I'm 5'11" and shrinking (3/4 inch since high school) with a 31 inch inseam. I can go a lot higher. Maybe your really 33 or more. Put a 1x3 in your crotch, pull it up tight, hold it against the wall (level) and see what you get.

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_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

Softrides are definitely very comfortable, very adjustable, and very aero. You might also look at a Titanflex, which is similar in design. One thing I noticed when riding them, having suspension on the back doesn't do much to help the bumps on the front of the bike, which is where a lot of the ride shock comes through, esp. on aerobars, so be sure and check out the fork you are testing it with closely. Some people complain they are hard to climb on, although I didn't notice any problems. Just giving you both sides...overall they are really cool bikes.

I've been REALLY unhappy with my Rocket TT7. I bought it this year from Fitwerx in Vermont; I never got comfortable on the thing. One of my real (and only..) strengths in racing is the ability to go downhill fast; sadly the design of the TT7 is such that any side winds (even a passing vehicle) makes for an unstable ride. I was never able to run my HED3 front wheel or any other deep dish front wheel due to this.

All the vaunted aerodynamic benefit doesn't mean squat if I can't let 'er rip on the downhills

I'm hanging it up and going in another direction bike-wise.

Hey BJ,

I have a P2K and a RocketTT. I just got the rocket, however, I LOVE it. It is a very different ride than the P2K. Although I love my P2K and keel it is a great bike, I REALLY love the Rocket so far (Only had it for a couple months). It is a much smoother ride and really comfortable. I can pretty much go over any type of road surface and I will be comfortable. And although I have no empirical evidence to back me up, it feels faster going into a headwind.
The real test will when I am able to get out for a long haul on it. I have only gone for 1.5 hours so I haven't been able to test it on a really long ride.

M~

Feel like donating the Softride to the Mr. Tibb's stable?

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

Without "going negative", I would encourage you to research the maintenance required of a softride, particularly the Rocket (info available at the softride site under the owners section). I owned a Rocket for a year and ultimately decided to get a Titanflex. In my opinion, the TF has superior beam engineering (less complex means that it is less prone to break) and provides a much crisper ride. In addition, it is lighter and cheaper. THat said, Adam at Softride is a great customer service guy to deal with, so if you decide to go with a Softride, pick his brain for your best set up.

I've owned other older steel double diamond bikes and the Softrides are by far the most comfortable to ride. I noticed a big difference in my transitions from bike to run. My legs always hurt for the 1st mile or so of the run in a triathlon. After racing my Rocet TT the first time my legs have never felt that way again. They are more fresh. I attribute it to the softride beam absorbing the road shock and the overall design of the compliant beam. I used to bounce a little when I first got the bike but it subsides the more you ride.

As far as aerodynamics are concerned, every down hill coast off I've ever done with my training buddies, I've far exceeded their distances. Even when I'm the lightest one. Most races where there are alot of down hills, I seem to be able to coast past most riders while they are still pedalling. I don't have sexy race wheels yet but I don't have any handling issues going very fast down hill.

I don't see how there is that much more wrenching on a Rocket that any other bike. They do have their pivot points that other bikes do not have, but the wrenching required to remove or adjust are very simple. Only negative would be the requirement to have a torque wrench. But the way I see it, every bolt on every bike has some torque spec that most of us ignore and do by feel rather than use the torque wrench. I just returned from IM WI, where I had to lower my beam to fit in the bike case. My pivot points were due for some cleaning and routine maintenance so I decided I would do that at the site after removing it from the box. I took the whole beam apart greased the upper pivot replaced the beam and retorqued. Put the necessary anti seize compound on the compression washer and re installed. I previously had marked the frame and the adjusting tapers prior to lowering the beam before flying. This enabled me to just align the marks up and torque the bolt to 75 in lbs and then weight the beam & retorque as per the softride instructions. The complete process was done in maybe 10 minutes max. This was the second time I've done the process in three years.

I've had more problems with Ultegra bottom brackets wearing out more so than my rocket beam pivot points failing. I've never had a beam fail. Seems that was an issue when they 1st came out.

I also concur with those about ADAMSOFTRIDE or any other Softride repersentative. They have great customer service.

I'm looking forward to what they have coming out in October.

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ShaRRky

[reply]I've been REALLY unhappy with my Rocket TT7. I bought it this year from Fitwerx in Vermont; I never got comfortable on the thing. One of my real (and only..) strengths in racing is the ability to go downhill fast; sadly the design of the TT7 is such that any side winds (even a passing vehicle) makes for an unstable ride. I was never able to run my HED3 front wheel or any other deep dish front wheel due to this.

All the vaunted aerodynamic benefit doesn't mean squat if I can't let 'er rip on the downhills

I'm hanging it up and going in another direction bike-wise.[/reply]

I have not had that experience. If anything, SR's have a smaller lateral surface area than most aero bikes. I have found that, on the steeper descents, I actually go faster than aero position (pedalling) when I stick my rear way back on the seat, bend way over, put my hands on the horns (and brakes) and pull
my elbows in. I also feel very controlled even over 60k/h.

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_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.