How long (and who,how,when, and why)have you ridden Pro-Flex/K2?

[w2zero]

A buddy's Fisher broke and the shop sent it out to be repaired and gave him an early Proflex as a loaner. We thrashed it like a rental car and discovered that there was something to this full suspension thing.  When the 855's came out I test rode one and pulled the steer tube apart at the bottom of a flight of stairs.  Bitched about the bonding job in there and single short roll pin on one side of the tube.  It got warranteed and I bought one.  Got a tad too much fun on it and pulled the bottom off the steer tube on it too.  ProFlex apparently had a number of those pulling apart and increased the bonding material and put a longer roll pin all the way through the diameter.  

I  have been booted out of ski resorts, pulled a canti stud out, bent the seat post, broke a crank off on a hard landing and generally beat the snot out of it from day one.  I still have it and will be riding it this spring as soon as it is back together with ODS and springs with a homey conversion on the rear strut.

I'm 57 and rear suspension really suits my tired old butt.

[Ian Humphreys]

Started with an Offroad 550 flex stem and rear suspension new in 1990 ish?? then upgraded fron sus to a pair of manitous. Then bought a 752 until I broke the back end. Ultrasport Proflex importer at that stage sorted a 852 replacement frame. In 1997 upgraded to a 757 which I still have and use regularly. Excellent bike and still impresses people with weight and function, Still standard apart from Magura hydrolics and everything replaced and upgraded over the years. Why would I want another bike it dos the job perfectly.

[RE]

Hey guys, stumbled on this forum while trying to find elastomers for my Proflex 656.



I bought my bike back in 96/97 for about 2500.. I walked into the shop.. it was hanging on the wall.. I HAD TO HAVE IT..



Ive kept it in good condition over the years and have emailed a few companies looking for replacement elastomers. I tried the microwave trick which made them super soft and unusable.. then they went rock hard again. I have some pics of it then and now.. Ill post em at some stage.



Love the Proflex!

[Carbon_Angus]

I think this should be made into a "sticky" on top.

IMHO
[smiley=beer.gif]

[Old Proflexer]

Lust - Envy - Desire - Sleek Curvey Lines - - it started with all that and a little more.

My girlfriend at the time and I were camping atop Mr. Palomar in California.  We headed off for a hike and ended up on a point overlooking the valleys and ocean out to the west.  Getting right out on the point I noticed an athletic sort sitting on a bright red, elastomer'd 856.  
All I could do was stare and take mental notes of the bike, not the view, and could think of nothing else.  

He mentioned a bike shop near where I was working at the time in OC and I visited it upon return -

After saving up a few drachmas, "Krusty" became mine.  

Since then, a wifes 857, an assortment of 4500's, a chubby with an OTiS system in it that works very well, quite a few crosslinks and dabbleing with some crude attempts at garage engineering - - - -

Now the older stepson has discovered how to work himself into complete exhaustion with his friends, come back with cuts, scratches, bruises, getting weed whacked with nettles that will never come out, broken fingers, deraillers, chains, flat tires, sunburn'd arms, neck, nose, cracked helmets, sunglasses and, and, and still have a big smile on his face when he walks back in the door -

Life is good
Life with mountain biking is better
Life with mountain biking on a Proflex is best -
Life with passing that on to the next generation is right there with what it's all about -

OP

sorry about getting off topic -

[proflex252]

I saw my first proflex in 1996. It was in a bike store. A pretty 856. Wow! a wonderful bike.
But I hadn't enough money, so I had to ride my 95 GT tequesta.
1997 I bought a Girvin Elite Fork for my GT at htat store. My first spring fork. I still have it on my other hardtail.
1999 this store was bankrupt and I got a 98 Proflex 5000 frame from that store on an auction of the rest parts. It was really cheap. Just 1000 DM (now 500 Euros, or 700 $)
I built up that frame with my old girvin fork.
In 2000 I bought a proflex 252 cross bike frame (brand new but 8 years old), which I just try to build up.
And last year I bought a used proflex 853 frame, which I stripped, painted it new and I try now to build it up.
I'll post a family photo of my proflexers when they are ready built up.

