# New Old ride: Allsop by Paul Barkley (56k warning)



## SnowMongoose (Feb 18, 2007)

Yeah, Softride beam in the house!
Saw this bad boy in some local classifieds, and remembered how much I drooled over the Allsops when I was younger, so picked it up.
I don't know too terribly much about the bike, or if it is even worth anything beyond fun and nostalgia but hey, if nothing else, it has the eye-popping rad paintjob.
(and come on, a Coors light beam? how cool is that!)

Without further ado, pictures!
















The spot of rust below the front beam mount point is the worst on the bike, looks like mostly surface rust.

























Here is all that I know about the bike, as told to me by Steve, the guy who sold it to me.
Custom cro-moly frame for a rider about my size (6'3''), hasn't seen that much mileage. Obviously an older bike. (early 90's?)
yeah, that's about all I know, google turned up nada, hoping that some of you vets could help me out here.

I haven't decided if I want to keep it all vintage, upgrade it/repaint the frame, or just fix the small rust spots and ride as is... but I'll burn that bridge when I get there.


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## 57-180 (Jan 22, 2006)

I can dig it!! Currently restoring a Breezer Beamer for my main ride. Don't know much about the specifics of the frame, however, you can still get parts to rebuild the stem & the beam pivot. I'm not sure what it is about the beam bikes, really disliked them back in the day, but they seem to make sense to me now.:thumbsup:


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## Caffeine Powered (Mar 31, 2005)

A Coors Light beam? Was that ever sold to normal humans? I thought Alexi Grewal was the only guy to have a beam bike during the waning days of the Coors team. He was having a lot of back problems back in 1991-1992 so they hooked him up with a beam. I don't remember if he was riding a repainted SoftRide (I was riding one that year too) or if he had a Serotta with a beam mount.

Yours is a bit of a Tie-dye Camo theme but what the heck. I'll bet it's fun.


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## robinmiller (May 31, 2005)

One interesting thing is that the stem is newer than the rest of the bike, or at least newer than the drivetrain...

That drivetrain is 1992 or older i think (the push-push shifters mean <1992 and DX group in general means <1993), but the aluminum softride stem with the machined out top member was new in the summer of 1994 (i know because i bought one back then, and had to specify the 'new style' with the machined rather than welded together top part).


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## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

SnowMongoose,

Paul built out of the Bellingham area. An established local shop should know more info.


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## Retrocowboy (May 16, 2006)

*beam bike*

I love it! Good score. I have an Otis Guy Softride bike thats my favorite ride. Don't forget that Bob Roll, aka Bobke rode an Otis Guy titanium beam bike to his highest cross- country placing, (6th), in the mid-90's. Before that, he rode for the Lemond team and Proflex.:thumbsup:


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## andrewthorne (Feb 26, 2004)

*Nice Bike!*



SnowMongoose said:


> Yeah, Softride beam in the house!
> Saw this bad boy in some local classifieds, and remembered how much I drooled over the Allsops when I was younger, so picked it up.
> I don't know too terribly much about the bike, or if it is even worth anything beyond fun and nostalgia but hey, if nothing else, it has the eye-popping rad paintjob.
> (and come on, a Coors light beam? how cool is that!)
> ...


SWEET bike! I had one of the Barkley-built softrides a couple years ago. Mine was fillet-brazed, had a similiarly horrid neon splatter fade paint job (black front fading to neon yellow rear with purple splatters all over). Mine came to me as just a frame and fork so it was built with an even more random assortment of stuff. I really wanted to like the bike, but it didn't quite fit me so I sold it off.

The guy who sold it to me (somebody from Massachusetts who hooked me up through the ibob list) told me that Barkley had been a Seattle area custom builder who built the geometry prototypes for the production softrides. Apparently mine was one of the prototypes. Given that the bike was was fillet brazed and only had the Barkley sticker on it (no other Allsop or Softride graphics) I have some reason to beleive the story.

Lastly, the likely reason for the stem being the newer "bridge truss" style instead of having the welded "dogbone" upper link is that the latter were subject of a recall. As recently as three years ago, Softride honored the recall and sent me a brand spanking new stem to replace a dogbone model that came to me on an older bike.

