Softride was a manufacturer of bicycles located in Bellingham, Washington. They specialized in bicycles for triathletes. The bicycle frames were distinctive for their lack of

seat tube A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles: a main triangle ...

s and seat stays. The idea was to reduce aerodynamic drag and improve ride comfort. The company no longer manufactures bicycles, and focuses on

bicycle carrier A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

s instead. The design was developed by James Allsop and David Calopp, and became the most successful of the beam suspension systems. It was intended as a retrofit for traditional diamond frame bicycles, at first, but there were concerns about causing frame damage. Notable Softride users include

Greg Welch Gregory John Welch (born in 1964 in Campsie, Sydney), known as Greg Welch, is an Australian triathlete. He is known for having won "The Grand Slam", which includes the ITU Triathlon World Championships (1990), The Ironman ...

and Jürgen Zäck. In a survey of bicycles ridden at the 1996

Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

in Kona, Hawaii, there were 126 Softrides, out of 857 total bicycles, representing 14.7%. That was an increase from the 11.9% of 798 bicycles in 1995.

Softride Suspension System

The Softride Suspension System was launched at the Interbike 1989 bike show. The original SRS systems consisted of two foam filled fiberglass boxes bonded together with a viscoelastic layer. Originally intended for the use in

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

s, Softride produced its first full-fledged mountain bike, the PowerCurve, in 1991. During 1996 Softride released its first aluminum frame

road bike The term road bicycle is used to describe bicycles built for traveling at speed on paved roads. Some sources use the term to mean racing bicycle. Other sources specifically exclude racing bicycles from the definition, using the term to mean a ...

, the Classic TT. The Softride Suspension System is used almost exclusively for triathlon racing. Softride ceased bicycle production in 2007 after the design was banned from UCI races. A closely related suspension design to the Softride is the

Zipp 2001 Zipp 2001 and 3001 were a line of bicycle frames, now discontinued, made by the Zipp company. Though they have been out of production since 1997, they are still considered one of the fastest time trial frames ever made , and still have a cult f ...

, a contemporary competing beam bicycle, where the suspension was in the hinge, rather than in flex of the beam itself.

Suspension stems

Softride also designed and marketed suspension stems.

References

{{Reflist

External links

www.softride.com
Cycle manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Bellingham, Washington