Fate of Henrik Djernis's 955?

[purple gerbil]

Dont think f/b will come up with much ......is there any other way of contacting him
who does he race for & is it possible to contact them to pass on any messages to get him to drop by the forum....
What about bike mag's??........must be some way of contacting him......

[DugB]

I may be able to find a way of contacting him outside of FB...the frame is now on its way, so we'll see when it gets here. Terry, I'll keep you in mind if the crack seems to be the only damage. I compared the spacing of the Shimano decal compared to his name decal and it seems spot on in the two photos, but we'll see when it arrives. Does anyone have other pictures of him on that bike, hopefully larger?

So, what the heck do you all think we should do with it? Would be awesome if we could get him to autograph it, but that's very unlikely. I'd even consider donating the frame to MOMBAT if they were interested. Even with the crack repaired I'd be wary of building it up and riding it, given all the abuse it likely saw. I know we ride these bikes everyday, but the additive stress in an alloy frame could lead to other failures.

Thoughts?

- Doug :-)

[sammydog]

Needs to be on display for sure.

I've got the perfect spot in my house 

[Akagi]

Found this as a comparison:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51mI8Wp2_vk

Side Shot: 0:33s
Shimano decal visible on top tube: 0:55s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9YMXvDL4QA

[orange]

That's really funny because that's our local news for the East Midlands in the UK. In fact our next door neighbours is one of the reporters (not on that piece though). Why was he in Nottingham? I think because the UK Proflex distributor was in Breaston (near Nottingham) is my guess?

[purple gerbil]

Your right orange that's funsports also known as leisure lakes in breaston i recognise the shop.....

[DugB]

Hey all,

So the frame arrived today, and it's an 855...does anyone know for sure if Henrik was riding a 955? I didn't think the 955 ever came in red, but who knows what they did for team riders.

I'm feeling like this isn't the same frame as in the pic...for one thing, the "pulse" on the PF logo in the pic looks white, but on this frame it's red/black. Also, the Michelin decals on the strut seem to be slightly rotated on the shaft on this one vs. the pic, and the swingarm has the 856's GLS decal, not the red/yellow one from the 855/955. The Shimano and name decals are perfectly proportioned as in the pic, though, so I don't know. The crack by the swingarm pivot is very real, though, so I think this one is outta commission. Terry, I'll let you know what the damage is like after I've had a chance to remove the rear swingarm.

Oh well, I can definitely make use of some of the parts. Pics to come.

- Doug

[rapiddescent]

the 955 did come in red in some areas.  In that era, the worlds team used franken-proflexes that mixed up frames/ swingarms from different years.  The original K2 5000 was badged as a Proflex 957 and used by the squad in the previous year.  i had a picture of one from a race a decade ago.

I think hank ran his shocks practically locked out.  remember that 10 years ago, the XC circuits were very tame compared to today.

[orange]

I heard that about the rear shocks locked out somewhere too. Probably here

[shovelon]

I heard that about the rear shocks locked out somewhere too. Probably here

That's right. He blamed the bike for his poor performances. Like the suspension robbed power to the wheels.

[DugB]

I was checking out the frame again this weekend and though the rear swingarm is definitely from a later, X56-era frame, the fork is the lowest numbered fork I have, with one of those 6-digit serials starting with "02". All my other forks (mainly on 856's) as well as the one on my wife's 955 all start with "03" (or a longer combination of numbers and letters I'll assume means Taiwanese manufacture). So the fork on this bike could definitely be original.

The rear strut is also a bit different than the other 955 strut I have. The one I already had, from the small, polished 955 frame I snagged on eBay, has some additional material around where the M6 bolt goes through the crown. The strut from the found "Djernis" frame has no such reinforcement, making me think it's rather early in the series.

One thing is for sure, though...from the one, intact mode# decal the frame is an 855. Not sure what that means re: it being Djernis' possible former ride.

- Doug

[rapiddescent]

remember that the team frames weren't made in the tiawan factory - all in the USA.  So there will be slight differences in the frame.  When i was holding Nora Roeche's bike (world cup 1998) it weighed nothing at all.  Much much lighter than well spec'd bikes.  I imagine material had been removed from the frame since the bike would not be used for more than a few years and would be replaceable.

[dcarr1971]

I was checking out the frame again this weekend and though the rear swingarm is definitely from a later, X56-era frame, the fork is the lowest numbered fork I have, with one of those 6-digit serials starting with "02". All my other forks (mainly on 856's) as well as the one on my wife's 955 all start with "03" (or a longer combination of numbers and letters I'll assume means Taiwanese manufacture). So the fork on this bike could definitely be original.

The rear strut is also a bit different than the other 955 strut I have. The one I already had, from the small, polished 955 frame I snagged on eBay, has some additional material around where the M6 bolt goes through the crown. The strut from the found "Djernis" frame has no such reinforcement, making me think it's rather early in the series.

One thing is for sure, though...from the one, intact mode# decal the frame is an 855. Not sure what that means re: it being Djernis' possible former ride.

- Doug

One thought on the swingarm being from a later frame...Proflex may have replaced the original if an owner had a problem.



  Back around '97 or '98 I had the misfortune of breaking the V-Brake mounting stud off the swingarm of my 754.  After checking around and finding that everyone I knew who could Tig weld agreed that it wasn't something they could fix, I took it to my local Proflex dealer (Dirty Harry's in Verona, PA).  They got in touch with K2/Proflex and got them to send out a replacement.  Now I don't know which bike this replacement came from, but it definitely wasn't the anything like what originally came on the 754.  I mentioned it to the bike shop at the time, but never pushed things because I was just too happy to have it fixed.  (It gave me another 7 or 8 years with my 754 before the elastomers melted.)

[rapiddescent]

with regard Nottingham; Ultrasport Uk was based at Long Eaton, near Nottingham UK.  They always used to use leisure lakes for any bike related promo - LL was one of the biggest sellers of Proflex in the world.

[purple gerbil]

The disappointing thing is i went to leisure lakes a while back to purchase a f/mech for the old girl....

Sorry we dont do that size anymore....What bike is it for??.......Whats a proflex

 

Also found out off a friend quite recently that when ultrasport closed lots of parts & frames was actually took to the scrap yard!!!

My friend tried to purchase these from the chap in charge but was told that it wasnt worth his job