Lenbrazil

I'm thinking about getting a Softride or similar bike and would like some feedback. I have a few reasons for considering beam bikes.

- I'm an American living in Northern Brazil and some of the roads are nice and smooth but most are pretty rough it is my understand they smooth things out.

- My plan would be to buy one when in the US dismantle it ship the frame/fork/rims/tires and bring the rest in my luggage. Because of USPS size rules a shipping a traditional frame would be too expensive.

- I live by the ocean and it can get quite windy, although apparently some fancy carbon fiber bikes are more so they are quite aerodynamic.

A few questions:

I haven't raced for decades and have no intentions of doing so again, I would be using it for 30 – 80 mile (50 – 120k) fast rides alone or with friends. One concern I have is that on another forum someone said they are more difficult to control going around sharp corners and during steep descents. Has anyone here had this problem? After about 20 years out of the saddle I started riding again a little over a year ago and these are situations when I'm not very confident.

I see that people mostly use them for time trials and triathlons, are they suited for longer more leisurely rides?

I'm 6´0” (183 cm) and 180lbs (82 kilos) if I get a beambike which one(s) would be best suited for me? I definitely would want 700c wheels because it would be too hard to get 650c tires and tubes here.

Getting Softride, Zipp etc. specific parts here would be virtually impossible here; I only come to the US once a year, what spares should I get? I was thinking two each beams, clamps derailleur hangers. Anything else?



Thanks!

rhenning

My wife and I own 3 single bikes and one tandem with Softride Beams on them. They are good long distance riding bikes. I have riden my single across the USA. They do ride different which means you may or may not like them. You have to pedal in circles and not jam down on the pedals. You need to stay seated. We don't ride ours much any more mostly because the is no such things as spare frame parts. They can and do break and there are no new ones being made that I know of. A broken beam makes the bike worthless. These are my 2 singles and they arepictured as they were ridden on long tours. The red one is the cross country bike and has lower gears than the other one. If I was living in another country I would never own one. I am basically your same size. Roger

Lenbrazil

Thanks for your reply Rodger! Based on you and your wife's experience do you think Softrides are hard to handle in corners and downhills?
Besides the beam, what are the the Softride specific parts? There are the brackets to attack the the seat to the beam and the beam to the fame and an elastomer how hard are they to find, can they be substituted with other parts?

seedsbelize 

I lived in extreme southern Belize for six years. The roads were atrocious. I had my '93 Giant hybrid wit me. Ultimately I found a junker with a shock absorbing fork and swapped it in. It made a huge difference. Of course I wasn't riding distance. Just the 20 miles to town and back.

squirtdad

This made me curious.....so I looked it up, they stopped making softrides in 2007 as best I can tell. The softride site does not list any beam parts. the best I found at their site was some tech information but it was listed on the site.

So you are limited to the used/NOS/ebay and the like for parts and it looks like big bucks for carbon beams ... I saw $300 to $475 listing on ebay

you may want to look at other options, like the biggest tires your can fit...etc

Velognome 

+1 squirtdad, bigger volume supple tires and I'd add to those a sprung seat