Strengths: Light & fast, compared to my old commuter.
Stiff when standing on the pedals, feels like a racer.
Oh so soft when sitting on the beam, feels like an armchair!
Its alive!!
Weaknesses: What are you talking about?
Bottom Line:
Been impressed with Softride's design and quality since last decade. My darling said, "No" to my dream of a recumbent trike, so I settled for my second dream, and landed a Softride Powercurve pre-cursor to the Solo. Saw one on my first day of searching for AUD $290. Informed my darling, she agreed to "look at it". I saw it, broke my wrist getting my wallet out of my pocket, and ran like I stole it. Apparently, the seller had bought the frame and built it up, rode it once and parked it in his spare bedroom for seven years. I got a brand new bike that's seven years old. All the stickers are immaculate, no scratches or dings to the paint. So, new rubber all around, my old comfy seat, swapped the drop bars for my bullhorns, and my darling approved of the "naked" bike. She suggested to me; Nay! INFORMED ME; to keep the aero bars, computer, mudguards, pannier racks, lights, etc off it. And she was right! Damn, its fine! Bottom gear on this is mid-range compared to my old commuter [Tange cro-mo steel, diamond, 700c, canti brakes, triple rings 48-38-28, 7spd 14-28 cluster, aero bars, guards, panniers, drop bars]
Strengths: Comfort,stable handling to a fault,stiffness in the bottom-bracket,cool looks,aerodynamic,a tri-athletes dream machine.Very fast descender through corners because of beam dynamics,and also the constant leg-length thing mentioned in former review below.
Weaknesses: A pound or so heavier than a conventional steel road bike with similar components. The beam does need occasional WD-40 shot into the lower beam/frame attachment screws to keep away the occasional creaking noise,but this is no big deal so long as you know about this trick.
Bottom Line:
This review is actually about the precursor to the Softride Solo,when the bike was first introduced as the Allsop Softride. This was the original maker of this design before it was sold to the current company called Softride. Basically the design is still exactly the same as the new Solo,but the frame on mine is the first year's effort and is all steel instead of aluminum as with the second year's design. Only slightly heavier than the aluminum version,it is in all ways still a wonderful bike and everything written in the previous reviews of the Solo hold true for this one,so consider this a valid review of the "Solo". I guess the model year is about 1996? Anyway, this bike really gets the power to the wheels over hill,dale,chicane,flats,what have you. Despite the extra weight,it feels light and zippy up hills but I would describe it as a sit-down climber rather than a stand up and rock it side to side climber. This is due to the stable geometry that is optimized for the long haul and is similar in feel to a real Euro-type race machine versus the twitchier sort of nervous crit-bike handling. When you stand up to hammer,the stiffer than stiff bottom bracket is great but the bike wants you to move your body side to side over the pedals rather than flicking the bike from side to side to work against your feet's downforcing action. I understand that the later models of Softride seem to retain a similar handling style,which is fine with me because it is really so efficient. One rather surprising aspect of the suspension-beam design is the tendency for the beam to raise up when doing hard braking down steep descents as your weight is gravitating up and forward,feeling a bit like you are about to be catapulted over the bars.( You actually only rise an inch or so) A technique is needed to overcome this one handling drawback: While braking,simply scrunch downward with your body using your abdominal muscles and compress the beam a little. It is really quite easy to do and is very effective at keeping the Softride as the overall downhill-handling champion of all time.
Submitted by
Mikey
a Recreational Rider
from Sheridan,Wyo.USA
Date Reviewed: April 26, 2001
Strengths: Comfort on top,stiffness on the bottom. Tight wheelbase,stiff bottom bracket but also very stable and relaxing,very aero,fits a wide range of sizes,looks faster than a conventional bike,corners fast descents like no other bike because the centrifugal force compresses the beam a bit as you go around,lowering your center of gravity while the super stiff frame tracks like a train on rails - you really "carve" those turns. Whew!
Weaknesses: Slightly heavy,beam can creak sometimes unless lubed occasionally at the connect points,maybe not the best criteriom bike.
Bottom Line:
I have done all kinds of riding,racing. This bike feels "alive" because of the beam,and eventually becomes a synergistic part of your efforts to hammer. The beam's movement for the seat also seems to reduce wrist discomfort for me on long rides somehow. However,if you were to test ride one at the shop for the first time for ten minutes you may not like it. First of all,your pedal-stroke will likely be exposed for the terribly out-of-round thing it probably is - this will make you bounce and feel strange at first. I'll bet that this first ride is what has turned many away from this concept. You really need an extended time aboard so that you can improve enough to appreciate all this bike offers. Ride behind a Softride owner and you will not see bounce,because the design has forced a smooth,round spin,which alone does a lot to aid endurance,etc... I have come to consider this design to have made an important thing possible - a more consistent seat-height no matter how far forward or back on the seat you go. By sliding around a bit forward,the beam rises and by going back it lowers,keeping your hips arcing more of a circle around the bottom bracket and therefore allowing less leg stroke changes. But on a conventional bike,sliding forward reduces your leg-extension and moving back increases it slightly,due to the flat and linear,horizontal movement of your hips. Softride encourages faster,easier spins,and actually makes this bike a great sprinter - standing up the incredibly stiff bottom bracket design is like little else in bikedom,and seated you have the aforementioned advantages. To top it all off,I bought this bike new,unused for $200 because a used furnishing shop that buys estate batches got this bike as part of the deal. The owner of the shop thought it was just some strange sort of K-Mart fantasy bike or something,being accustomed only to furniture appraisals. I just kept my mouth shut and forked over the bills real quick,which was lucky,because shortly after I pulled away another knowing biker arrived to make the kill,informing the owner of the bikes true worth (after he realized he had lost it). Wow,was she upset! Oh well... So,in many ways I am so happy to have gone to Softride. It's such an "alive" ride,so comfortable,I love it! But it is not a bike to just hop on and fall in love with right away,I think. Trust us owners,the bike rocks and rolls!