CU

[jinder]

Wow...  what a post... so much history here, all of us are like a family.

I am glad to be in this rare group of Pro-Flex fans.

[jeffhop]

a friend of mine had a 957 in 1999 and i was to say the least, extremely jealous of him, at the time however financial constraints meant i was unable to get one so my first full suss was a marin shoreline trail which was incidently an extremely competent bike. 18 months ago i found an xpx frame on ebay and won it with a bid of £90 ive since built it up with various bits and peices all sought from ebay and am more than happy with it. i also own a cannondale m900 hardtail and 2 roadbikes an once team replica giant and a cinelli unica that i use for time trialling in the summer.  

[Scott]

Since '86 or so when they were called Off Road.  I had the Mountain Master and it weighed around 31 pounds with a RS1 Rock Shox and toolkit attached.  I enjoyed it just as much as my sub 20# dually Extralite F1.

[Frankd3000]

Why not... i've owned my 3000 since '98. It's my first FS bike. It's the first bike that fits me properly and gives me great confidence whenever/wherever I ride. When I bought it I tried riding many high-dollar "big shot" bikes (Specialzed, Santa Cruz and Cannondale, to name a few) and this was the ONLY bike that I felt comfortable on/with, it was the ONLY one that was reasonably priced and it was the ONLY one that I got any "special feeling" about within moments of mounting (that doesn't sound right, sorry). I immediately knew that this was "the bike" for me. It also didn't cost as much.

Unfortunately, I have only ridden it about 100 kilometers. No, really. Most of this time it's been sitting.... waiting for me to wake up, stop playing with cars and ride. Now i'm back on it again and the "feelings" haven't changed. I'm getting back into the game and working on improving my health (trying to quit smoking, too).

I love this bike. It's perfect.

I also just bought a 5000 frame, to play around with. Don't know if it'll ever be ridden, as I need a Way Big frame, but i'll give it a try.

[kneedowndean]

I started riding back in 1990, Johnny Tomac was winning everything and not many had suspension. That is apart from my mate on his Kona who had a Girbvin Flexstem! I bought my first bike in 1991, a Diamondback Axis(whcih i still have), then I bought a Kona Explosive which I upgraded with Manitou Forks. By this stage people where riding front suspension, i believe around 1993, but the main priority was to get your bike as LIGHT as possible, we even resorted to drilling holes in chains and cranks! As soon as I went to uni I took my beloved Kona only to have it stolen within a week [smiley=depressed.gif], but this allowed me to get the best - a brand new 1996 Proflex Beast.WOW!! I still ride it to this day, wouldn't swap it for any other bike on the market.

[bmwcarver]

Let's see....  First mountain bike was a trek 820 total rigid.  Everytime I would ride it my wrists would take a beating.  Started doing some research into forks and decided the Girvin Vector was the fork to have.  Went to the LBS to get a look at it and they had one on an 855.



When I got the 820 I had test ridden an Off-Road by Pro Flex.  I think it was a 752.  That one was like a pogo stick with wheels, so I didn't think I would like full suspension at all, but to test the fork, I tested out the 855 and fell in love with the ride.  Couldn't afford that though, so opted for a 554 and upgraded it to the Vector fork.  I finally got my wife to give in and try out my 554 in 1996.  She fell in love with it.  We started looking for her a new Pro Flex, but she didn't like any of them.  You know, the colors just weren't right.



At the time we were looking for her a ride, I was then working at the LBS and was able to try out quite a few of the newer Full Sus designs.  Since I really liked the look and setup of the 957, my wife, bless her heart, STOLE my 554 and told me to buy the 957 for me! [smiley=laughing.gif]



The 554 yellow elastomers finally gave out and we had no way at the time to replace them, so I got her a newer Pro Flex frame off of Ebay and she hated that ride.  After another year, we found a 957 frame and built that up for her and she loves it.



