Author Topic: How long (and who,how,when, and why)have you ridden Pro-Flex/K2? (Read 105054 times)

Sprucey · « **Reply #15 on:** February 17, 2005, 01:08:46 am »

Some time in 1992/1993 - I don't remember. I bought rigid forked steel Taleigh second hand from a local shop and it had a Girvin Flex stem on it.

My riding buddies were all saliors and olympic windsurfers and the neil Pryde importer was also the Proflex importer so they all got 855 and 856's. I son followed suit with a second hand 855 and have never looked back since. I still own the 855 (set up as a singlespeed but needing forks), had and sold to a friend an 857, I have 2004 razorback Team and my pride and joy the Oz (much modified by me and Simon from this site.

Sprucey

zulu · « **Reply #16 on:** February 17, 2005, 08:52:28 am »

I stumbled into a Proflex dealer in 1996 after crashing and finally breaking a 1989 Spec. Rockhopper Comp. rigid. The sales guy showed me the lastest upgrades on the Proflex 856 with speed springs, full XT & Grip-shift. I couldnt believe I could have a full suspension race ready MTB on year end clearence sale. I was able to max out the credit card and after one ride was convinced that it was the best thing in the world. I still ride it and have had little to no problems with it. My 856 has single handedly aditicted 20 of my friends to start ridding Mountian Bikes.
I have and will always have a special place in my heart for the trusty 856.

junkster · « **Reply #17 on:** February 17, 2005, 07:41:05 pm »

Been riding Proflex/K2 for just under a year, between my first 855 and current 5000, and I love 'em. Crosslinks rock!

I only heard of Proflex when a guy advertised it in the local Friday-ad (classifieds) for a bargain £50. It was in a right state mind, (Elastomers were concrete, wheel bearings and rims absolutely shot, (shame - Richey rims on old Hope hubs), vector bushings worn, no brakes or gears), but I had seen Girvin crosslinks once before on ebay a few years earlier, and the frame was soooooo light I couldn't resist.

I was riding a Univega Y-frame hardtail at the time so was able to swap most of the components over.

Found this site while searching for more info on how to fix the Vectors, and 'ain't ever looked back!' [smiley=beer.gif]

First long ride was the 3 day 105mile South Downs way challenge with the 855 back in May last year. Vector forks with a bespoke 750 in/lbs coil spring! Ouch - rock solid, but cause I was 17 stone it had at least 5mm of travel!! (Can tell you are all impressed). [smiley=laughing.gif] Was running front and rear Magura 2002 Claras with the most ridiculous looking front disc brake adapter ever. Think the only reason I survived it was the Stratos Air/oil shock on the back, oh, and the granny saddle (more padding than a man in a fat suit)!

Doing the challenge again this year on my 5000, (long travel Xlinks with a 225 in/lbs spring(lost two stone in weight - [smiley=nod.gif]) [smiley=beer.gif] Running 2004 Magura Julies now, (180mm front rotor).

I luv my bike [smiley=worry.gif] - (scares most well adjusted people that!) [smiley=turtle.gif]

Dan

Simon · « **Reply #18 on:** February 18, 2005, 07:38:42 am »

Had Girvin flexstem on my Dawes MTB in 1989/90,gave up MTBing went back into motocross,Gave up MotoCross again in july 1994, I again took up mountain biking and decided to purchase a full suspension bike,purchased a secondhand Proflex 853 which was running 75mm VLS forks coil sprung open bath damping,later I sold the frame set and purchased in the beginning of 96 a new 856 frameset with vector2 forks,kept that bike but purchased in 99 a new Carbon 4500 with custom spec,bought a spare unused Oz frameset in 2003 which I've now built up for my son,and just this week arrived an 856 frameset for modification,
Proflex rider for 11 years.
Simon.

jinder · « **Reply #19 on:** February 19, 2005, 01:49:42 am »

Cheers to all ya! [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=nod.gif]

