First Impressions

My Swifty Zero arrived at 1.00 pm on Wednesday 26th September 2018, having only been ordered the previous day. At 1.05 pm that very same day, with some degree of excitement, I carefully opened the box, removed the very well packaged components and spread out all the parts on the bedroom floor, ready for assembly.

My first task was to read through the assembly instruction, checking that all the components were present and correct. Having built a number of bicycles from scratch, assembly of the Swifty Zero did not look difficult and everything slotted into place easily enough. Only decision I had to make was which brake lever went on which side of the handlebar. I decided to stick with the same layout as my bicycles, front brake lever on the right, rear brake lever on the left, actually a British Standard requirement.

Fully assembled the Swifty Zero looked stunning. Quality of finish was outstanding, especially the paintwork and polished components such as the handlebars, handlebar stem and the V-brakes. It fact, it looked an impressive machine and well worth the £439.00 cost. I was even tempted to hang it on the living room wall above the fireplace as an art work. However, I don’t think my wife, Cathryn, would appreciate that!

Next task was to check over everything, making sure all bolts and nuts were tight, the steering headset was just right, tyres were at the correct pressure and the brakes worked properly. It was adjusting the brakes that I noticed some missing components. One brake lever was missing its cable adjuster lock nut and the rubber grommet/sleeve was missing from the front brake. This as slightly disappointing but a couple of emails to Swifty, along with some photographs to help identify the parts, and they arrived next day. Excellent service which is always important. I always feel there’s no point offering a premium product without premium support as well.

Next evening I gave the Swifty Zero a quick road test and what a smooth running creature is it. The tyres run very smooth and fast on the tarmac, the steering angle is responsive and the Swifty Zero is so easy to ride, it’s a pleasure. I could not honestly find anything major to fault the Swifty Zero, it’s just about perfect but there are a few very minor things that could be improved, putting the icing on the cake as it were.

The first is access to the tyre valves. I found it very difficult to get my track pump head into the valve. Yes, I could purchase another pump but using tubes with angles valve heads would make pumping up the tyres that so much easier. The other item is the use of standard bolts on the wheel hubs. When I built my Surly Pugsley fat bike I used Surly Ultra New hubs which have thread-in wheel fixing bolts, secured by using an Allen key rather than a spanner. Looks very neat and would show an greater attention to detail. Okay, not really essential just nice to have.

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