But first, the all important picture...
Allsop Softride (1990)
I’ve always wanted to ride a ‘beam’ bike, the early application of carbon fibre into what was seen to be a ‘problem area’ with conventional bike frames. The beam, some 660mm long on this model, is affixed to a braised lug just behind the head tube, and there is a second mount point braised to the frame through which a swivel adjustment is bolted. On this frame there’s probably enough adjustment to suit riders from 5’8 to 6’2.
Having got my hands on one, I stripped it down and rebuilt as a race bike, replacing the commuter iteration with drop bars, 12 speed gears etc
The bike
Marketed as innovative technology which gave a nice smooth ride, and allowed a more powerful transfer of input from the rider to the bike, the Softride frame was built around the carbon fibre beam, which appears to be bilaminate. They’re still moderately popular amongst triathletes, to whom they were heavily marketed.
The beam itself has a weight limit of 200lb and there are occasional tales of them breaking. More commonly the pivot bolts need replacing; I have no idea whether spares are still available.
The bike frame proper is of lugless welded steel, Tange Infinity tubing throughout. This is pretty good stuff, but it still ain’t light. I didn’t weigh it but assume the built up bike to weigh near to 11 kg.
The ride
First, set your saddle. I’m a relatively svelte 80kg at the moment and needed to anticipate at least 60mm of vertical flex, so the saddle is set high. This causes issues when it comes to throwing the leg over, standover height, and catching your knicks when remounting. I guess you get used to it.
The beam creaks. I’ve greased the bolts etc and maybe it’s the beam itself. I could never entirely escape the disquiet which comes with having creaky carbon fibre underneath me. Once I’d sorted a lumpy back tyre things were smooth at the back end, and the Softride does more or less what it says. It bounces up and down underneath you as you pedal, forcing a moderate change in style, but the front end acts exactly like any other steel road bike.
And that’s the issue. If you really want a soft ride then front end damping is the only way to go (eg shock absorber front fork). Most shocks come from the front end and are transmitted to the handlebar, into the arms. Most competent cyclists use their legs as the primary shock absorbers, anyway, and I found that’s exactly what I did when riding the Softride. As the bike dipped into a pothole or rut and the beam flexed I was unweighting my body just as I would on a conventional framed bike.
I expected the beam to sway slightly sideways, or give unwanted flex during hard cornering, but found that not to be an issue. The rear of the frame under the beam was as solid as any other bike and you could feel the track and chatter on tougher road surfaces, even though the beam made any shock a non-issue.
The Softride design seems to promote a lower cadence riding; lower cadence means less bounce, and riding in higher gears was not to my liking. I found my cadence dropped from ~90 to about 75. More importantly, because I was compensating for the beam flex I found I was getting tired in the muscles at the back of the thighs, trying to unweight myself from the seated position.
Conclusion
I rode this bike over 150km in 4 rides, over all terrain and road surfaces, giving it a pretty good workout, I feel. I think the claimed benefits are unrealized and that the design is an evolutionary backwater. Essentially, the frame damping is at the wrong end, and I could feel no benefit in style or strength in riding. Of course, for those with recurrent or previous back injuries there might be an advantage, but not without a specialized need.