Ionit · « **Reply #20 on:** February 19, 2005, 03:36:05 am »

Wow. It's been such a long time since I saw a sparkling new set of Girvin forks on what had to be a Proflex. The Girvin fork was all I saw. They looked far superior to any fork of those years. Being that they were half my size I wouldn't have been able to ride with them. My father described this with a quick sentence “when you get older”.
I was stuck riding my juvenile florescent Pink Raleigh.
It was early 1998 and it was time for a new bike. I was looking everywhere for it and even enjoyed test riding a few other brands. But as soon as I walked into the showroom with a brand new K2 Proflex 4500 Carbon with the Girvin design fork I had dreamt since childhood I knew I had to have it. I have ridden it loyally ever since that day. It’s lasted such a long time and I would never retire it now. When it needed a rebuild in early 2000. I contemplated retiring it. But at that moment I received a glimpse of a memory stashed in the depths of my mind. It was "Lassie the dog wonder" being fled off by the boy who loved him so much. In a moment of tough love the boy curses and throws stones until Lassie drearily leaves.
Why should my K2 proflex share that same fate.
It is with me forever now. I just couldn’t put it down after this long. Besides, People identify me with it. “The guy with the old Carbon Fibber Frame.”

jinder · « **Reply #21 on:** February 19, 2005, 04:56:25 am »

Alex, I would love to ride with you this summer, I'll hook up for sure! Same passion for Proflex...wouldn't it be awesome if we all can ride together someday?

Ionit · « **Reply #22 on:** February 19, 2005, 05:39:15 am »

Sure. that would be great. I'll give you a PM when I trek out to London (Ontario). See ya this summer.

splodge · « **Reply #23 on:** February 20, 2005, 08:06:20 am »

got my 856 second hand for back in the spring of 99 and it's been the best , I had a marins and a orange(hardtails) before i got my 856 now it's like a old pair of slippers and i can't see me changing it ,i have been rideing eston hills(uk) for over 20 years now,and seen lots of bikes (mtb and bmx)come and go but my old proflex is here to stay
p.s Any one know were i might find somewere that sell's 856 stickers???

jinder · « **Reply #24 on:** February 21, 2005, 01:15:34 pm »

Quote

got my 856 second hand for back in the spring of 99 and it's been the best , I had a marins and a orange(hardtails) before i got my 856 now it's like a old pair of slippers and i can't see me changing it ,i have been rideing eston hills(uk) for over 20 years now,and seen lots of bikes (mtb and bmx)come and go but my old proflex is here to stay
p.s Any one know were i might find somewere that sell's 856 stickers???

Alex "Ionit" might be able to help....try PM him.

bikendan · « **Reply #25 on:** February 21, 2005, 03:25:48 pm »

i got my '98 k2/proflex in march of '98. my old hardtail got stolen out of my truck and my insurance gave me a great replacement amount. so i started looking for a f/s bike. my buddy had a cannondale v-600 and i was jealous. i looked around and tried a lot of bikes. but all the f/s bikes seemed to pogo a lot. then i stumbled upon a '97 proflex 857 and 957. these bikes were tight. i loved the linkage fork and the small of pogo they had. anyway, i found out that the '98 bikes were going to have something called a smart shock. i love tech stuff and waited. i found a blue 4000 and made the deal. my insurance company even put up $200 more over my original amount.
i then bought a k2 electra snowboard with the same smart tech and clicker boots. then a k2 grassroots razorback and then a k2 zed for the wife.
would have bought a lithium if i hadn't got the giant vt-2 for $500 less.
been on the forum since '98 and have loved learning and informing here.
i actually got a tour of the k2 hq on vashon island when i took my nr-4 for an exchange. saw the molds for the carbons. still wish i'd gotten one. [smiley=coolfrown.gif] [smiley=coolfrown.gif]

Colin · « **Reply #26 on:** February 24, 2005, 09:28:02 am »

As a kid in 1977 I modded my 24" wheel road bike with cow horns and the widest Knobbly tyres I could find - 1.75", I think. I spent hours and hours in the countryside just exploring and attempting little gullies and jumps. Near Luton, we had a great big hill with a dirt track down it and a tarmac road to ride back up on. That descent still scares me!

