I am thinking abotu getting a Softride FASTT. Everyone triathlete I have asked doesn't know anything about Softrides, and are skeptical to go near one. Can anyone give me some info about them?

the idea ran it's coarse and is no longer a real choice. Modern Tech carbon make it obsolete, I am not even sure they are around. Looked cool do perfom OK, newer stuff make them simply a interesting ride.....Last I saw they were not cheap or light....go carbon and forget about it

Frame geometry is no longer legal in UCI (International Cycling Union) events -- specifically Time Trials. I assume they are still legal for Triathlons.

Softride is still around and their customer service is still vary active but they are waiting for a new owner to take over/purchase the operation but no takers as far as I know. The parent company Allsop is selling the Sofride bike division so they stop production of new bike frames until a new owner can decide what to do but parts so far are still available They're still the most aerodynamic bikes around, its just that they're not legal to race in all UCI events which is a shame.

During the beam bike rage of 90's not only Softride but Zipp, Look, Trek Y-Foil, Giant MCR and many other prominent bike makers all produce their versions of Softride, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. There are some small bike producer that still crank out beam bikes like BP Stealth, Titan Flex and Corima but the market is limited as Tri event is the only legal venue to race in.

UCI ban any design that does not configure the traditional double diamond frame configuration cause it could give the rider an unfair technical advantage over other bikes, pluse they want road bike racing to focus on the riders and not the bikes. Does not make sense to me but that's their rationale. I almost wish UCI can have two class of bike racing, one the traditional frame layout as they have now and the other one be Open Class as in anything goes frame design so they're not limiting innovation. Putting rubber insert in seat stay's and forks to give some suspension like Specialized is doing is just stupid IMO. The main benefit of carbon fiber is that you're not confine to traditional round shape tubes like steel or aluminum and it give the designers the freedom to explore new approach to frame design which the beam bikes are exploring, but the UCI in their infinite wisdom kill it.

Any bike design that was ban from racing because they might give a unfair advantage surely will be in demand and collectable, that's why the price have not come down even bikes that's more then 10 years old. Softride are out of fashion for sure but they're far from being obsolete performance wise.

I have to respectfully disagree with Mr. fjyang. Softrides, are not simple bikes, the beams are under a lot of stress and have been known to be replaced every few years depending on the rider. Additionally, they have tall headtubes for their reach. They have wide downtubes and Zipp's 2001/3001 was a much more aerodynamic bike.

I would stick with recent bikes. I can understand the desire to have a Softride, but I think you would be just as fast and comfortable on a Cervelo Carbon bike or Felt Carbon bike.

Good luck choosing.

Have you ever ridden a Softride before ? Do you have a chance to test ride one ? The Softride does help smooth out your peddle stroke, due to the beam design. I have tried out my friends Softride and it was different. Sprinting out of the saddle I couldn't get the same side movement due to the beam being so high up it banged my thighs. On the other hand I have 3 Zipp2001's and love every bit of the bike, by far the best beam bike built. The first Softride main frame design is just like the Zipps because both companies collaborated to build a high-tech bike. At the 1992 Interbike show Softride had a Zipp built bike with there beam suspension. Shortly after that Zipp decided to go with there own beam design, so they went there own way. I would never discourage anyone from getting what they might want, but try one out first if you can, then decide.

I have to respectfully disagree with Triguy. Felt and Cervelo are both producing UCI legal bikes, that is they are building bikes under design constaints that a very few manufacturers arent. Felt and cervelo arent the most aero bikes around. The softride classic and rockeTTis a lot more aero (according to Softride's quoted research) than the P3 and I'm not sure about the P3c or P4. And replacing the beams after a few years? Its sounds better than replacing entire frames to me. Apparently carbon has a "limitless fatigue life" but the fittings in the frames and the bonds that hold them there do not. Carbonsports makes the nicest beam bike I've seen but no other beam bike, as far as i know, is designed to flex the way the classic softride beam is. As is mentioned above,the suspension is active enough to help you iron out your pedal stroke and its also active enough to help you corner. Tall headtubes? IF you're that flexible, get an ergostem or adjustable angle stem, no problem. Anyway, the rockeTT isnt the softride to go for if youre going softride, its just another stiff beam bike, liek the zipp and titanflex. They are aero but dont give you the benefits that the classic does.
thats the way i see it anyway

I just finished building mine a weekago and I love it, still need to get the steerer cut and put alot of miles on it!

Hmmm.... Well Softride says they're fastest so it must be so. Have you ever seen the Softride press release? They used a live rider, human error on bike testing is huge. According to a Felt and Trek rep Softrides don't keep up with new UCI legal designs. Now some UCI illegal designs do best our 3:1 double diamond friends, such as Lotus, Zipp and GT superbikes; however those are even rarer and harder to service than Softrides.

