Pine Cone

Nice! A bit longer than I'm willing to do these days...

What wheels and tires are on your Ti Swift? I'm thinking I might get mine some new lighter wheels this March when it's birthday rolls around...

jur

I built these wheels in 2010 when I converted my Xootr Swift from 406mm wheels to 451mm. The Ti Swift got these wheels. I did buy a separate set of ebay wheels for this project originally but gave them to my son when he bought my spare Ti Swift off me. My own set is lighter than most I found on ebay or Aliexpress. You may have noticed I took off the front disc brake too. I got fed up with it.

Front tyre is 1-1/8" Panaracer Minits Lite, rear is 1-3/8" Primo Comet. I forgot to pump my tyres before the ride so I rode them below 80psi from a week ago's pumping pressure, as 80psi is the max inflation pressure I use. Especially the rear goes down a bit faster so I am guessing that was 60psi.

streetstomper

The Titanproduct frame is now available on their Aliexpress site, so you don't need to wait for a group buy.
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...964267598.html

palincss

You don't need a threadless headset for that. This little Rinko headset tool will help https://www.compasscycle.com/shop/co...-headset-tool/

and Velo Orange has a Rinko headset with cartridge bearings that's made for easy removal and reinstallation
https://store.velo-orange.com/media/c...ed_out_2_2.jpg
Grand Cru Rinko Headset-JIS

Richbiker

Hey everyone . . . my Ti Swift was on NY 1 News yesterday morning (That's a local daily cable news show), on a story about Bike New York's education program. Bike New York is teaching adults how to ride a bike

sweeks

I did this with my old Dahon Mu XL when I noticed a crack starting across the joint between the frame tube and head tube. First I watched it for a while to be sure it was growing. I stripped the clear finish off the area and disassembled the frame and then had my brother-in-law TIG weld it. I re-sprayed the clear varnish. It's been about 3 years and the joint still appears solid.
Steve

EDIT: Hahahaha! I didn't realize I was responding to a 3-year-old post. Oh, well. The titanium Swift is beautiful!
I went Ti in 2001 when I bought my Airborne Carpe Diem, sight-unseen. It has been a delightful bike, and will probably last me the rest of my life. I'd love a titanium commuter bike. Years ago, before the Dahon/Tern schism, I heard from a reliable source that there was a Titanium Dahon model in the works with a frame made by Airborne. Airborne ceased to exist , and the Ti folder never appeared AFAIK.

Pine Cone

Nice news clip, and it sounds like a great program!

Nice looking bike... I sure like mine.

tmesis

I really enjoyed that segment. What a great organization! Oh, and nice bike.

jur

Great! Rich and famous. Sort of.

laffin_boy

Jur hoping you are still around and see this 'cause I don't know how else to reach you...

I'm very curious about the geometry differences between the Alum Xootr / Swift and your Ti frame. You claimed (in post 128) that it was difficult to impossible to ride your Xootr no hands but that you could put your jacket on while riding the Ti version yet, if I understand you correctly, the ONLY geometry change you made was lengthening the "top tube" by 2cm while keeping the wheelbase the same. Something doesn't compute here. If you add 2cm to the "top tube" AND keep the wheelbase (1041mm) the same then the 2cm had to come out of somewhere. Steeper seat & headtube angles? Shorten chainstays? Less fork rake?

Also can you tell me the headtube angle, fork rake and trail figures on your Ti bike (including the tire size so I can do the math) ?

Thanks.

Lalato

Hi Laffin_boy, if I recall correctly, jur stopped participating in the forums a while back. Someone from this thread might have his contact info, so maybe someone can offer to contact him for you.

@jur you still out there?

jur

I got an email about a name mention or I would not have known.

About the Swift geometry:

It is true that the only specific design change I made was the top tube length (other than the top tube structural design, that is). One other item which was unspecified was the fork rake - that is shorter. The rest is all identical. The fork rake was something that came from one of their existing forks. It is 45mm.

laffin_boy

Thanks for replying.

Tom

mlau

Ah, Jur.
The rip snorting foldie cyclist that made me believe that most Aussies are fire breathing, good natured, resourceful mates.

