift only better IMO 😉

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    Not the best pic, but it’s all I can find.

    Currently with silver bars, white grips and saddle which are dirtying up nicely to match the frame, 100mm rebas up front.

    willjones: we got these at probikeshop.fr, which was the only place I could find them at the time. out of stock there now, too.

    nemesis
    Free Member

    It’s a great, versatile bike. I can’t think of anyone I know who’s ridden one who didn’t like it.

    Negatives? 27.2 seatpost limits dropper choice. Straight head tube may limit your choice of suspension.

    Mine in b+ mode

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Can you get sus forks on there if you fancy it? Looks a bit short.

    On balance the Swift is the nicer to ride, probably owing to the thinner/lighter tubing, the forks in particular are much stiffer on the salsa.

    Hijack – what forks did you find stiff? Cromotos?

    johnnystorm
    Full Member

    I sold mine and bought an inbred, didn’t notice the difference save the ebb being a better way of going Ss. Certainly nothing to justify the gaspipe jibes the inbred gets.

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    Can you get sus forks on there if you fancy it?

    do you mean the stock rigid fork looks short?

    120mm and the handling becomes less direct, 100mm is good.

    The Swift is designed for use with either the supplied rigid fork or a 100mm travel suspension fork designed for use with 29” wheels.

    Sam’s also said some stuff about fork offset, but I can’t remember what it was. “55mm” was mentioned, but I’m not sure whether that was good or bad. Good, I think

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I thought there might not be enough room for the wheel to move up and down.. but sounds like it’s not a problem.

    Can’t remember why I didn’t look at this when I was buying.

    EDIT oh yeah – no rack mounts.

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    The newest ones do! They’re not in the UK yet, though

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Hijack – what forks did you find stiff? Cromotos?

    Yup, they certainly feel less compliant than the singular forks. I didn’t measure them with calipers but the salsas look like slightly larger tubing. Could also be the stiffer headtube. Cornering and other torsional stiffness is indistinguishable between them, but the salsa just feels harsher over roots etc (same tyres, wheels, stem, bars and grips and same trails before anyone asks).

    IIRC the Singular fork uses the same blade profile as the Reynolds tubeset that Niner and others use in their (considerably more expensive) forks, might even be the same tubes just not paying Reynolds for the 520 stickers.

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    thisisnotaspoon – Member
    …but the salsa just feels harsher over roots etc …

    That’s what sold me my Swift. I was following a Singular rider in a race. I was getting beaten to death despite having front suspension. The Singular just seemed to be gliding across the roots. I suspect longitudinal deflection is more important than vertical in those cases.

    The Swift fork was much nicer than any other 29er fork I’ve ridden, and when I put a suspension and then a carbon fork on, I quickly reverted to the original fork.

    kcal
    Full Member

    that’s what I’m looking to hear as def. considering finally dragging my bikes into the next century (1993 & 1998…).

    jupiter
    Free Member

    Wheels, or more to the point rims. Velocity Blunt SS, does the Swift suit a wider but not too wide rim (madness to choose Easton Heist wheelset?) I will be going 29 rather than 650b+, for the moment anyway.

    forzafkawi
    Free Member

    jupiter – Member

    Wheels, or more to the point rims. Velocity Blunt SS, does the Swift suit a wider but not too wide rim (madness to choose Easton Heist wheelset?) I will be going 29 rather than 650b+, for the moment anyway.

    I just built some Velocity Blunt SS rims on Novatec 771/772 hubs to replace Mavic XM419/Shimano Deore wheels for my SS rigid Swift Mk I. I hadn’t ridden the new wheels for a few weeks due to various reasons but had quite a muddy ride last Thursday on them and found it difficult to notice any improvement over the previous wheels.

    That could have been down to the different conditions of course because it was much drier when I rode the original wheels some weeks ago and I was a lot slower in the mud. The same tyres were used on both sets of wheels by the way – Maxxis Ardent 2.4 tubeless. I just bought some Specialized Storm Control 2.0 tyres to help with the mud.

    The Swift itself is a great bike and perfect for the sort of fast XC riding I use it for. As others have said, if I could have just one bike it would be the Swift.

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    You can stick anything you like in it. Wife and I demo’d a med swift with duallies, 2.4 ardent in the back and a knard in the front. It was great fun, steamrollery and confidence inspiring. I also took the wheels from my cross type thing with me: Thunderburts on alpha 340. It was great fun with them too, sprightly, quick handling and easy to accelerate.

    So really, whatever’s going to be a good balance of weight, cush and grip for the riding you want to do on it. We built hers up with Blunt SLs, 2.2 ardent in the back, 2.4 in the front (due to the rigid fork), but we’ve subbed them out for the TB on 340s for a couple of long rides where weight and rolling resistance was a priority. If I had some spare cash floating about, I’d build up another set with hugo 52s, b+ or 29er, maybe even b+ n the back and 29+ in the front, just for max niche.