Carbonsports is an even bigger brick than the Softride when viewed from headon, but it looks pretty from the side.

I've got to go but will return with more random thoughts on the issue.

The test result says they're fastest not Sofride, but its not hard to imagine give the design. Softrides don't have the seat tube (its been integrated with the beam/top tube) Is also does away with seat stays so you got 3 drag elements remove from frame. Bi-Wing planes of WWI will never be as aerodynamic then mono wing planes of WWII. You can refine the Bi-Wings till the wings fall off but they'll never be as efficient aero wise to a mono wing design. This is whats going on with road bikes today, they're stuck with the traditional layout so the only thing they can do is shape tubes to be wings but the amount of exposed frame elements cannot be reduce unlike beam frames designs.

Regarding width, have you ever seen a classic Softride frame? The main wing/beam is only 1/4" wide at the front then buldge to about 3/4-1" wide at the mid section, its basically a wing for down tube. How many tube frame can be that narrow and still be strong?

I'll agreed with you that Sofrides are heavier then the modern counterpart cause they'r aluminum and not carbon wonders of today but imagine if Sofride or Zipp take the beam concept the further develope it for 10 more years.

I got a friend who has a 15lb full carbon Scott SL, one time he accidently slip off his seat and temporary rest on his bikes top tube and it snap! That's a $1,600 mistake right there and you can't fix it, at least no one will touch it. My other friend crash his Cannondale full carbon frame and the narrow curvy seat stay which is design to flex and act like suspension snap in half druing the crash.

If you break the Softride beam...just replace the beam. If you crash soo hard that you actually break the downtube beam of a Sofride in half....then you got bigger things to worry about then the frame. My point is that Softrides are more survivable with a little weight penalty.

Hi Fox5: Is that a TT-7? Pure eye candy what you got there!, Give us some riding feedback when you get the chance.

So I went riding for the 3rd time last Friday (Halloween!) This bike is sick fast, especially on flats, I stopped after the first 15 miles to adjust the beam to the right height, and adjust my cleats. Brought it to the Bike shop along the way and got the steerer tube cut down.

It was an extremely windy day, the disc and hed3 wheel helped a lot, the gusts were so strong that the front wheel jumped once. If I had been riding my Aegis road bike, I think the wind would've just pushed me to a stop. I ride along the erie canal and that area funnels air so it was just constant crosswinds.

My impressions on the FasTT7, I love it. I'm around 155lbs and I didn't have a problem pedaling at all, it's very smooth, straight shooting and quick to respond. I don't think the frame flexes much at all. Nor did I have a problem sprinting out of saddle. The bumps that I hit in the road weren't a problem because I bunny hop them very lightly. It took some time getting the seat adjusted but that was because I have an ISM adamo.

Disc's wheels make a sweet noise with an aluminum frame, everything you do echo's and if you're in a tunnel all you hear is a whirring of the wheel.

First off, I have nothing against Softrides. I understand that they are not a bad bike, look cool and are faster than some newer UCI legal bikes(Scott Plasma, Planet X, and so forth) . However, I do not think that they were designed in such a way to compete aerodynamically with Cervelo/felt's carbon bikes. These bikes may have more members, but remember the seattube on a Cervelo/Felt actually does more good for the bikes as they fair a spinning wheel. They use shapes that have coefficient of drag near .1.

I try not to compare objects that go hundreds of miles an hour to things that go 25mph. About 7 years ago it was shown that flight worthy NACA profiles have no business in bicycle aerodynamics and that the widest point on a bicycles tube should be further back than a NACA airfoil.

Should we start with aerodynamics 101? Aerodynamics is a factor of frontal area and coefficient of drag. I guarantee that the frontal area of a Softride in an equivalent size is equal to any one of todays top end UCI legal bikes if not more. Felt's downtubes/seattubes are 25mm wide and the headtube is exactly 40mm, with a 19mm seatpost. This far makes up for the inclusion of seatstays in regards to frontal area. I can not fully comment on their coefficient of drag but softrides have a lot of bumps/hardwear/cables sticking out all over the place, and their tube shapes were not chosen due to wind tunnel testing. However, I can't tell you what the exact effect with a rider on is but most testing shows that very few bikes test different with/without a rider.

Lets start with the basics, Headtubes on softrides are wider than todays carbon bikes, not to mention all the hardwear that is on what is smoothe sided headtubes/downtubes. The downtubes have a much worse shape than todays UCI legal bike, they are basically a pointed oval(Cd of around .6), not an airfoil(Cd around .1). The downtubes though deep are also quite wide. The cable routing is all over the place as compared with the new industry standard of right behind the stem. The seatclamp mechanism is bulky and the rear wheel could be covered better to prevent a spinning wheel from being a leading edge.

