I had a Softride roadie - don't remember the model name but it was the round-tubed steel model.

I'm pretty sure it leaked power because it was slow as hell. HUGE difference switching to an (equally heavy) alu bike. In this instance it wasn't my fitness, it was the bike.

Nice and comfy over bad roads though... :p

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?

Ok beam bike. I will fix it.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

I've ridden Zipps (4 of them, and still have 1 left), Softide SE7 and Titanflex Terminator.

I bought a new Look 596 because my Zipps were getting old and parts are getting rare. I would normally snap a set of seat bolts about every 6-8 weeks. They are $10 each and no longer made. The change to the Look saw me reduce weight on the bike by nearly 4 pounds. The Look is much stiffer in the bb area. The Look has the elastomers in the ePost which makes it just as comfortable or even more so then the Zipp 2001's. Its a very comfortable and fast bike!!

I sold the Softride because it was heavy and didn't really fit me right. The Titanflex was a nice bike but never fit me right either. The Zipps fit like a glove. The Look fits me even better, is lighter, stiffer, more comfortable and even faster.

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Paul

I rode a Softride Solo for two seasons. Aside from the funny looks I got from other cyclists, it was an awesome bike. Without getting into the whole beam bike debate and whether or not they are good, I found it to be a very good bike. It ingrained in me a very good pedal stroke, because if you mash the pedals on a beam bike, you bounce on the beam, thereby loosing power.

I switched from the Solo to a Cervelo for two reasons: (1) the Softride didn't fit me quite right whereas the Cervelo was a perfect fit and (2) Softride no longer manufactures beams, and my beam needed to be replaced.

Overall, I was very pleased with my beam bike; it taught me to pedal very efficiently.

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Proud Member of the Cervelo Mafia.

It helped you because you need to have a smoother stroke so it wouldn't bounce right? Not being an ass just looking into why people ride different bikes.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

I started riding the Softride because I got it for free. Hard to turn down a free bike, right? When I started riding it, I realized how poor my pedal stroke was because I was bouncing on the beam like a pogo stick. A friend told me that a good pedal stroke feels like scrapping a pile of dog poop off the sole of your shoe. Its a pulling motion moving back and upwards. I started riding my softride like that, imagining I was scraping the poop off my shoes. Within a few weeks, my pedal stroke smoothed out and I was no longer mashing the pedals. And, consequently, I no longer bounced on the beam.

The beam reveals how poorly or how well the cyclist pedals. I did not know I pedaled poorly when I got the Softride, but it fixed it. Once I began pedaling well, my biking vastly improved. By the way, I don't think beam bikes are slow; its the cyclist not the bike that is slow. On my Softride, I was in the top 10 for every bike split at every triathlon I did.

I think, however, I was not the typical beam bike rider. The stereotype of beam bike riders is people with back issues, which is not me.

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Proud Member of the Cervelo Mafia.

How would you rank the comfort of the 596 against the Titanflex?

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

I guess that I am semi-ex beam bike rider. I started with a Softride Powerwing that was way to big for me. It was an extra large size. I sold it and bought a Softride TT7 which I still have and sometimes ride (shamless plug - it is for sale). The biggest issues for me are other people wanting to race me regardless of what my scheduled workout is. Its like when I drive my wife's Porsche, I cant just drive it without people wanting to race. The other big thing is that down here in the south, the bubba's ask 'how much that thang cost?' I downplayed the cost, but no matter how much I said, the reponse was ALWAYS 'shit, I didn't pay that much for my truck'.

After a while I just got tired of it...

But I think that Softride is a great bike.

To be totally honest, they are about the same. The nice thing about the Titanflex boom is that it is titanium and hence absorbs alot of the road shock. The ePost in the 596 is totally awesome. It is a very comfortable and smooth ride. I love it, but for the price, I'd better : ) I've done 2 races on the 596 and when scouting the bike routes thought I would have a tough time with the rough roads. After each race I was amazed at the performance of the Look ePost.

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Paul

Interesting.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

I miss my Zipp....
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I shall never misuse Rex Kwon Do
I shall be a champion of freedom and justice

I rode, and still have, a Powerwing from '96/97. I bought it when I was doing Ironman races regularly. It's one of the bright yellow ones with red graphics. I initially stopped riding it because I met a girl, got a real job, married the girl, had kids......I'm sure you know the drill. So anyway, just last year I started doing tris again - sprints only - and doing some group rides of the more "touristy" type. Showing up on that bike, to me, was a bit more pretentious than I wanted to be so I bought a more "normal" looking bike....the years have quited me down a bit.

The only physical issue I had with it was that the head tube was too tall (15cm I think) and I could never get low enough in the front due to that. It was, and still is, wicked fast though - especially with a disc rear/tri-spoke front. I kinda sorta have it for sale, but only because I don't have any plans to go long in the next 5 years.

You should look up the "total eclipse" by carbonsports (same people who make "lightweight wheels"). They are still available, lifetime warranty and are better than softride, zipp, titanflex, etc.

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"The only easy day was yesterday"

hola senor tibbs. when i was a starving college student back in the late 80's/early 90's i worked at a bike shop and lusted after a beam bike (welchy won IM in '94 on a softride, remember?). anyway, when i became a somewhat respectable member of society with nominal income earning potential i saw an elite aria on ebay for CHEAP and pounced on it. i call it "the couch" because it's so comfortable albeit a bit (ok really) heavy. i've raced it on a few flat courses and if i do another IM i'd seriously consider riding it. i have 2 650c bikes and if my elite were a 650 i guarantee i'd ride it more (all my race wheels are 650c).

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Michael in Fresno
"Do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man" V. Corleone