I Bought my first “All Terrain Bike” in 1985, a Raleigh Maverick that cost £200 brand new.
The best Raleigh Team Banana racer only cost £127.
Everyone said “what do you want 15 Gears for??”
(My brother’s still got this bike somewhere in his garage…the frame was guaranteed for 15 years! It broke in 2000, but we got it brazed)
Then in 1991 I bought a fully rigid Marin Pine Mountain brand new and this did me for a number of years and lots of long overland journeys (it’s been to Greece! And I’ve still got it!)

I first read about PRO~FLEX’s in MBi magazine in November 1995 when they reviewed the 855 and described it as “Two Wheeled Dr. Martens”
I thought it looked absolutely brilliant and exactly the sort of bike I wanted to replace my rigid Marin, then I saw the price tag £1499 !!
No way!! I waited and even tried to get a friend to buy one in the states as they were only $1400 over there.

Then I saw the 856 and again held off because of the price..…..
Then in 1997 I saw an ”XP-X” (which is basically an 856) advertised as "Why ride when you can fly?"
I believe they were only sold in the UK by the importers “Ultra Sport UK"
They had a competition to win one......,
.........I entered.......
................ I didn’t win ...............

Then lo and behold a freebie copy of “Exchange & Mart” was put through my door, I opened it up and a golden light surrounded me and Angels began to sing as I saw the advert that read..................
“UNWANTED PRIZE FOR SALE”
“PRO~FLEX full suspension mountain bike, unused”
and it was only 80 miles away!

I rang them up, jumped in the car and saw the bike; it was the prize from Ultra Sport! All the labels were on it and not a mark on it. I tried not to act too keen, and managed to get it for £750 !! Bargain, I thought!!
The XP-X was an 856 frame which allegedly has additional welding to strengthen it against some reported failures and doesn’t have the hole through the seat post for the canti’s, instead it has Magura Hydraulic brakes which were pretty rare back then. It came with ODS shocks and MCU’s which I quickly replaced with Speedsprings.

This is a picture of the actual bike from their web-site and is the one I now own.

Well that bike has lasted me since then and it’s ridden nearly every week and is still in great condition (I really ought to sell it, but I won’t……) The only draw back was I rode to work on it weekdays (1.3” slicks) and then had to change tyres for off-road weekends, what a pain and so I resolved to buy a spare pair of wheels, but realised that for the cost of the wheels and cogs I could maybe buy another bike!

Then I bought an 857 frame dirt cheap on eBay and planned to move everything off of the XP-X to this frame, but I just didn’t have the heart to do it, instead I bought a 856 type BEAST as a donor bike but again didn’t do anything with it (I've sold them both now!)

Then in 2004 I noticed that 4500’s and 5500’s were popping up on the market at reasonable prices. Like everyone else, I had coveted these carbon bikes with their “Smart Shocks” when they came out, but £4000 for a bike? Get out of here!

I missed out on a few and then Jeroen “Stoerevent” contacted me to say he was selling his 5500 in the Netherlands and was I interested? I was, but wanted to see it in the flesh and no business trips to the Netherlands were forthcoming so I told him to go ahead and sell it.

As a consolation a 4000 came up on eBay and I managed to get it at the seller’s reserve price which I was very happy with. Apparently this bike was sold in the Netherlands to the Dutch/Belgium equivalent of F1 commentator Murray Walker and was top spec’d ! Allegedly Michael Schumacher has had his leg over it!

