K2 / Proflex Riders Group
General => Tech Forum => Topic started by: Akagi on February 12, 2010, 04:37:38 am
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So I was bored and surfing...
Then I stumbled upon this: http://vimeo.com/4779170
Forward to 0:55 to 1:12. Is this Henrik Djernis's 955 that he rode to his 1994 world cup victory?
What do you guys think?
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(http://montenbaik.com/wp-content/gallery/vieja-escuela/henrik-djernis.jpg)
Man, that is really close to what he rode. Cool find.
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Wow, at first I was like "fat chance", but it seems to be true after watching the segment you mentioned. I didn't listen to the audio...did the finder indicate that he knew it might be Henrik's actual bike, or was he psyched just to find a frame with old XTR stuff?
I bet if you contacted them they'd be able to put you in touch with the guy...would be an awesome piece of ProFlex and MTB history to own. Or, if you're not interested in doing it I'll try to see what I can find out about it.
- Doug
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OK, I was bored, so I took it on myself to contact the Xtracycle rider who found this frame...he's willing to donate it for restoration or a build-up to the group (assuming Akagi has first dibs, if interested) if the recipient pays shipping from Oakland, CA...his only condition is that he'd like "bloggables" (story, images) of the build-up :-)
Akagi, if you're interested PM me and I'll send you the guy's email address so you can arrange shipping. I'll also PM you about it.
Wow, I'm still impressed that you put 2 and 2 together...to date I had watched that video 5 or 6 times, but it never occurred to me that the frame was anything but a standard production frame.
- Doug
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so either it's his frame or someone chose to build a replica - that's an amazing find if it was his!! :o
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Hopefully there is no cracks or anything in that frame, but replica or real, it still deserves to be restored.
Great find, but how does something like that just suddenly wind up in the street? Or, why doesn't it wind up in a street I am walking down.
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Hopefully there is no cracks or anything in that frame, but replica or real, it still deserves to be restored.
Great find, but how does something like that just suddenly wind up in the street? Or, why doesn't it wind up in a street I am walking down.
Cracks eh? I can take care of that part. ;)
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Henrik has a facebook site.. not sure if he visits the site or has anything to do with it but might be worth a look ::)
It even look's the same size aswell looking at the top tube bend....so same size if it is a repo..
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I'd love to see this bike restored to original specs.
I unfortunately do not have the time or resources to do so.
Well. Whos up for it?
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OK, I did want to give you the first chance. I'll pay to have it shipped to me and then do some research on it. I'll try to contact Henrik via his Facebook page.
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More info:
I tried to contact Henrik via his FB page...we'll see how that goes. On fan pages there are no links to send the person a message, so all I was able to do was post to the wall.
From the Xtrabike guy: the frame looks to be Djernis', but also has a big crack where the pivot attaches to the frame. It includes the rear swingarm, seatpost, stem, fork, handlebar, etc. (none of the XTR components it was found with, though) and the guy is only asking for shipping costs. I figured, at least, I'd pick it up for the fork and other parts if not for the frame as a conversation piece.
Here are some pics the guy sent...I doubt Henrik would have applied all of the stickers, particularly the Chevy emblem on the stem ;-)
- Doug
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more
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last one
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oops, this is the last one, which shows the crack
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oops, this is the last one, which shows the crack
Hey there Doug.
Once again the photos are blocked. But if there is any way to repair that crack, you could have the guy send the bike to me, and I can resend it to you after the crack is fixed.
I could donate that much,
Terry
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Dont think f/b will come up with much ???......is there any other way of contacting him
who does he race for & is it possible to contact them to pass on any messages to get him to drop by the forum....
What about bike mag's??........must be some way of contacting him......
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I may be able to find a way of contacting him outside of FB...the frame is now on its way, so we'll see when it gets here. Terry, I'll keep you in mind if the crack seems to be the only damage. I compared the spacing of the Shimano decal compared to his name decal and it seems spot on in the two photos, but we'll see when it arrives. Does anyone have other pictures of him on that bike, hopefully larger?
So, what the heck do you all think we should do with it? Would be awesome if we could get him to autograph it, but that's very unlikely. I'd even consider donating the frame to MOMBAT if they were interested. Even with the crack repaired I'd be wary of building it up and riding it, given all the abuse it likely saw. I know we ride these bikes everyday, but the additive stress in an alloy frame could lead to other failures.
Thoughts?
- Doug :-)
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Needs to be on display for sure.
I've got the perfect spot in my house ;D
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Found this as a comparison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51mI8Wp2_vk
Side Shot: 0:33s
Shimano decal visible on top tube: 0:55s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9YMXvDL4QA
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That's really funny because that's our local news for the East Midlands in the UK. In fact our next door neighbours is one of the reporters (not on that piece though). Why was he in Nottingham? I think because the UK Proflex distributor was in Breaston (near Nottingham) is my guess?
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Your right orange ;) that's funsports also known as leisure lakes in breaston i recognise the shop.....
