Softride bike?

I am 38 yrs old and I have been into bikes for most of my life but I have not been on a Soft ride. Having said that, I have always preferred a bike with a little more rigidness. It seems like anything that has give/suspension to it would translate into loss of power, I know that Softride claims this is not the case but I can't see how any type of flexability in a bike would not result in energy being absorb and lost. Perhaps I need to try one out myself. It seems like simple physics to me. Energy absorbed by the bike is not energy transferred to the road.
I'll check back to see what others have to say. They do look cool though!

Okay, now you'll get an opinion from some one who has ridden a Softride. I own three of them, in fact.

First I'll answer the "power-robbing" aspect that some one brought up -- not true. Power-robbing frame flex happens between the pedals and the rear wheel. By the very nature of the smaller triangles of the Softride frame, it is actually MORE rigid (or at least can be made that way) than a standard diamond frams.

Weight: Yes, a Softride will tend to be a little heavier than a standard bike of like size. But aero trumps weight in TT efforts. Also, I've got a couple of USCF hillclimb TT titles that say that the weight of my Softride never held me back.

My Softride story started some 17 years ago when I was in my first incarnation in tri. I had a SPecialized Allez Epic (carbon tubes in aluminum lugs) and on most of the back-country road courses that we raced, my bum would go to sleep from the road buzz. When I tracked down a dealer in Bellingham that had some Softrides, I arranged to take a test ride after a race I did there. Eye-opening. Within 5 minutes I was LOOKING for bumps and RR tracks to ride over.

I got my first within 6 months of that. Then I got into road racing (USCF type), and raced on that bike. Got a second several years later (TiCycles), and a year later got my third (a steel TiCycles for the track and also to use as a road fixie/single speed).

I now have a standard diamond frame to race on, only because I maxed out the road geometry getting forward and low. I still do much of my training on the Siftride, and love the execution of the suspension. It really cuts down on the fatigue being isolated from the road buzz. I don't have any back issues, so I can't vouch for that aspect, but I've seen/heard many people say that it's saved their cycling.

Hope that helps.

The weight limit is just for the carbon boom. they make different booms with different weight limts, so it was just that paticular persons bike with a limit of 185.