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Problems with Softride Rocket Beams?
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I've gone thru 2 beams now. Each lasted ~2yrs of light to moderate use, and I'm well within the 200lb weight limit. Whatever they did to bond the aluminum support to the carbon fiber, doesn't last. And since Softride is out of the bike business, getting another beam is problematic. So if you buy a Softride Rocket, either get an extra carbon fiber beam, or get the aluminum beam.

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"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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Where are you getting the Rocket beams?

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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I'm not getting beams. The first beam replacement was from Softride direct a couple yrs ago. That replacement beam failed yesterday :(. I suppose that if someone really loved their Softride, which would not surprise me, they'd buy an extra frame off of Ebay and keep the beam as a spare. My competitive days are over, I just had it on the Computrainer. I'll probably just pull an old frame out of the attic and build it up to be the new trainer bike. Can't put the roadbike on the trainer. The trainer would just kill it and I'm very protective of it.

My guess is that the aluminum beams last a lot longer then the carbon fiber beams. The flaw is in how the carbon fiber is bonded to it's aluminum support. In contrast, bonding Al to Al isn't "rocket" science.

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"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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I've got a Softride Rocket TT7, I'm right at the max weight, and I've had no problems whatsoever with the beam.

Don't know what I'll do if I ever do, as double-diamond bikes bore me. They all look alike.

-----

Blazeman Warrior - so others may live
Live more than your neighbors.... Bark at the moon like the wild dog that you are.... And by all means, whatever you do, get it on film.

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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [Rokko] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:

Don't know what I'll do if I ever do, as double-diamond bikes bore me. They all look alike.



You tried the rest now try the best..

TITANFLEX

Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [Rokko] [ In reply to ]
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I've got a Softride Rocket TT7, I'm right at the max weight, and I've had no problems whatsoever with the beam.

Don't know what I'll do if I ever do, as double-diamond bikes bore me. They all look alike.
You're hosed. If you see an AL beam for sale in the coming months, buy it. Your CF beam is going to fail. Have a backup plan for when it fails 2 days before the big race. If TitenFlex has gone on a diet in the last few years, I agree that might not be a bad idea.

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"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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My TitanFlex Transition weighs about 18.5 pounds before I put my race wheels on and I haven't gone out of my way to use ultralight components. From what I can tell the TF frame/boom is lighter than a Softride frame/beam.

Formerly DrD
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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Last year I was looking to upgrade my aluminum beam with a carbon beam . . . then I realized that Softride's bike division was out of business. I sent them an email and they put me in touch with a former sales manager who bought out their existing stock. I contacted him and he had what I was looking for. Give Softride a call and they should be able to send you his contact details.
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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Soon after I purchased my '99 RocketWing (roughly 8 months) the bond failed on the Al beam.. Ended up riding about 10 miles standing up as the beam just sloooowly sank lower and lower. Took about a week to get a new beam in and installed. Softride said that they would replace the entire bike if it happened again. Sadly, it never did. ;-)

I believe that I have seen SR frames for sale at R&A in the "Clearance" section.
If they would come down a bit more on the $$$ I might get a new frame.

FD
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [Friskee_Dingo] [ In reply to ]
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My original Rocket R1 carbon beam failed near-instantly, but Softride replaced it with one of the newer Fastt-era beams.
The new beams have the problem fixed, by coating the beam with what looks like some rough surface before putting the usual rubber suspension goo between the beam and aluminium sleeve.
Take a look at the carbon beam just before and after the sleeve. If it's one of the new ones, it should have a cm or so of clear rough slightly bubbly surface.

BTW does anyone know what's happening with Softride's new carbon frames?
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1473559
http://www.multisports.com/...ics/1192117783_9.jpg

I can't be the only guy lusting after one?
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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I'm a Softride owner of 2 Rocket TT's and 1 Windshear. One Rocket I've had for 7 years carbon beam. The other (used) is still in a box (never ridden) which I purchased from ebay a year or so ago. My weight goes from about 205 to 185 depending on how much serious training I do. I have never had a carbom beam failure. ;-)

Before I purchased the frame from ebay I did a world search for a new frame (post Softride ceasing production) and found a few new old stock, but nothing in my size. But while I was searching I spoke with a guy whom was the largest Softride dealer in the midwest. I can't remember the name. But he told me it's not the beam that's the main culprit. He said the beam was supposed to have some slight side to side play where it attached to the frame (upper pivot). And that bike frames that had a very tight pocket where the beam attached caused the beam fail by to not allowing it to move a bit side to side.