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Hey all,
So the frame arrived today, and it's an 855...does anyone know for sure if Henrik was riding a 955? I didn't think the 955 ever came in red, but who knows what they did for team riders.
I'm feeling like this isn't the same frame as in the pic...for one thing, the "pulse" on the PF logo in the pic looks white, but on this frame it's red/black. Also, the Michelin decals on the strut seem to be slightly rotated on the shaft on this one vs. the pic, and the swingarm has the 856's GLS decal, not the red/yellow one from the 855/955. The Shimano and name decals are perfectly proportioned as in the pic, though, so I don't know. The crack by the swingarm pivot is very real, though, so I think this one is outta commission. Terry, I'll let you know what the damage is like after I've had a chance to remove the rear swingarm.
Oh well, I can definitely make use of some of the parts. Pics to come.
- Doug
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the 955 did come in red in some areas. In that era, the worlds team used franken-proflexes that mixed up frames/ swingarms from different years. The original K2 5000 was badged as a Proflex 957 and used by the squad in the previous year. i had a picture of one from a race a decade ago.
I think hank ran his shocks practically locked out. remember that 10 years ago, the XC circuits were very tame compared to today.
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I heard that about the rear shocks locked out somewhere too. Probably here :D
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I heard that about the rear shocks locked out somewhere too. Probably here :D
That's right. He blamed the bike for his poor performances. Like the suspension robbed power to the wheels. ::) ::)
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I was checking out the frame again this weekend and though the rear swingarm is definitely from a later, X56-era frame, the fork is the lowest numbered fork I have, with one of those 6-digit serials starting with "02". All my other forks (mainly on 856's) as well as the one on my wife's 955 all start with "03" (or a longer combination of numbers and letters I'll assume means Taiwanese manufacture). So the fork on this bike could definitely be original.
The rear strut is also a bit different than the other 955 strut I have. The one I already had, from the small, polished 955 frame I snagged on eBay, has some additional material around where the M6 bolt goes through the crown. The strut from the found "Djernis" frame has no such reinforcement, making me think it's rather early in the series.
One thing is for sure, though...from the one, intact mode# decal the frame is an 855. Not sure what that means re: it being Djernis' possible former ride.
- Doug
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remember that the team frames weren't made in the tiawan factory - all in the USA. So there will be slight differences in the frame. When i was holding Nora Roeche's bike (world cup 1998) it weighed nothing at all. Much much lighter than well spec'd bikes. I imagine material had been removed from the frame since the bike would not be used for more than a few years and would be replaceable.
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I was checking out the frame again this weekend and though the rear swingarm is definitely from a later, X56-era frame, the fork is the lowest numbered fork I have, with one of those 6-digit serials starting with "02". All my other forks (mainly on 856's) as well as the one on my wife's 955 all start with "03" (or a longer combination of numbers and letters I'll assume means Taiwanese manufacture). So the fork on this bike could definitely be original.
The rear strut is also a bit different than the other 955 strut I have. The one I already had, from the small, polished 955 frame I snagged on eBay, has some additional material around where the M6 bolt goes through the crown. The strut from the found "Djernis" frame has no such reinforcement, making me think it's rather early in the series.
One thing is for sure, though...from the one, intact mode# decal the frame is an 855. Not sure what that means re: it being Djernis' possible former ride.
- Doug
One thought on the swingarm being from a later frame...Proflex may have replaced the original if an owner had a problem.
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_gwYgBv1v8hQ/SAY6RAqsVzI/AAAAAAAAAYg/lH38PmP8lic/s400/94Proflex754.JPG)
Back around '97 or '98 I had the misfortune of breaking the V-Brake mounting stud off the swingarm of my 754. After checking around and finding that everyone I knew who could Tig weld agreed that it wasn't something they could fix, I took it to my local Proflex dealer (Dirty Harry's in Verona, PA). They got in touch with K2/Proflex and got them to send out a replacement. Now I don't know which bike this replacement came from, but it definitely wasn't the anything like what originally came on the 754. I mentioned it to the bike shop at the time, but never pushed things because I was just too happy to have it fixed. (It gave me another 7 or 8 years with my 754 before the elastomers melted.)
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with regard Nottingham; Ultrasport Uk was based at Long Eaton, near Nottingham UK. They always used to use leisure lakes for any bike related promo - LL was one of the biggest sellers of Proflex in the world.
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The disappointing thing is i went to leisure lakes a while back to purchase a f/mech for the old girl....
Sorry we dont do that size anymore....What bike is it for??.......Whats a proflex >:(
:o :o :o
Also found out off a friend quite recently that when ultrasport closed lots of parts & frames was actually took to the scrap yard!!!
My friend tried to purchase these from the chap in charge but was told that it wasnt worth his job >:( >:(
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I cycle past them on my commute to work regularly. I went in there with my old Proflex XP-8 a few years ago even then they hadn't a clue :(
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Thats so sad but yet typical of moving with the times. For all its faults I guess Ebay is very good. At least most try to sell before throwing out.
Chris