New owner of a Proflex

[tmc482]

Always drooled over Proflex when I used to race some XC in the late 90's. After searching for a small frame which seem harder to find I picked up a 956 a few weeks ago. 
  Seems in good condition, few chips etc but the carbon swingarm looks unmarked. It was a bare frame, so stripped my other bike, (a rigid Salsa Moto Rapido) to build it up. A friend sold me some Rockshox Sid SL's & Ritchey ISIS chainset for a great price & after ordering a couple of new parts it's finally together & had a gentle ride out today locally to get a feel for it.
All seems pretty good, the rear shock would definately benefit from being replaced for an air unit for dampening but other than that I'm really pleased!
Spec is:
Matt blue? 956 frame, Sid SL forks, Ritchey headset, Easton ea90 bars & stem. Mavic Crossmax ceramic wheels. XTR v's, Avid sd1.9 levers. Ritchey pro chainset, Gusset Trident BB, Sram 9.0sl shifters, XO rear mech, xtr front. Profile carbon post. WTB saddle.
Weighed in at 24.8lbs which I'm very happy with!

Any suggestions as to rear shock replacements I'd be interested to hear. I'm not sure on the frame size, (I'm 5ft 7" & it's a great fit for me.) but i'm vaguely aware that some shocks aren't compatible with the smaller frame sizes?

Any help, advice, comments etc, most appreciated.

Regards,
      Tim

[Willie_B]

Welcome aboard. Be careful  as it is hard to own just one Proflex. Before you know it you will be looking for another or one will just fall in your lap.

[beeeerock]

An 856 has an aluminum swing arm, right?  Would a 956 have a carbon fibre arm, or does the carbon fibre mean it might be newer than that?

[Colin]

Welcome Tim!
Sounds a great build! Let's see some piccies!

I see you're in the UK, there's quite a few of us on this side of the pond, so you're in good company.

It'd be interseting to see if it really is a Small, as they are VERY small, even for someone 5' 7", I'm just 5' 8" and I ride a Medium.
The easy way to discriminate a Small is that the upper shock mount pivot bolt is in the top tube, not in the Bracing piece between the top tube and seat tube.

Yes Beeeerock, 956's had a carbon swing-arm as they were an early incarnation of the x57 frame and were indeed often called the "World Cup" frame as they were (I believe) ridden professionally for that purpose.
But..........they were plain aluminium/silver finish, so if you have a "Matt Blue" (Grape?) one then that sounds a bit odd, But..... I have seen another blue 956 and that was definately a small and had "World Cup Design" on it and looked original.

P.s. I have just picked up a 957 frame on eBay and am expecting delivery any day! Oh dear the sickness is still with me!
I'm not sure of it's size, so maybe it'll be a medium and suitable for the Mrs.............

Off on my Hols now, off to Burma for 3 weeks, do you reckon I'll see any PRO~FLEX's out there? (I did in Malaysia!)

Good Luck!
Col.

[beeeerock]

Ah, I wondered if being the top model it might have had some features/enhancements earlier than the other models.  Another bit of trivia... (see, I'm paying attention!  )

I knew that Burma was becoming a little more open, but I didn't realize it was a travel destination... sounds very interesting and perhaps a little bit exciting (although hopefully not TOO exciting!).  I envy you that trip!  I hope you're a photo enthusiast and able to make the most of it!

I rather doubt you'll see a bike with even a rear suspension, but who knows... I wouldn't have expected there would be Proflex bikes in Malaysia!

[tmc482]

Thanks for the positive commments & the 'info Colin! I think mine is a small as it definately bolts though the tube. It's a bit of a pain as I was hoping to change the shock, this is probably going to be impossible to fit a dampened rebound shock to make it less like a pogo stick!
Beeeerock it does have the carbon swing arm. I've no idea if this was original, or if it's an older model re-stickered to make it look newer & fitted with a newer arm. It rides & looks pretty good though which is what counts!

Have a great time away!

Link, (hopefully) to a few pictures. Comments welcome!

http://s1277.photobucket.com/user/tmc482/library/Proflex

[purple gerbil]

aha that's where it went! This is the frame that caferacer51 purchased and then decided it was to small for him and kept his larger frame. That didn't fall far from the pro-flex tree 

[w2zero]

Looks like you already have a Noleen shock on there.  Am pretty sure you can upgrade to a double adjustable Noleen.

[caferacer51]

It's a small world!
I hope the packaging was ok? I'd never posted a frame before?!
It's already looking hot on those rims...

[beeeerock]

Beeeerock it does have the carbon swing arm. I've no idea if this was original, or if it's an older model re-stickered to make it look newer & fitted with a newer arm. It rides & looks pretty good though which is what counts!

As was clarified above, the carbon fibre arm became the standard design in '97, a year after yours.  It sounds like the the 900 level bike was built with the cutting edge technology, since yours got the carbon fibre a year earlier... the lower spec '96 bikes would presumably have had the aluminum swing arm with the pivot point behind the crank.  I was guessing your bike was mislabeled a year too early!  I believe there was only the carbon fibre arm made for the pivot position you (and I) have - ahead of the crank.

Having gone through the learning curve triggered by asking on this forum what my sandblasted bike actually is (no decals!), I'm still learning these details!    The knowledge base here is excellent!

[tmc482]

It's a small world!
I hope the packaging was ok? I'd never posted a frame before?!
It's already looking hot on those rims...

It arrived in great condition thankyou! I've been able to give it a quick run since it's build but will hope to get out between christmas & new year & tweak the set-up to my liking.
 

Looks like you already have a Noleen shock on there.  Am pretty sure you can upgrade to a double adjustable Noleen.

Double adjustable Noleen? Sounds intriguing! Does anyone have a picture of one so I can keep my eye open for one?

[w2zero]

The shocks can be found and rebuilt here: http://shop.noleenj6.com/category.sc;jsessionid=75E536FF72E3162E05FFEEE4935FE717.m1plqscsfapp02?categoryId=7