2manyoranges
Senior Retro Guru
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I've got a Proflex 855 frameset with Vector forks sitting at the back of the barn. I bought the bike new from Magic Cycles in 1994. It has melted elastomers dripping from the fork. It is sad and lonely.
And just why are Proflex so neglected? I think they were very important in the evolution of the FS bike as we know it.
The Proflex in its mid to late 90s versions is an incredibly capable bike. Very very under-rated. Few in the mtb world knew about suspension at that time, so no bikes were set up with sag. Since I had MX background I knew how to set bikes up, and installed elastomers which were way softer than shops recommended. This gave 25-30 sag, which of course now is exactly what we put on contemporary bikes. The cry was always 'you're losing travel' which of course was nonsense in terms of how you want suspension to perform. Set up with the right sag, these bikes just hurtled everywhere. They were heads and shoulders above anything else - mine weighed 25lbs, was incredibly rigid (in the right way) and the suspension was set up to dig in on climbs - up up and awaaaaay. Those who didn't set up sag in Proflexs were just bouncing around all over the place, and thought the bikes were rubbish. If you set up a VW Golf with zero sag, it would be off at the first corner.
In fact the bike was so fast and so light and so capable the problem was brakes. My 855 had LX cantilevers on it, which seemed to reduce speed by wishful thinking. Since I had gorgeous and rare XT integrated levers and shifters (very light for the time) I wanted to retain those. With the small clearances I installed Critical Racing cantilevers - ti hardware and aztec blocks - and these were stunning - as good as the XT Vs which came out a couple of years later. By this time the bike was tuned and fettled and a very very capable bike.
BUT.........then came elastomer rot. I put the Proflex to one side for year or so to concentrate on other things, and when I pulled it out the elastomers had gone rock hard. And Proflex had gone as a brand. So the bike was broken down and wrapped and stored. And that's how it's been for over two decades. I've seen the elastomers coming up now, but only in medium. The Proflex needs combinations of durometer elastomers to get the tuning right. The design was impressive, since you could run different combinations on the long elastomers stacks to get a very tuned spring rate, sag and rebound. They are a VERY under-rated design in my view. They were not a side-stream in design or dead-end as some people think. They are a mainstream part of the development of suspension in MTB, and bloody good.
I remember a summer solo ride on the South Downs. I was just coming out of Southease and up Itford Hill. It's a bugger of a climb - really long and sketchy with an endless, boring and thigh sapping grass section at the top. There were three people ahead and I just went past them with a nod and then on up, digging in. Didn't really pay much attention to them since there was a lot on my mind at the time. As I got to the top I looked behind - and one of the group had left his friends and was working to get up to me. I shrugged and continued the five or so minutes to the top, where I always stop and sit on the cumulus, to take in the view and have a Mint Sauce moment. He was maybe a minute behind, and came over to where I was sitting. He was on one of the latest top model Specialised FS. His reaction when he came close was a surprised and disappointed '...Oh...I thought you were on something new and special....'. What I thought was '...no I am just on an old but sorted 855 and faster than you on your all-the-gear-and-no-idea....' but what I said was '...well..they are actually rather good..'. Which they are.
And just why are Proflex so neglected? I think they were very important in the evolution of the FS bike as we know it.
The Proflex in its mid to late 90s versions is an incredibly capable bike. Very very under-rated. Few in the mtb world knew about suspension at that time, so no bikes were set up with sag. Since I had MX background I knew how to set bikes up, and installed elastomers which were way softer than shops recommended. This gave 25-30 sag, which of course now is exactly what we put on contemporary bikes. The cry was always 'you're losing travel' which of course was nonsense in terms of how you want suspension to perform. Set up with the right sag, these bikes just hurtled everywhere. They were heads and shoulders above anything else - mine weighed 25lbs, was incredibly rigid (in the right way) and the suspension was set up to dig in on climbs - up up and awaaaaay. Those who didn't set up sag in Proflexs were just bouncing around all over the place, and thought the bikes were rubbish. If you set up a VW Golf with zero sag, it would be off at the first corner.
In fact the bike was so fast and so light and so capable the problem was brakes. My 855 had LX cantilevers on it, which seemed to reduce speed by wishful thinking. Since I had gorgeous and rare XT integrated levers and shifters (very light for the time) I wanted to retain those. With the small clearances I installed Critical Racing cantilevers - ti hardware and aztec blocks - and these were stunning - as good as the XT Vs which came out a couple of years later. By this time the bike was tuned and fettled and a very very capable bike.
BUT.........then came elastomer rot. I put the Proflex to one side for year or so to concentrate on other things, and when I pulled it out the elastomers had gone rock hard. And Proflex had gone as a brand. So the bike was broken down and wrapped and stored. And that's how it's been for over two decades. I've seen the elastomers coming up now, but only in medium. The Proflex needs combinations of durometer elastomers to get the tuning right. The design was impressive, since you could run different combinations on the long elastomers stacks to get a very tuned spring rate, sag and rebound. They are a VERY under-rated design in my view. They were not a side-stream in design or dead-end as some people think. They are a mainstream part of the development of suspension in MTB, and bloody good.
I remember a summer solo ride on the South Downs. I was just coming out of Southease and up Itford Hill. It's a bugger of a climb - really long and sketchy with an endless, boring and thigh sapping grass section at the top. There were three people ahead and I just went past them with a nod and then on up, digging in. Didn't really pay much attention to them since there was a lot on my mind at the time. As I got to the top I looked behind - and one of the group had left his friends and was working to get up to me. I shrugged and continued the five or so minutes to the top, where I always stop and sit on the cumulus, to take in the view and have a Mint Sauce moment. He was maybe a minute behind, and came over to where I was sitting. He was on one of the latest top model Specialised FS. His reaction when he came close was a surprised and disappointed '...Oh...I thought you were on something new and special....'. What I thought was '...no I am just on an old but sorted 855 and faster than you on your all-the-gear-and-no-idea....' but what I said was '...well..they are actually rather good..'. Which they are.