    OCB
    Free Member

    I love mine (earlier version). Mine gets ridden on everything you’d expect to find out in the countryside, the kinds stuff that would just be called mountain-biking back in the day. Back-country tarmac, farm tracks, in the woods, on the moors and it happily just rides along on all of it.

    I am the “old git luddites”, old git luddite when it comes to bikes, so mine is fully rigid (although with a Salsa Enabler fork, giving me a 135mm OLN front end), and I run it a little bit chubby (2.4’s on 30mm rims).

    Comfortable angles are comfortable, even if they are (small-c) ‘conservative’, and I find I can ride mine all day with no issues. I dunno about relative weight comparisons, all my bikes are steel, and stoutly put together, so that kinda thing, I leave to others. Other details include: Jones H-bars (with 20mm Cane Creek extensions), ergonomic grips, unfashionable 3 x 10 transmission, BB7 cable disks …

    I strap luggage on rather than worry about rack eyelets on mine, but I can see how this could well be a bike to ride on a ’round-the-world tour. In an ideal world, I’d take a 29+ version of exactly the same bike around the world, but otherwise, it’s a bike for life (for me at least).

    Here’s a kinda rubbish photo (from the middle of the moors):

    nemesis
    Free Member

    Just for completeness, here’s mine again but with front suspension (100mm Reba) which is spot on.

    The Swift rigid fork is one of the best rigid forks I’ve ridden – really noticeable flex over bumps compared to most which makes rigid a lot less harsh.

    robbo167
    Free Member

    I’ve got TINAS’s swift….love it,could well end up being my only S/S.

    My advice?..just buy,build and ride,we can’t all be wrong can we?

    xcstu
    Free Member

    willjones

    i’d love to pick up some tan wall ardent, but not been able to find any, anywhere.

    Wiggle have some: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/maxxis-ardent-60a-tan-wall-29-x-225-folding-tyre/?lang=en&curr=GBP&dest=1&sku=5360592295&ci_src=18615224&ci_sku=5360592295uk&utm_source=google&utm_term&utm_campaign=UK_PLA_Components&utm_medium=base&utm_content=sDF9L5cP7_dm%7Cpcrid%7C67090789382%7Cpkw%7C%7Cpmt%7C%7Cprd%7C5360592295uk

    Was always after a singular swift after having a go of one but I never managed to find a deal on one :-/ ended up with a ritchey p29 and not looked back 🙂 also sporting skinwalls but in onza flavour

    Mal-ec
    Free Member

    Give us a shout if you change your mind about a Stooge.

    Sam
    Full Member

    might even be the same tubes just not paying Reynolds for the 520 stickers.

    Yes, they are Reynolds 520 blades. I do pay for the stickers, just don’t put them on because I don’t like them.

    Thanks for all the nice comments guys, glad you like your Swifts! Just had word the new ones should finally be here before the end of the year. I have a couple of old stock XL frames I can do a killer deal on if anyone is keen.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    I’ve got TINAS’s swift….love it,could well end up being my only S/S.

    Glad to hear it’s still getting a lot of use.

    Thanks for all the nice comments guys, glad you like your Swifts! Just had word the new ones should finally be here before the end of the year.

    Can we please have on with a tapered steerer? I know it’s of limited use on a skinny steel frame, but we’ve reached the point were there are no straight forks left and after 3 broken arms I’ve reached the point where a bit of cushioning is needed on long days out 🙁 and a 44mm lower doesn’t look that bad (a straight 44mm headtube looks odd IMO, even on my El-mariachi).

    nemesis
    Free Member

    Can I have all those stickers you don’t use, Sam? Would make a nice collage colour scheme 🙂

    Sam
    Full Member

    Can we please have one with a tapered steerer?

    Maybe, there are a couple of things holding me back… 1. probably over 75% of the Swift builds I see are rigid. 2. A tapered headtube looks rubbish with anything other than a tapered steerer fork. The tapered forks on the Rooster and Puffin ride great with the big tyres, but are overkill with a regular <2.4″ mtb tyre. Plus they weigh a lot. Yes, you could use a straight steerer and zerostack lower cup but that looks horrendous (see Krampus). Additionally, I am looking in to the possibility of sourcing some straight steerer suspension forks specifically for us.

    Can I have all those stickers you don’t use,

    Maybe not quite all of them as occasionally people want them, but you can have a bundle if you like for the cost of postage – just drop me a mail.

    nemesis
    Free Member

    Thanks and I appreciate the offer but I was really just kidding 🙂

    kcal
    Full Member

    looking forward to the new Swifts Sam.

    Will then be able to drag my MTBs into this century.. 🙂

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    Sam – Member
    might even be the same tubes just not paying Reynolds for the 520 stickers.
    Yes, they are Reynolds 520 blades. I do pay for the stickers, just don’t put them on because I don’t like them.

    Why not put them on the inside of the fork blade?

    Then the info/reassurance is there for those who want it, and not poking you in the eye. 🙂

    Sam
    Full Member

    Why not put them on the inside of the fork blade?

    I think in future I will include them in the box, then people can stick them where they want – so to speak 😉

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