How is life?

jur

My bike stable has been static for a good number of years now - Ti Swift, Moulton, Brompton S2X. Of course a few mods have been done, most importantly on the Moulton, I put a Bafang mid drive on it (already reported and shown here). And I put a 4-sp rear cluster mod on the Brommie. But that's the lot. The Ti Swift is so bang on target I wouldn't know what to change. Just this morning I had to change the front tyre on the Ti Swift - that is tyre is 10 years old now, came from the Xootr Swift before the Ti Swift. Casing failed. I still commute every day.


So that gives you an idea how little is changing on the bike front. I suppose that's one reason I went off the boil on the Helix - I already have everything I want and need. The Helix would have replaced a bike and I wouldn't know which one to let go, most likely the Moulton, but the Helix would require either a rear wheel replacement or a friction drive, a mid drive as far as I can see is not possible. Touring is also way better on the Moulton with full suspension. The Helix has evolved so far away from the original campaign point that I now agree with others that the I expect the price to go up drastically. I don't see myself getting one.


I haven't done any bike touring for a good while either, because I lack the free time.


One astonishing thing is to do with waxing the chain with paraffin wax. I started doing that a number of years ago and the results are truly astonishing. - I keep a diary of the Ti Swift chain and I now have over 13,000km on my Ti Swift chain and I STILL can't measure any wear on that chain at all! No stretch. Or too small to measure. There is no other lube that even comes close. I basically take the chain and dip it in the molten wax in an old rice cooker, swish it around to wash out any loose particles, hang it up to cool, back on the bike. That routine is after every wet ride (rare on the Ti Swift) or when I perceive the chain is dry (rare too). The most recent waxing was about a month ago, and the one before that was a year ago. I say wow every time. Similar results on the Moulton, it gets used on wet commutes so it sees slightly more wear but still almost insignificant. To get rid of dirt and particles washed off the chain by the wax, I let the wax solidify, take it out of the rice cooker, and simply scrape off the bottom layer where all the rubbish settles to.

harlond

Wondering what happened to your Raleigh Twenty?

jur

It's still there, sitting unused, waiting to be sold. Along with the black Xootr Swift.

werewolf

I used to do that many years ago, like in the 50's and 60's. Back then you couldn't find any good books on bike repair in the USA so I imported them from England, along with subscribing to Cycling & Mopeds magazine. That's where I learned the old wax technique - or paraffin or whatever they call wax over there - I never did get that straight - was "paraffin" in England wax, or maybe it was kerosene? - but we're talking about wax, like in candles, now - just as you describe, except I didn't use a rice cooker. Over one hundred year old bicycle maintenance techniques, better than ever. Another old technique I used, when building wheels, was wiring and soldering the spokes. Not long ago I came across some wheels I had built for a fellow about 30 years before. He never touched the spokes and the wheels were still perfectly true. Everything old is new again.

laffin_boy

OK so I sold my folder with the poor geometry from the famous folding bike mfgr and thinking that i'd save some money this time I ordered a Xootr frame & seatpost from Peter. It arrived today and it's massive. The frame / seatpost - without fork or riser - weighs 7.3 pounds!!! (More than twice what a new Cannondale CAAD12 full-sized frameset weighs!) As a registered Weight Weenie I simply can't build a bike based on a boat anchor so i'm 99% certain that i'm going to order a Ti frame.

So my question for those of you who already own one is: What changes would you request in a new frame based on your experience? Geometry? Lighter tubing? more / different cable guides? Water bottle placement?

Tom

laffin_boy

As per my last post i'm ready to order a Ti Swift from Titan but (a) I need to see the plans in order to be able to specify the changes I want to make and also (b) Jur talked about issues with the headset and riser in posts #139 & #202 but I haven't yet been able to figure out how that setup applies a preload to the headset. There's no mention of an expansion plug which would normally be used to apply pressure to a stem & spacer stack. In post #202 he talks about using the PS Adjustable Spacer to tension the headset after tightening the riser clamps and then removing the PSAS after doing that which, as I understand what I think is happening, would remove all the preload on the headset. I know i'm missing something but I have no idea what.

Anyone know how to get in touch with Jurien? I'd be eternally grateful.

Tom

Lalato

@laffin_boy

I put the @ symbol in front of your username... which should result in you receiving a notification. You can do the same with jur. It will notify him of a mention in this thread.

laffin_boy

Thanks.

@jur, love to have your input here.

Tom

Pine Cone

laffin_boy

Pine Cone