Proflex still a great bike?

[k24000]

Silly Question really but I have been thinking of getting a new mountain bike my K24000 I thought was getting old so off I go down to my LBS to do some test riding .I had a go on the Giant Anthem 26 and 29er and was left thinking are they really worth the £2000 plus price tag I still think the proflex has a lot to offer what do you guys think?

[jazclrint]

I caught a Santa Cruz Carbon FS 29r this past weekend in the tight stuff.  If you can find the parts to refresh all the fork and swing arm, update the drivetrain, and replace the shocks, you have an XC race weapon on your hands.  I have found paying close attention to setting the sag pays big dividends.  But that's me.  Others have put 100-120mm forks on the front, and riser bars and make themselves nice trail bikes.

[k24000]

Yea I agree I have converted my swingarm to sealed bearings and have a manitou 3 way swinger on the back still running the girvin front end not sure if I should look at a different fork?

[jazclrint]

I have a a fox in my fork.  I have been oh so slowly designing a new adapter design that is much simpler and would allow for a 8.5" X 2.5" shock, that theoretically would allow for 90mm of travel.  Guess I need to hurry up.  The goal being getting a used Rock Shox Monarch and having it tuned properly by a suspension shop.  Don't bother with Push.  I have asked many times, and got nothing but a run around, if that.  I think it would make for fantastic front end.  Lighter than most forks too. 

Again, with the Girvin fork it seems to be in the details.  The rebuild I did 2 years ago helped, but torquing the bolts to spec really made a difference.  Maybe it's the Pro-pedal in my current Fox, but my Girvin doesn't bob all over the place when out of the saddle like a Fox Float 32 on a new Giant XTC Advanced we had in the shop.  I see why everyone wants lock out switches now.

If you want harder numbers, by current standards the geometry on the Proflex is odd, and really twitchy.  It really is a razor sharp handling bike with angles so steep you'd think it was a 29r.  Most XC race bikes don't angles that steep any more.  And, seem to be going in favor of longer top tubes and shorter stems.  Now if you put riser bars, and a longer travel fork, it'll raise and rake the front end out, making it look and feel more like the modern bikes.