957 vs Modern Youtube video - unfortunate

[Blackjoy]

After watching the video, I don't see any particular bias. He's right about all his compliments about the Pro-Flex, and also right about all but one of his critiques, the exception being that the NR-4 rear shock has both rebound and compression damping adjusters.

In stock form:

The cockpit is too far forward for riding downhill (not "downhilling", but just riding downhill at all);
The head-tube angle is very steep, which makes steering responsive going uphill and scary going downhill;
The J-path of the Girvin fork is very unsettling in corners;
The bike is heavy compared to newer bikes;

The wooded terrain he rode on was too technical for the Pro-Flex, though the dirt road and singletrack was fine. It might not seem to make sense to compare the two bikes he compared, but it does make sense if you consider that they are both bikes *he* wanted.

Yes, mountain biking is more focused on downhill performance nowadays. However, that doesn't mean everyone is riding ski lifts to get to the top, it just means people got sick of buying bikes that could get them to the top of the hill and then were scary as @#$% to ride back down -- which is supposed to be the fast, exciting, and easy part of the ride. My 756 was terrifying to ride downhill until I got a telescoping fork with more travel, shortened the seatpost, moved the seat back, installed disc brakes, and generally made it more capable of surviving the reclamation of all the energy I invested into riding uphill in the first place. And yet my Christini *still* handles descents better.

I have to disagree with a lot of that.   Back in 2015, I pulled my Proflex 957 out of storage (my garage), had a BS service it, and sent the shocks to Noleen to have them rebuilt.   I rode the 957 for a year and a half at Duthie and Tiger Mountain, as well as a Rocky Top in Yakima.  The bike still rides fantastic.  The 957 was never meant to be a down hill monster and yet, I could go down just about anything I had the nerve to try by simply getting off my seat.   Granted, I am not a jumper, nor do I like to catch air, but the bike was never designed with that stuff in mind.

At the same time I brought my 957 back into action, I also resurrected my 554.  Of course the MCU's were shot and I had to find something to replacement them.  I also had to swap the front fork (which had been apparently recalled) and take it from 60mm to 80mm of travel.   The 554 was routinely ridden by friends while I rode the 957.  Those ridding the 554 were generally new to MTB and they all enjoyed riding the bike. 

Mid-2016, I decided to demo Evil's The Following at Duithie.  I took my 554 out to compare it the Evil and my buddy and I swapped bikes.  There was no question the TF was a better bike in so many ways.   The next day I brought out my 957.  My buddy had not ridden my 957.  His immedate response was that he didn't think TF was worth the extra $5k over the 957.  Now, we didn't ride any black diamonds, only blues, so neither bike got pushed to travel limits.  I also state for the record, that I thought TF was a better than the 957, in fact, I bought TF a month later.  But the key factor is that on XC style trails, the 957 wasn't horrible by any means.  It climbed better and turned better than the 29", 29lb modern day Trail bike.

Here's the thing. After having ridden TF, getting back on the 957, is jarring.  The 957 shocks are not nearly as progressive as modern bikes, 26' wheels simply do not roll over stuff as well as 27.5 or 29".  And, in my experience, 29" wheels are simply more efficient, there's no question.  In addition, the steeper geometry is not nearly as confidence inspiring as modern geometries.  Finally, the lack of a dropper post and disc brakes is a major setback for any serious dowhilling. 

But I rode the 554 for several years before the 957 and both of these bikes were a blast.  My buddy back in the day rode side by side with his 856 and he had a blast.  I can't speak to the 756, but that video is a joke.   He takes a bike that hasn't been set up for him and on which he hasn't had any experience riding, probably hasn't been serviced in a half a decade, and then expects it to perform like his high-end XC race bike?  Seriously?

I think the real problem I have with the video is not that he prefers his modern bike to the 957, it's that he doesn't acknowledge that the manner that he's comparing the bikes is naturally skewing his perception of the 957.  One of the things that makes the 957 so wonderful is how well it climbs tight technical single-track.  But he's not interesting in any of that, he's primarily focused on comparing the bike in the area that it wasn't really designed for, aggressive downhill riding.