Comments on: Review: Swobo Baxter urban bike

By: Dimmodd

Dimmodd — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:12:12 +0000

Do you know weight of Swobo Baxter?

By: ZASSY

ZASSY — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:18:52 +0000

Thank you!

By: Perry Perrister

Perry Perrister — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:50:19 +0000

Thank you Ghost Rider and Graham.

Nice article, thanks for pointing me to it, now the only problem will be what to do with the $1200 burning a whole in my pocket, really got set on buying the Swobo Baxter, but your right I will start with tires, and my flatbars hurt my arms, elbows and shoulders so maybe I will also lower the seat a tad, we will see.

By: Graham

Graham — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:33:43 +0000

O Lord, I’ve been a victim of a double post! Quick, someone find an administrator before anyone sees it! Help!

By: Graham

Graham — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:32:45 +0000

Perry,
I’ve got a 20 mile round trip commute over a coastal plain (flat and windy) and I’m a 260 lb rider. I’ve found that putting north road bars (similar to the Baxter) on my flat bar bike has 1. increased wind resistance a bit and 2. improved my comfort level on the bike immensely. The second point is much more important to me and has made my commute really enjoyable.

So I suggest swapping out for road tires to make for easier rolling and try out a cheap pair of North Road style bars and see if you like ‘em.

By: Graham

Graham — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:31:41 +0000

So I suggest swapping out for road tires to make for easier rolling and try out a cheap pair of North Road style bars and see if you like ‘em.

By: Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:23:52 +0000

Perry,

best bang for the buck right now is to swap out for some road-friendly tires. We published an article on this a while back:

http://www.bikecommuters.com/2008/08/07/just-ask-jack-good-26-commuter-tires/

I’ve long believed that a sturdy mountain bike makes an ideal starter platform for a great commuter bike — especially older models that have all the braze-ons for racks and fenders.

By: Perry Perrister

Perry Perrister — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:41:53 +0000

Thanks @Noah, @2whls3spds

I have been riding mountain bike with fat nobby tires so maybe I just convert to road tires, although there are some really nice bikes out there.

Wonder what would be good for me in this application – daily commuter, 8.5 miles each way.

Thanks for the repsponses above, would appreciate any direction for say a budget of $1000.

By: 2whls3spds

2whls3spds — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:24:46 +0000

@ Perry,

I consider 10 miles about the upper range for an upright commuter, my longest regular commuter ever was 12 miles one way. I rode a Raleigh Sports or a Motobecane Nomade the Nomade was a drop bar bike and the commute was maybe 5 minutes quicker on it. FWIW my average time for the 12 miles was right around 40 minutes.

Aaron

By: Noah

Noah — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:56:07 +0000

The tires are great for that kind of thing. You can try. Your question borders on the “what kind of bike do I want?” and that’s something you can answer only for yourself. It’s largely personal preference.

I’d personally prefer mountain bike flat-bars or road bike bars for a distance that long. Those allow you to shift some of your weight to your shoulders and arms, and allow you to “tuck” a bit. I’ve ridden plenty further than century rides on mountain bikes with nice, narrow tires that roll easily. That same bike was my daily commuter for 150 miles per week as well. It can be done. I just wasn’t feeling it with the swept-back cruiser bars.