i mean, just where are the girvin forks?
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overheard a lad about 15 saying to his mate, " i've never heard of proflex, they must be a new brand" makes me feel a bit old
More importantly, where is the flex stem? 😯
Or indeed the dodgy elastomers... 😉
And the truly hideous paint jobs
MrsSwadey nearly bought one of their bog standard 24" entry level bikes a couple of weeks ago - cracking value I thought. (But I hadn't realised they were still going.....)
Who are proflex?
I didn't get a lot out of the guys - other than they are based in the US, made in the far east and assembled in Barcelona. Spoke a lot better English than I speak either Spanish or French or wherever he was from but it was hard work.
Sadly, I quite liked the paint jobs for my XC jey-boy ambitions 😆
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Thats one fugly bike!!
Yeah,and they look even worse in the flesh, there is a guy in town who has an old 855. Gopping looking machine, it might ride fantastically though, like that dying giraffe thing White designed a while back apparently does.
I had a go on one when they were first out. It was a revelation compared to my rigid Rockhopper.
Thats one great looking bike!!
I agree.
Thanks - pre-dates my interest in MTBs and bikes in general - but I am considerably more than 15 years old.
Was this out the same time as the Raleigh Activator or Activator II? they were better to look at but stupidly useless suspension!
I am so old!!!!!
LMT - Member
Was this out the same time as the Raleigh Activator or Activator II? they were better to look at but stupidly useless suspension!
They were around 91ish when they came out. I had a model before the 855 above - I can't remember the model number now but it was a dark grey/bronze main frame with a neon orange back end. I want to say it was an Offroad Proflex 750. It came with an neon orange Flexstem and Suntour XC Comp/Pro.
Which means it had front suspension that didn't work, rear suspension that didn't work and gear shifting that didn't work. Old Diacompe SS5 brake levers were the only thing on the bike that I'd still have. I loved it though, despite cracking about three frames in a year...
It was a different bike to an Activator too - I think the RRP was £850?
for me its the new demo8
Proflex's pre-dated the Raleigh activators by about 3-5 years. Activator was a band wagon bike for the masses once raleigh saw that suspension was becoming popular with the then hardcore mtb set.
If my memory serves me correctly they were one of the first mass produced fully bouncy bikes. Hence the still developmental/early tech elastomer on the frame & forks.
Still preferred my hardtail with manitou 1's though.
I had one of the XP8 'special edition' Pro-Flex's.
Replaced the elastomers with noleen/girvin coils.
Man it was shit.
My main memories of it are:
1) the fork have some kinda weird path (I still blame it for the battering coyxc got one day
2) the rear noleen breaking at the top of the Firmounth (having just spent an hour pushing the bastid thing up) and leaving me a 2 hour carry of thing back down
3) the rear getting completely clogged up in the gloop at some scu xc (Dalbeattie?).
Never could stand that dog...
the muppets on the stand were more interested in what was on there laptop than answering my questions at the cycle show yesterday.
I was at the show Friday and i walked past the pro-Flex stand a number of times and not once did I see anyone showing any interest in them at all!
i think i still have a flexstem somewhere. might have to find it!
I sold my Flexstem about a month ago for £15
Proflex were ahead of the game but then just sat on their arses as everyone else caught up and passed them in terms of suspension. Now they just look like any other generic USA/Taiwan bike firm