Around that time I also found a '99 K2 900 front triangle and hearing that the EVO frames had more travel and were actually stiffer laterally than even the 957, I decided to try it out.  I also had found a Carbon rear swingarm for the EVO frames and got that for the 900 frame.  Spent a total of $75 for both.



I now have the 900 frame stripped of paint, polished out and built up with the Girvin Pro Carbon from the 957, Chris King rasta headset, Kooka black to purple fade with blue splash for a stem, Easton CT2 Carbon bar, Syncros Ti seatpost and bottom bracket, Spinergy Spox wheelset, and Machine Tech Zero Flex QR brakeset for upgrades over the original spec of the 957.  These upgrades made the 957 weigh in at about 24.5 lbs.  With the new frame the weight is the same since the front triangle is a bit beefier than the 957 triangle.  The ride is like none other.  I have tried the Cannondale's, Specialized, along with some others and none can even come close to the ride and durability of a good ol' Pro Flex.



The only thing I wish I had was the full Carbon frame, but they didn't make it in a small that would fit me properly.   [smiley=upset.gif]



I can't complain though, I always get compliments any time I am out on the bike.  The naked, polished frame with decal work that looks like anodized lettering on the frame with the carbon front and rear even gets teenagers to look! [smiley=nod.gif]

[jinder]

AWESOME!  We are a rare family....PROFLEX!!

[4500_rider]

I’m 24 (one of the youngest here?), originally from South Africa, been in the UK for about 4yrs now, started mtb’ing at the age of 13 or 14, have had an assortment of bikes – Mongoose, Giant, Diamondback, Cannondale, Marin, Nishiki, etc – all hardtails, never liked full-susser’s.  In 2001 after uni I packed up for the UK but due to lack of funds  my bike at the time had to stay behind – gutted.



Up until 2001 I’d never heard of proflex or k2, if you'd asked me about it you'd have gotten nothing but a confused look and a polite “bless you”, anyway, the cousin I was staying with at the time had a 757 - scratched, dented, chipped, beat up, covered in dust, noisy, creaking, the elastomers looked lifeless, the rear strut was slightly bent, this bike was in really awful condition.



When I looked at this bike about a dozen different thoughts went through my head - "its a full susser” (I was a firm believer in hard tails)  “its too small”, “its not fit to see the light of day”, “I’d rather brush my teeth and drink orange juice then ride this”, “this is not going to be fun to ride" but as there was nothing else to ride and I was desperate I took it for a spin in the woods near by anyway.



And that’s how my love affair started, 5 minutes into the ride and I was grinning like an idiot, I was in love with this bike and thinking “here’s a manufacturer that doesn’t have monkeys designing there stuff”.  It climbed like a hardtail, went downhill with confidence and purpose, not at all skittish like other full-sussers I had tried.  Even in the condition it was in it was by far the best bike I’d ever ridden.



As my cousin wouldn’t sell the 757 I got a 4500 to satisfy my desire for one.  Even better!  It’s a damn good looking bike, turns heads wherever I take it, and even though it’s a good 7-8yrs old out on the trails it leaves even the newest bikes trailing and thinking “what the hell just passed me?”.



Sure, some other manufacturer’s bikes make me drool and have a comparable ride, but I just don’t want to ride anything else.

[Carbon_Kiwi]

okey dokey,
me - since 98 from memory. i too remember seeing an 856 in an mba and just thinking 'that's it - that's THE bike i want to own'.
admittidely that was 2 years previous, but i just didn't have the cash.
anyway - decided to bite the bullet in 98 and am so pleased i did.
i've since purchased a carbon and i LOVE it. still have my 957, and i think i might do something with it one of these days...
it's been a while since i've been around on these forums, life has been hectic in other areas, but it's good to be back