I was going to comment earlier about how a Softride will force you to use a smooth pedal stroke (I.E. No need for Chamois Buttr, Bag Balm, vaseline or any other nasty goo) and you can vary the seat position up, down, back or forth with a two minute Allen wrench job.

Also - the smooth pedal stroke that the Softride promotes will transfer over to any rigid frame that you ride... I'm in terrible shape, trained ~75 miles last year and still pulled off the Double Crater Lake loop with no problems. (okay - I was on the road until 4:30...)

As a disclaimer - I don't sell Softrides - I used to make fun of them, but then I tried a used one for grins and now I love them. I even leave the trusty Cannondale at home now.

Ken Cregger

I watched a man on a Softride on last year's day 1 option steep-as-hell hill, and from behind, he did a lot of bouncing up and down. It looked very inefficient to me. Any comments?

Amy Ream

I got to "borrow" one of the SoftRide bikes on day 3 of CO IX. At the first pit stop with a mechanic I got a serious tweak toward the "stiff" setting and wasn't bothered by bouncing for the rest of the day. The part of that day's ride along Hwy 97 was on a surface that was chewed up prior to resurfacing. My riding partners were grousing all along that rough stretch, but I only felt the bumps in my feet. The day ended with a very happy tush.

Igor

You only bounce until you learn to pedal smoothly or when you're too tired to care (Like halfway up the option on Day 1 last year). Even if you never learn to pedal correctly, your legs will hurt much less from the overexertion than your umm... other parts.

"Pogo Boy"
Ken Cregger