softride bikes

I've heard they ride very well but you cannot use them in any USCF or Olympic sanctioned events.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by oroboy
Anybody out there riding a softride? You can see their bikes at
www.softride.com How do these perform compared to traditional road Bikes ?

I have three bikes: a Serotta Legend ST, a Trek 5900 and a Softride TT7 and enjoy riding all three. Comparing the softride to the other two (and perhaps, by inference, all conventional double diamond designs):

The softride is heavier - about 4-5 pounds heavier than the serotta both equipped with the same wheels (Ksyrium SL). I do have aerobars on the softride with the requisite aluminum bars rather than the easton carbon bars I have on the serotta so that accounts for a bit of the weight difference but the softride is heavier. I expect apples to apples (same bars, stems, wheels, gruppo, etc) it'd still be about 4 pounds heavier.

The softride definitely gives you feedback on your pedalling stroke. If you aint pedalling circles, you bounce. I've found this to be very valuable in improving my technique on all of my bikes. When I first started riding the softride, my technique was good but I would bounce sometimes, usually when pushing a harder gear rather than spinning in a light one. I can now ride the softride without bouncing at all.

The softride is very comfortable on [censored] road surfaces. Here in the Texas hill country the road surface of choice (not my choice) is chip seal and it can really beat the [censored] out of you. The softride soaks it up better than either the trek or serotta (carbon and ti/carbon respectively).

The softride performs well (climbing, descending) modulo the extra weight on the climbs. The frame is very stiff and responds well to rider input. Hard pedalling doesn't yield any frame flex (I've dura ace on all my bikes, including dura ace bottom brackets, cranks, etc).

I primarily use the softride for routes with no mega-steep climbs and it shines on longer (75 miles plus) rides/centuries on rolling hills with crappy road surfaces. Softrides were and are the weapon of choice for many RAAM riders who are more than willing to trade weight for comfort. It's also pretty popular with the triathalon/duathalon crowd though hardly dominant there.

IMHO, the softride also looks pretty cool in a different sort of way. It draws lots of comments ranging from "cool" to "that's a weird looking bike". Bottom line: if I could only have one bike, it would probably not be the softride but as a second (or third) bike, it's a good choice, especially if you like something a little different.

Hope this helps,

Greg