Like I said, non-uci legal designs could better today's uci legal bikes but Softride though a nice bike that is very competitive for a 10 year old design, does not represent the best that there is to offer in that regard. Softride Was Not Designed in the windtunnel, they made it with some general knowledge but no exact proof of what works aerodynamically with regard to bicycles.

This is a UCI illegal design that is THOROUGHLY proven in the windtunnel, if you want to worship a 10 year old bike, I suggest worshipping this one...
https://lh4.ggpht.com/_bJOqLo9W0pQ/R9...U/IMG_0247.JPG

This photoshop version looks much cleaner/faster...
https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_fi...EMlPPAUyo9.jpg

relink to the thoroughly windtunnel proven lotus...
https://members.fortunecity.com/alicat1/lotus110.jpg

so do you disagree with softride's testing protocol but acknowledge that it makes no difference? i'm no physics major but i think the inclusion of a person on a bike, its legs moving very close to seat stays and seat tubes, would cause turbulence around those tubes. maybe not, but i can see it happening. and you're also not commenting on the comfort aspect, which, in triathlon is up there in the heirachy of frame performance gotta-haves... ESPECIALLY for those of us (and i mean pretty much all of us) who arent averaging over 35kph in a race.... honestly, who here is ripping sub 5hour ironman bike splits and wasting time looking at this forum? i think most of those dudes are out there training
be comfy, aero is secondary. softrides are fast and worth a look.

I just finished building up my 'new' dead stock Softride Lite and took it into the big smoke to give it a test run. Haven't had one of these for years and really missed my Softride. These frames are inspirational to me for putting in the extra effort and have always been a great ride.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97757610@N06/9084136225/

May I ask where did you get it? I would luv to have one.

Always a few on ebay. Just keep an eye out for the size you want

I have an R1 frame set I would consider letting go.

I am not sure what a R1 frame is? Can you provide some photos and info size. I ride 56 road but would go smaller for tri frame

The R1 is essentially the same frame geometry with a different sticker and set up as a road bike with drop bars. Built with tri bars it is the same as the TT.

I don't have enough posts to reply to or send a PM so I am just posting it here.

My frame is not perfect, but definitely usable. The previous owner had put a hole in the frame near the front derailleur and filled the area around to bottom bracket with spray foam to dampen noise. I guess it poinged pretty loud when shifting the front. He also negleted to tell me that the urethane sleeve on the beam was starting to de-laminate. I have re-urethaned it with the correct durometer rubber following instructions off youtube. Should be better than the original setup. Has a new carbon fork with uncut aluminum steerer and Chris King headset. There is also a newish ddvado saddle and and Easton ea70 stem. Quite the cushy ride and will help smooth out your pedal stroke. I would let mine go for $300+shipping. You can email me at soewe812 at hotmail and I can send some pictures.

The second comment in this thread caught my eye

I just donated my longtime softride. I admit I finally got too self-conscious at bike transitions amid the "the carbon fiber grass is greener" propaganda. I just did these events for fun but it finally got into my head. I swapped Softride's old base model, Solo (mid but decent components for the day, and <gasp> three chain rings), with a Trek Madone 4.5.

The initial gain was now I had a lighter bike and could throw it on any roof with one arm.

The carbon fiber is more responsive in feeling power immediately in your 'go' - think Buick to a BMW in terms of road response/feel. But now think of Buick compared to Geo Metro in terms of weight, road noise, and feeling _every_single_crack_ in the road, right up my spine and into my ears. I had to peel myself off the squirreley carbon fiber after my first long (for me) ride. My low back hurt that bad. My time slowed proportionately. I could have gone on a diet if it was all about a lighter bike.

I also had to reorient my trust-points with regard to speed and turns. Softride was the Beamer of grippy turns in my opinion. (they probably all stick the same ) Something about gravity and force pushing into a frame that gave was like stretching a rubber band, almost. Body kinetics seemed to transfer into bike response rather than <first impression> throwing a piece of plastic around like a hackey sack between my limbs. There was something solid yet stiff and grounded in the old ride.

<nostalgia>

BUT, I rode that thing for 10+ years. Probably not unlike growing up on a banana seat steel cruiser where the brakes were a safe back-pedal away, and then graduating to a tri pro aero ride where touching the breaks could very well mean being launched!

And maybe I exaggerate a *little* bit

Not gonna lie tho - if I'm ever in the market for a hitch or bike rack, imma get a softride! Bet it's the smoothest hitch in town!


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Ibuprofin, it's the new heroin

I just got a 1996 softride century on craigslist and all the stickers are missing on the beam. Does anybody know if there is another way to figure out the max weight? I think it's a medium (55cm?) frame if that helps.

Best option I would suggest is searching through Archive.org - https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://softride.com

I'm reviving this old thread because 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, 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'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 etc. specific parts here would be virtually impossible 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!