Softies are a blast. I recently picked one up here on the forum and had a hoot of a ride on Sunday on it. I'll get around to shooting some pictures one of these days.

-Andrew Thorne


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## SnowMongoose (Feb 18, 2007)

Thanks for the info guys!
I had been wondering what the story with the Coors Light beam was, since I had figured that nobody could possibly like Coors light enough to do that to their beam except on a bet (or not having a choice)

DoubleCent: I'll start askin around the LBSes, see what I can find...
I was going to look into getting it painted 'for reals' (by someone who knows what they are doing) but I may just get it touched up instead.

Interesting though how few hits I'm getting searching online for Paul Barkley, or Grewal for that matter!
Hopefully as more of you vintage guys (no, I didn't just call all of you old... or did I?) look at this thread, I can get some more info.
I'll let y'all know what I find out from the local shops, thanks again for all the comments and information!


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## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

I'm pretty sure he was local to Bellingham, but not totally positive. Kingston Classic Cycles had the original Barkley Softride prototype in their collection, at least at one time, so that part of the history is true. I have a old Northwest Cyclist magazine that listed Paul as a builder with some additional info, but I can't get my hands on it easily right now. If you don't come up with more info let me know.


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## ssulljm (Sep 3, 2006)

Paul Barkley is an interesting chap, toured in Africa, Uganda, and set up a bike building shop in the Ruinzare mt's for awhile(near the gorilla's.)
He built a couple of custom softrides for a few of the members of coors light road as a result of Alex Steida's friendship with the fellow riders. Alexi Grewal being one of the ones who needed to limit the spasming in his lower back.
They used the softrides for training, with Alex stieda being pretty much the only one utilizing them at events. I saw him win the White Rock (BC) pro criterium on a beam bike back in 91ish, outsprinting Brian Walton for the win.
Paul also built one for tomac in 91, 
Allsop had their own carbon fiber shaping-production facility in Bellingham, where this white beam was produced.
Paul Barkley was the brains behind the powercurve frame design, with Allsop's patent stating that fact when it was granted by the patent's office.
Word of warning:
Many Barkley frames ended up breaking just in front of the I bolt, or at the junction of the down tube+ the head tube.
Keep an eye on these points, and listen for the tell tale irk-irk-irk sound when climbing for clues that the frame is going.
This bike you have is one of the first couple of runs, prototypes basically, that were used to determine where to beef e'm up for general use.
Jim Sully- softride team rider-tester 1989-93


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## SnowMongoose (Feb 18, 2007)

Well, that's quite a bit more information than I had thought I might get, thanks!
note to self: irk irk irk = especially bad, check.

Well, now that I've heard all this, I guess it's time for me to figure it out...
ride as is, repaint the frame _then_ ride it, or just hold on and admire it.


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## Bigwheel (Jan 12, 2004)

Saw this post and was going to add that there used to be a guy who could tear it up on one of those, with slicks no less, and lo and behold he was already on here with the inside info....

Sully, email me @ bigwheel_29 at hotmail.com?


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## SnowMongoose (Feb 18, 2007)

Now that I think about it, I think I met you once Sully...
I hung out with Aaron Menenberg while I was riding in high school, I think I met you at a combination white elephant/backyard bike race through him in oh, 97? 98? 99 maybe?
I got nothin.

Soon as finals are over, I'll try and put the irk irk out of my head and take her for a spin or three.


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## Brutal Cycles (Feb 16, 2007)

We sold the heck out of Allsop beam bikes in the midwest. Outfitted our teams with em and everything. Pretty successful bikes around those parts. Give ya a nice smooth spin.

While working at Trek, I designed and built a prototype beam frame by chopping an existing OCLV frame, making a new upper unit, lowering the stays and whatnot. It was stupid light. Around 2 and a half pounds. Can't seem to remember what happened to it. Probably broke at the chainstay like all the other OCLV frames from those days.


