Originally Posted by
Robvolz
I stand corrected. I made that mistake because I worked at a shop when a Bridgestone model featured it as stock and no one else had. I must have overheard it and took it for Grant gospel.
Here is a neat link to some good customer service stories with Bellingham based Softride…
Softride Stem Archive | yojimg.net
I was wrong in saying that no Bridgestone ever came equipped with a Softride stem. The 1994 MB-1 had one, per the Sheldon Brown site.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have doubted that there was a Grant Petersen connection, given that the Softride stem was just the sort of quirky yet arguably superior product that he's clearly attracted to.
Adding it to the MB-1 might have been one more nail in the coffin for Bridgestone in the US market, though, since it made the bike that much more expensive as well as less biker-gang-looking compared to a motorcycle fork.
Thanks for the link. Just read the first entry so far and agree that the four pivot points of the Softride stem made it a better choice than the one-pivot Girvin suspension stems.
Plus, I always found the aluminum Softride version to be better-looking, in a slightly goofy Bauhaus/steampunk way.