As usual I'm confused

[jazclrint]

I could be wrong but K2 was only financially backing Pro-Flex, which didn't go down hill until K2 decided to mess with a good thing (moving them was a bad mistake).  An "Oz" is a 4500/5500 which is a Pro-Flex.  But the biggest thing K2 did in my area was literally DUMP their loyal bike shops, and give the lines to their competitors who also carried their skis.  And then the new shops got products they had a hard time selling where they were expensive, and then just got crappy products.  The Razor, is a Turner, not a Pro Flex design.  Laziness.  I would not be surprised if K2 was a nasty name among other New Englander's such as myself.
Now, my first real Mt. Bike was an Iron Horse, and I was quite fond of it.  I know they ran into hard times, and then some how I ended up talking to someone who worked there and they were trying to get back on there feet.  I think since, they have just been hanging on.  I'd like to see Iron Horse come back strong, but I really could care less about the K2 name.  It would be great to see the Pro Flex name come back tough.  Even if they came back as a high end limited production company, like many have.  I would lose my mind if old proflex people got with Aegis!  A Maine made Full suspention carbon bike.   My mouth is watering now!  

[jimbo]

Ok, I'm not an old time Proflex fan.  I never knew about the Proflex until I was searching the internet for info on the K2 Evo which I was thinking of buying.  This forum plus the Krank videos convinced me to buy it.  

Some observations on my part.

K2 was not one of the sponsors of Krank IV (Search for the Holey Trail).  Rocky Mountain and Santa Cruz was on Krank IV.  They are still very popular bike today.  

The success companies, excluding boutique bikes, appear to have  well known riders to showcase their bikes.  Even Trek and Gary Fisher have developed heavy duty bikes and have hired known riders to showcase them.

Obiviously you need a quality product to sell regardless of the sponsorship.  Ironhorse has a successfull sponsored racing program and the Ironhorse following appears to growing.  

I think K2 may have blown it by not following the above program after Krank III.  

[Simon]

Something else I think Proflex got wrong.
They signed Henrik Djernis and put him on a suspension bike,the season before he was winning,
on the Proflex he was coming 17th,(there were even allegations that the shock was locked out with a Ti bar).It must of put people off, not just Proflex but F/S bikes in general,
maybe in hindsight they should of taken the route that Marin did in the UK,they took a relatively unknown, Paul Lasenby put him on there latest (for that year)XC F/S bike sat back and watched him win all the biggest XC titles in the UK,had he not done so well no one would of taken much notice,the fact that he was on a F/S bike wouldn't of been an issue.
I was lucky enough to watch the BMW Profex team
race at my local trail a few years ago,Henrik was riding,
Profex didn't win  :(though Henrik did lead for a while ,think they had some top ten finishes.
Simon.

[Carbon_Angus]

I could be wrong but K2 was only financially backing Pro-Flex, which didn't go down hill until K2 decided to mess with a good thing (moving them was a bad mistake).  An "Oz" is a 4500/5500 which is a Pro-Flex.  But the biggest thing K2 did in my area was literally DUMP their loyal bike shops, and give the lines to their competitors who also carried their skis.  And then the new shops got products they had a hard time selling where they were expensive, and then just got crappy products.  The Razor, is a Turner, not a Pro Flex design.  Laziness.  I would not be surprised if K2 was a nasty name among other New Englander's such as myself.
Now, my first real Mt. Bike was an Iron Horse, and I was quite fond of it.  I know they ran into hard times, and then some how I ended up talking to someone who worked there and they were trying to get back on there feet.  I think since, they have just been hanging on.  I'd like to see Iron Horse come back strong, but I really could care less about the K2 name.  It would be great to see the Pro Flex name come back tough.  Even if they came back as a high end limited production company, like many have.  I would lose my mind if old proflex people got with Aegis!  A Maine made Full suspention carbon bike.   My mouth is watering now!  

There was a time when k2 was not treating dealers well at all.  Forcing quotas, then deep discounting the prices b4 the next model year. (That's how I bought my 857, BTW)  Many dealers dumped k2 because of that practice and of course the move to Vachon just killed their warranty service.

Yes it would be nice if Pro~Flex came back as a boutique bike company. Maybe if Bob sells his island.....in our dreams

[smiley=beer.gif]

[numbnuts]

Ironhorse make some tough bikes and use the horst link thingy so we might actually see some better 'k2' bikes. The Evo was a decent frame but K2 lost the plot after them. I really don't care what my frame is made of or if it's a copy of someone elses design,  i just want it to work and not cost an arm and a leg, with good customer service of course. And snowboarding is cool!!!!