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## SnowMongoose (Feb 18, 2007)

mmm... two and a half pound frame.
(not like mine is terribly heavy, certainly lighter than my Kona HT, even considering the skinny rims and lack of a suspension fork)

Ok guys, need some more input, if y'all would be so kind...
any ideas as to how much she might be worth?
(had interest from one party already, trying to toe the line between taking a loss and giving a decent price)


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## SnowMongoose (Feb 18, 2007)

Sorry for the double, just thought I'd talk about how she rides now that I've taken her for a spin
(nothing off road yet, just around town)

Lots of fun, significantly lighter than my Kona (Scrap), that third ring helps a whole lot on the hills, that's for sure.
Suspension stem takes some getting used to, especially since you can't adjust it like you could a fork, so I had to make sure to keep my weight back, or else I was bobbing the entire time I was out of the saddle.
The beam works pretty well, will take some getting used to, but again, much cushier than the ride of my scrap.
Could probably use some riser bars, I already lowered the beam by an inch or so so I wouldn't be so aggressively seated.

For sure more of an XC machine than anything else, I'll have to track down a scale to figure out how light she really is.. I'll need to do a bit more riding before I trust her on anything approaching 'actual' rough terrain, but I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

Last thing... some of the looks I got as I bombed by people on the street, I could see their mental process... "Oh, motion. oh, bike. oh, brightly colored. oh ... what the hell?!"

cliffs: light, a blast to ride, even around town, love the attention she draws.


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## 57-180 (Jan 22, 2006)

You may be able to firm up the stem a bit. There is an allen bolt that is accessed from the front of the stem underneath that will add preload to the spring. Check it out and it may remove the bob. They are a blast to ride!:thumbsup:


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## SnowMongoose (Feb 18, 2007)

Torqued that preload bolt down, no more bob!
ah, the wonders of technology.

Two days of riding her around town, no complaints yet!


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## 57-180 (Jan 22, 2006)

Sweet!! Enjoy the ride!


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## Hanzo Steel (Apr 7, 2007)

hey I'm new =o, I was offered a Breezer Beamer and I'm wondering how much should I pay for it. Its seems in good shape.


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## el-cid (May 21, 2004)

SnowMongoose said:


> Torqued that preload bolt down, no more bob!
> ah, the wonders of technology.
> 
> Two days of riding her around town, no complaints yet!


Do you have this bike listed on Craiglist now, or is there something fishy going on?


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## Bigwheel (Jan 12, 2004)

*Beamingham*



el-cid said:


> Do you have this bike listed on Craiglist now, or is there something fishy going on?


Hey El-Cid, I saw it on the local CL here the other day, I don't think anything funny is going on. There is a rash of Allslops here left over from this being beam me upville. I see them all the time in lots of different configurations with all generations riding them.

I found the right adapter when I was moving also and thought of you!


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## el-cid (May 21, 2004)

Bigwheel said:


> Hey El-Cid, I saw it on the local CL here the other day, I don't think anything funny is going on. There is a rash of Allslops here left over from this being beam me upville. I see them all the time in lots of different configurations with all generations riding them.
> 
> I found the right adapter when I was moving also and thought of you!


It's listed in the Seattle Craiglist. The pics in the ad are the same as the ones in this thread and I just thought it was odd since the dude that started this thread just bought it and seems stoked on it.

That Sugar has since been replaced by a Vicious Cycles Groover 29er; man it's a killer bike. Thanks again for going through that hassle.


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## Bigwheel (Jan 12, 2004)

el-cid said:


> It's listed in the Seattle Craiglist. The pics in the ad are the same as the ones in this thread and I just thought it was odd since the dude that started this thread just bought it and seems stoked on it.
> 
> That Sugar has since been replaced by a Vicious Cycles Groover 29er; man it's a killer bike. Thanks again for going through that hassle.


Seattle Craigs List is in Hooverville and I don't even bother to look there It was in the B'ham one when I saw it (and no Stan, nothing good ever comes up there so don:t bother looking but your probably already do) and I think it was for even more $$ but you know how bikes are, they come and they go for most folks.

Glad you are liking you bike, that is a good thing. We got out on the tandem today for a TwoUp Tour de Tulips.

















Check out the XC Pro Thumbie on that bike! Mandatory Vintage content


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