Then Lo and Behold a business trip came up for the Netherlands and Jeroen still had the 5500, I came, I saw, I bought! (There are still pictures of it in his gallery)http://idriders.com/cgi-bin/album_k2.pl?slideshow=5;oldslideshow=5;fullscreen=1;photo=stoerevent/5500C_side.JPG

Then in 2006, I bought an unridden OzM that had sat in a garage for 5 years, it's still got the manufacturer grease on it!
Also, an OzX that has seen a bit more life, eventually both of these bikes will emerge as re-worked and modernised versions for me and the missus.

So I decided to sell the 5500, which I did, but incidentally bought another carbon Frame..............

So now I have too many PRO~FLEX’s to ride, and my wife calls it my “Pro~Flex museum”
Thank God PRO~FLEX stopped making decent bikes!

Although I do have my eye on a Whyte 46………………………

Col

StoereVent · « **Reply #27 on:** February 24, 2005, 10:45:35 pm »

In 1992 I bought a Cannondale from returned tax money. fully rigid ofcourse. I loved it, not only the bike but also the mountainbiking (well, mountain, here in Holland you better cal call it off road biking). a few years later I saw a secondhand Proflex 959 at my LBS. I HAD to have is, eventough I could'n afford it. I managed to sell my C'dale and with that money and some money I managed to get from my girlfriend, who is in charge of our financial business, I bought the Proflex. Most beautiful bike ever: completly silver coloured. I upgraded to springs a little later. Few years later, while racing through the sand, the front forks fell apart... Way to expensive to replace them at that time and way difficult to get some secondhand forks, so I put the frame in a corner and went to my LBS again. And there: the most beautiful bike I ever saw: a 5500C, secondhand, never ridden off road and, most important of all: affordable (well, with a little help from my girlfriend...again...). I had seen that bike some time before in the same shop, but then it was brand new and way too expensive. Road the bike some years and really loved it verry verry much.
But the it happened: I saw the most beautiful bike ever! A Rocky Mountain Instinct... second hand and again (allmost) affordable. I sold my 5500C to the nicest Guy from England I know (indeed: Colin) and the rest is history.

I still visit this site every day, eventough I'm no Proflex owner anymore. But because I still do own a 959 frame, I think I'm entitled to do so.

Jeroen.

Colin · « **Reply #28 on:** February 25, 2005, 02:08:14 am »

Thanks Jeroen!! ( I must be the only guy from England he knows!!)

And that's after we had a panic over paying for the bike, (I had the bike, he had no money, whoops!)

What do you mean by a 959

I don't think this was a real model, 957 was the last in that series, but some people refer to 5500's as 959's because that is the logical progression.

I bet you've actually got a lovely natural alloy/silver 957 frame hidden away somewhere?

Your wife is too nice to you ( I just don't tell mine when I buy something!!! Ha ha ha!)

changes to the 5500:
Carbon Crosslinks with NR-5 Smartshock
Carbon SPIN Wheels (maybe only for road use...)
Carbon Seatpost
Carbon Bar
Titanium Bar ends
Rear NR5 Smartshock with Titanium bolts.
Titanium Front & Rear springs
Body Geometry Saddle
Carbon Mudguards
Carbon Bottle rack

Just got to finish bolting all of these on!

Col.

StoereVent · « **Reply #29 on:** February 25, 2005, 06:30:56 am »

Wow Colin,

You've totally carbonized the bike! Nice!.

I don't have any pictures of the silver frame at this moment (someone I once went on biking holiday with has got pictures, I'm trying to get in contact with him again) and to tell the complete story: my brother in law has completely stripped the frame, he has had it painted again and he is building it up again. So wouldn't know how to determine the exact type of the bike without some old pictures. At the time I rode that bike, I didn't care about numbers, just tried to ride as fast as I dared.

Come to think of it: I'm afraid I gave the frame away to him, so actually I'm no Proflex owner anymore.

or actually:

..

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Author Topic: How long (and who,how,when, and why)have you ridden Pro-Flex/K2? (Read 105054 times)

splodge