Chadden

I'm going to be selling my old Softride pretty soon but I want to know what ballpark I'm looking in. I know nothing about it


Not the original paint and needs tires but there's very little rust








Will it be worth more if I strip it to the original color?

bargainguy

These can be a tough sell, because the beam seatmast tends to turn most buyers away. Can it be more comfortable than a traditional seatpost? Sure, but one must learn to not bob excessively, pedaling tight circles....hard to describe but more understandable once you've ridden one. It's like you're going "with the beam" and the bob and not fighting against it. The bike in my avatar is a Bike Friday AirGlide, similar concept, but titanium beam instead of CF.

If it were in better cosmetic condition, $300 +/- depending on your market.

Whether you strip the paint or not (and I don't think it'll affect value much if at all), I'd spend some time with a heat gun, remove all the stickers, and then chase that with some degreaser to remove the sticky residue. That alone will help resale value.

exxongraftek

Well said, bargainguy! I'd be a smidge lower on value though, say $250 if cleaned and de-stickered.

T-Mar

I concur, these are a hard sell. The prime market for these are duathletes/triathletes, so I'd be advertising it on one of their forums or that of your local event organizer. Maybe even take it to you r next local event with a For Sale sign. Also, make sure you mention the beam rating as they were categorized by rider weight.

I had a Power Wing that I used for a season of multi-sport. My biggest adaptation issue was recalibrating my leg swing for mounting. The saddle height is set to compensate for beam sag when weighted, so the unweighted saddle is several centimetres higher than your saddle height on a rigid frame. I practiced my mounts and dismounts for quite a period before my first event, to prevent knocking the saddle with my thigh when I swung my leg over the saddle. I had seen cases where newbies had knocked themselves over and caused pile-ups in the transition zones.

I also had an issue with my thighs rubbing the beam, which is higher and wider than a top tube. It wasn't too bad in cycling shorts but was chaffing in a Speedoo after the swim, so I used to smear Vaseline on the inside of my thighs.

Chadden

Thanks for the advice everyone. Would you guys recommend stripping the paint job off? Or maybe put new stickers over the bike again like it had been to cover the paint blotches?

If I were to remove it, how would one go about that?

Chadden

The paint is peeling though, I think it would be more effective to put more stickers on it?

bargainguy

Not if you want to sell it. A bike covered in stickers is a huge turn-off to most buyers. Not that there isn't some practical advantage to it - to make it less attractive to thieves, for ex. - but for resale, you'll want as close to an original finish as you can get it.

If the paint is peeling, that will subtract somewhat from resale value. You can leave the peeling paint as is, maybe touch up the peeling spots, or do a full strip/sandblast and then either paint or powdercoat. Much depends on how much effort you want to sink into it, because even with a fully repainted or powdercoated frame, you're not looking at that much increase in value.

I see a lot of Softrides sit unsold for months. I'm sure quite a few of them are scooped up for the parts only, as there were some really nice builds when they were popular. If yours had brifters, that would increase the value somewhat, if only from a parts resale point of view.

Chadden

I need at least $300 because that's what I have into it. Do you think it's worth parting out? Or should I just list it $300 as is and sit

bargainguy

I think T-Mar had the best idea - market to triathletes and see what happens. Someone just starting out as a triathlete often can't afford much in the way of a bike, and they might not care as much about aesthetics as the typical buyer. Best to advertise soon, because the tri season is in full swing, and you'll want to catch those newbie triathletes before they're already set up on different rides.

With the peeling paint, stickers and without brifters, you might get $300 for the entire bike, who knows. If you want the best inertia option, don't bother with stripping the stickers, just sell the bike as is (tune it up if you can), put it out there, and see what happens. Play up the comfort on long rides to distinguish it from other tri bikes on the market.

Be warned, tho - the tri market is a really small segment of the market, and sometimes a finicky one, so don't be too disappointed if it doesn't sell right away. If you take the inertia option and it doesn't sell, then you can think about removing the stickers and trying to resell, or a full part-out. I don't think you can get $300 on a part-out given the downtube shifters.

Flog00

Get on Ebay and look up sold listings for Softride parts.


Pull it down, remove all the stickers.


If the beam had the original decals it alone could fetch 300. Likely worth 200 cleaned up nicely. Include the front beam mount (suspension) sell the seat clamp separately.
The frame is nearly worthless. The parts are not worth much.
I think you'll struggle to get $300.
I bought out a Softride dealer a few years back and made a killing, but the Softride fanatics want NOS or nearly perfect stuff.

cycleheimer

I saw one on the Fairfield, CT Craig's List within the past 6 months for $200. It looked like it was in very good original condition.

Chadden

Does anyone know if they made a beam to support 220 pounds? The one on here only supports 180. I may sandblast the frame, paint it with a decent paint that won't fall apart, sell the beam, and try and find one that supports up to 250 if they made one.

T-Mar

IIRC correctly, they came is 20 lb increments, with the off-road rating being 20lbs under the road rating. There was 240/220lb beam but I'm not sure if there was anything higher.