He noticed that frames which had the slight side to side play never failed, but that the tight ones did. So I would suggest that any owners that have these bikes look closer at the upper pivot area and if it's tight remove a few thousands of an inch to allow some play.

I have noticed this difference on my bikes. The original frame is very loose. Looser than what I think it should be. The other frame of ebay is very tight.
I think the play in the original frame is looser than it should be, I'm thinking of shimming it a bit, and the other frame is tighter than it should be. I think.

I work for an aerospace company that has a machine shop. I'm thinking of machining a few thousands out of the pocket to allow more beam play.

Maybe others done the same things.

good luck

ShaRRky
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [ShaRRky] [ In reply to ]
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This side-to-side business is a different issue. My beams failed where the aluminum support piece is bonded to the CF beam. The second beam was a FastT type, so if it's supposed to be a better design, I didn't see it.

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"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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Mine is about 3 years old - so far so good. And mine seems to have plenty of side to side play.

I've never put mine on a trainer. But I wonder if that might be a factor in your failure since the forces are certainly displaced differently than when riding on the road.

BTW, I've considered buying a new bike, one that fits like my short torsoed self like the Softride. Strted looking at the stack and reach database and measured s/r on my ML Rocket frame. About 58 stack and 39.5 reach, with 60.5 fc - off the charts when compared to more conventional frames.


Coach at KonaCoach Multisport
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [Terra-Man] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Mine is about 3 years old - so far so good. And mine seems to have plenty of side to side play.

I've never put mine on a trainer. But I wonder if that might be a factor in your failure since the forces are certainly displaced differently than when riding on the road.

BTW, I've considered buying a new bike, one that fits like my short torsoed self like the Softride. Strted looking at the stack and reach database and measured s/r on my ML Rocket frame. About 58 stack and 39.5 reach, with 60.5 fc - off the charts when compared to more conventional frames.
I agree that a trainer puts different stresses on a frame. But in this case I think that it was less stress, not more. I never simulated hill climbs nor hard accelerations, and there's no bumps in the road. So whereas hard trainer work might be rough on the dropouts, rear triangle and fork/head tube, I don't think that gentle trainer work would be hard on a beam.

Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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I have a softride rocket built t in 2004 beam came unlaminated followin summer.
I wondered at the time if heat and hanging the bike by the seat on bike rack(which pulls upward on the beam) or if you hang t by the beam anywhere might contribute as well to failure of that glued section.

I Broke the pivot bolt 2007 winter had a spare luckily since I was out of town. Problems with the way the seat is mounted as well broke that bolt as well at a bad time right before a race.

Yes I have the torgue wrench softride sells and used it.
Now I liked my softride but since they went out of business I decided In january to buy a titan flex. It's nice to have a bike where I can adjust the seat even take it off an not spend an hour trying to get it back on.
Also nice to have a bike I can put in my bike case without removing the beam and not worrying about a custom bolt breaking(broke seat bolt
once as well right before a race.(last time I removed the seat to pack my bike)
So did some research and opted on a new titan flex.
It's couple pounds lighter than my rocket and handles great.
If you are hooked on beam type bike then titan flex is a good choice.
I've put a lot of miles on it training for ironman this past few months and traveled quite a bit and not having to worry about some custom
part breaking right before a race or training camp sure feels great.

Don't get me wrong I reallly like my softride but too many potential
custom parts that can fail with no quick replacement.

Can you even buy replacement pivot parts these days anywhere?
Last edited by: gholmes: Jun 16, 08 8:04
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [gholmes] [ In reply to ]
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I've got a Softride Classic TT, and a few months ago was still able to order four rebuild kits and two height adjustment bolts direct from the manufacturer. Recommend ordering by phone, though - originally placed order through website, but it never went through (no activity on credit card or anything). Glitch on the site, maybe.
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Re: Problems with Softride Rocket Beams? [RangerGress] [ In reply to ]
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I've spoken with many people involved with the design and manufacture of the carbon beams. A few users have started softrides.com to collect information, document softrides and their history and to come up with a beam solution. Tell us your Softride stories, the story of your Softride beam failures, send pictures of your bikes or failed beams. Do you still have the failed beams? Let us know.
Damon
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