Show us your..........SOFTRIDE.
 

I've been waiting for someone to open a Softride thread. While not vintage, they certainly are classic in my eyes. Here are my three. The yellow one is a Powerwing with 10 speed Ultegra. The blue one is also a Powerwing with an 8 speed DuraAce/600 mix. The white one is a Norwester with 7 speed triple RSX. It is set up as a commuter. The lighted sign is a recent purchase. I really enjoy the ride these bikes have and you will answer questions at every stop.

Do they come with a step stool to climb up to the saddle? :)

Cool looking bikes, but I can so see myself wiping out and destroying one of those...

Any instances of rider being spectacularly catapaulted over the bars in an endo? :D

To the OP -- presumably you find the Softride design superior to other forms of suspension. How would you characterize it's advantages?

My bikes all have suspension seat posts (USE, Rockshox, White Bros), and two of my rides have elastomeric seat-stay suspension as well. I like a little "controlled mush".

I actually owned a Softride mtb for the space of about 2 hours at a swap meet. Bought it for not much money. Rode it around the swap looking for more deals. The bike was way too small for me, the saddle was cheap and spongy, so that 5mph ride in a parking lot wuddn't no test ride. Sold it a couple hrs later for several times what I paid. The beam suspension itself was a little too mushy for me -- not to mention I wanted to make some green.

IIRC their website offers beams in two different stiffness levels. I'll have to get lucky and find the stiffer variant on a bike my size.

I own three road bikes and will do pictures tomorrow. Roger

I don't have any bouncing issues. It really smooths out your spinning. I'll be riding the yellow Powerwing on TOMRV, a 2 day very hilly ride through Iowa,Illinois and Wisconsin. I ride the 200 and 220 lbs road weight beams. I weigh 175. I like the slightly stiffer beams. I sometimes ride them with Zipp 404's and they do feel a bit faster than conventional bikes.

This halfway counts right? Even though I'm not the stoker?

The first "WOW" bike I ever saw when I first started getting into bikes was a softride. I started out doing triathlons and always wanted (and still want) a Rocket or a FasTT.

http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/w...-091643481.jpg

Lovely bikes. The modern equivalent are TitanFlex, also fantastic bikes.

The Bike Friday Air Friday uses a similar titanium suspension beam.

I'd wonder though how much energy you would lose with saddle bounce on that thing, just like a suspension seat post. Rider weight might be part of the deal though, I wonder what the weight limit is on that thing....

I don't know why people think you loose energy due to suspension seat posts. Seems to me, based on that theory, you would loose equal and opposite energy by being jostled and propelled by a fully rigid seat post.

I suspect the truth is that both groups of people (mush posters & stiff posters), if they are skilled riders, learn to jockey and hold a more or less level position and thus neither technology is better from an efficiency point of view.

Suspension posts let you sink into a hit which can be advantageous as you pick a line. And you can still sit up and jockey when you want to. Both options open.

Well....... I can tell you that I wondered about it myself on the last century I rode, as I passed a young lady who was riding a soft-ride bike. I was mesmerized by her butt rhythmically going up and down as I passed her.

Perhaps it was broken or maybe it was not properly set up, but she looked like she was on top of a lazy pogo stick.

It's simple physics, to each action there is an equal and opposite reaction, the principal is similar to when you fire a gun, the bullet travels forward, and the gun travels backward, this is called recoil, from what I understand if you don't count on this, you can break your face. :eek: When pedalling, your foot goes down as you extend your leg, but your body can also travel up, with a rigid post, you will notice this, and compensate for it over larger bumps by semi-standing to pedal. With a suspension post, you may not realise it if your a light weight rider, if your a heavier rider like I am, the thing sinks to it's lowest position and effectively becomes a solid post. Suspension posts have another issue though, it can be very difficult to get the saddle at the proper height, because it's lower when you sit on it. This probably has a lot to do with why Softride now makes bicycle car racks rather then saddle mounts these days, it didn't really work all that well.

Like I said, equal and opposite reactions to the same bumps. You sink into the bump, or you diliberately rise above the bump. In either case you are jockeying/pogoing/moving out of your theoretical ideal distance (and orientation) to your cranks. (Or third case where you are riding the rigid, don't rise, and are therefore propelled.)

"Semi-standing" means using additional energy to change your orientation to the bike & cranks. Sinking into a hit utilizes learned reactions and anticipation -- not energy.

Methinks the skilled rider's body will notice and adjust to any propulsion up (or sag down) regardless of source in order to stay within a "fairly ideal" zone. ("Fairly ideal" rather than a fixed distance from sit bones to cranks.)

Sorry, but I think those Softrides are some of the ugliest bikes ever made.

My wife and I just picked up a rigid tandem because she felt like she was always bouncing, but I've talked to other people who love them and don't have any bouncing issues. I think it probably does help smooth out your pedal stroke, but it's not for everybody.

I still want one. :)

I promised some photos of my Softrides so here they are. The red one is a pre-production bike built as a test mule by Paul Barkley for Allsop. It is frame number 49 and my wife owns frame number 46. It is set up for long distance riding has a front Allsop suspension stem. The bike with the Aerospkes is a regular production bike with some upgrades and uses a Girvin Flexstem. My wife and I also own a Burley Rock and Roll with the Softride suspension stoker set up. Roger

I'd like to try one, but I'm fairly certain I weigh too much for them.
-Gene-

The beams don't flex equally in both directions and are actually two beams fused together. They are designed to go down easily and the rubber membrane stops most off the bouncing and slow the upward return. You do need to pedal in circles of you will pogo the the bike and you do need to remember to stay seated on the seat. Roger

There were several different beams made and all had the rider weight they were designed to work best with on them. Roger

So who do you think was losing more energy? She, bouncing on the pogo-ing saddle, or you, mesmerized by watching her? :p
Actually I've noticed that the butts of nicely built people (of either sex) riding these things describe a delightfully complex oscillation that has a large slow bounce with a quick short yaw superimposed on it -- indeed attention-captivating.

Suspension seat posts are most often not used by skilled riders, but unskilled riders on hybrids, and for them there is probably more loss of energy, with a suspension post, as they tend to put a lot of weight on the seat. Most of them who switch to a solid post notice a definite increase in pedalling power.

Hey guys, first post here but and I found this thread via searching for more info on Softrides. Please don't shoot me for bumping an old-ish thread!


I ended up putting a deposit on this beast yesterday:
http://image.usedvictoria.com/photos...263737_640.jpg

Also managed to get the original spec sheet off of Softride for it: Softride Ironman Qualifier

Can't wait to pick it up on Monday!

Damn! Even though I know nothing about soft rides that bike looks like a blast.

That thing looks like a stealth bomber, fast and lethal.

Have fun on that thing. Can't access the link you provided, but I'd be interested to hear how much it weighs fully equipped.