Sent to you by Andy via Google Reader:
It starts with a grand un-boxing. With all the bikes I've fixed, taken apart and re-assembled in my day, I've never had to build a bike that came in a box before. Swobo actually takes their bikes out of the box, assembles them, tunes them up, makes sure everything is happy slappy, and then boxes them back up before shipping them out to customers. That means that assembly of the Swobo baxter was just about the simplest thing I've ever done with hand tools. Note those awesome reflective sidewalls!
After spending a few minutes unwrapping plastic bags, I ended up with a pile of hardware and such.
Then it was time to snip a few zip-ties, take the front wheel off and remove a bunch of padding.
The handlebar grips, end-caps, brakes and shifter were already assembled and perfectly adjusted. All I had to do was remove the headcap from the stem, put the handlebar in place and tighten things down.
Then, I just had to put the (anti-theft) skewer through the front wheel, attach it, drop the seat post into the seat tube and attach the pedals. Done. The whole assembly took me about 30 minutes while taking photos. If I'd had a work stand and wasn't concerned about taking pictures, the build could have been done in 15-20 minutes.
The Swobo Baxter features 32mm-wide Vittoria Randonneur tires, again, with the reflective sidewalls.
And a tread shot.
An 8-speed Alfine internally-geared hub does all the shifting.
A bonus commuter feature: Chain guard. I love this.
Stopping duty is handled by a pair of shimano cable-pulled disc brakes.
The seat-post has an integrated tail light with 5 modes including steady. It's powered by a pair of AAA batteries (not included).
The whole bike, after build-up and fitment.
I took it to work this morning, and there was a lot that I wanted to say about Baxter's various parts and features after one ride. I'm going to put this rig to the test over the next few weeks, though, and let you know how it goes when I'm all done.
We're not keeping this bike, nor are we receiving any monetary compensation to review it. We just like to play with new gear, and we were happy that Swobo was able to let us borrow one of Sky Yeager's newest creations.
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