what type of bike was it?

[montreal5]

the other day i was in the park and i was passed by a guy on an odd looking bike. The frame was basically shaped like this: __\

It had no seat stays, the seat was basically a little arm that came out just below the headset. It had normal sized road tires and looked to be carbon fibre.

 

[gclark8]

http://epxbikes.com/epx/products/mountain.asp

Or a Softride http://www.softride.com/product.asp?p=13

 

[Explorer_H]

Like this?

 

[montreal5]

i'm pretty sure it was a softride, but i remember it not have a down tube.

 

[Explorer_H]

it would have to have either a downtube, or a super-strong top-tube...most likely a Softride.

 

[hd reynolds]

That frame design is not exclusive to softride. Carbon Sports has a similar frame called the Total Eclipse. The difference is that while the softride uses the beam as a suspension, the Tot Eclipse is a one-piece carbon frame.

Also, Greg Lemond experimented with the same design when he was still active in the TdF with a frame called BOOMERANG (apparently made in his specs by Calfee?).

 

[rdk]

I thought non-traditional shaped bikes like the Softride had been banned by the UCI for competirion, yet the Softride web site says its a TT and triathlon bike. Are these non-UCI events where anything goes, or am I wrong?

 

[hd reynolds]

I thought non-traditional shaped bikes like the Softride had been banned by the UCI for competirion, yet the Softride web site says its a TT and triathlon bike. Are these non-UCI events where anything goes, or am I wrong?

UCI stipulates that the seat, head tube and BB should fit within a template of a ''triangular form'' including TT bikes. The lack of a proper seat tube on these frames violates this rule and therefore are UCI illegal.

BTW, another ''beam bike'' like the softride is the titanflex.

 

[montreal5]

Is there any realistic advantage to having this frame? Not that I'm gonna get one, I just marvel how people go to extremes in biking.

 

[isdsms]

Is there any realistic advantage to having this frame? Not that I'm gonna get one, I just marvel how people go to extremes in biking.

One word.... Aerodynamics.

 

[JohnO]

Yep, that's a beam bike. I ride one, too, check my avatar or:

http://johno.myiglou.com/images/goldfoil.jpg

Advantages of the beam frame... it's more aerodynamic, and the beam is typically carbon fiber, so there's a bit of vibration reduction to the saddle. Love mine, it rides smooth, stiff on sprints, handles tight.

I went for the Trek version, as the frameset is fairly reasonably priced these days ($500 or so for a CF frame isn't bad...) and I thought the Foil had a graceful look to it.

The UCI banned beam frames in competition in 1999. The reasons are typically vague, general feeling is that they wanted race bikes that looked like normal bikes.

 

[meb]

I was looking at one of the Softride mountain bike beam bikes recently. Elected to not buy out of concern that the 210 lb on the beam might break under my 230 lb body. Was that a bonified concern or was that just overly cautious on my part?

I saw some posts discussing Softride TT frames breaking a lot. Is that concern present on their mountain bike beam bikes as well?

 

[John M]

I thought non-traditional shaped bikes like the Softride had been banned by the UCI for competirion, yet the Softride web site says its a TT and triathlon bike. Are these non-UCI events where anything goes, or am I wrong?

Triathlons are non-UCI and are therefore beam bike legal. Many TTs in the US are also non-UCI. Incidentally non-UCI events are also not subject to the UCI bike weight limit.

 

[jcbarnett]

BP Stealth is another brand that might be what you saw??