1992 Offroad Proflex 752

so i picked up this little beastie from Ebay, i used to have the 552, same frame but in blue so when i saw this i contacted the seller and asked a few questions, all answers seemed positive with the exception that he didn't have the rear brake cable rocker assembly.

having now received the frame and both forks i can see it's all in pretty good condition for 20 years old although the rear mech hanger is slightly bent but not so bad that a bit of a tweak won't sort it out.

first impressions are that it weighs a tonne! and i'll definitely need some new elastomers but i think i know where i can get some so that's ok.

haven't decided which fork i'll use yet but i like the idea of the original rigid fork, and before you ask drystonepaul has first refusal on the suspension fork, but being honest i don't even know what the fork is! early marzocchi i assume

anyway, here's the initial pics

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Good project, I have the 552 which I pretty much finished over a year ago but still hasn't seen any mud .

It'll be nice to get some feedback on how these handle from a regular rider, I've seen a few on here but haven't seen one at a meet yet (not that I get to many lately).

I made my elastomers for the rear at work and they seem ok, passed some on to a couple of people here too but nobody has finished their bike to let me know if they're any good.

Original fork and flexstem is the way to go IMO for that full "going over the bars" feeling .

i had the blue 552 back in the day and i really liked it, that said i remember a friend (whose opinion i trusted) saying they handled like a pig! i never had an issue but that said i got my explosif after that frame and i did immediately prefer it, i remember that.

i wanted this for the 'i used to have one' reason and i haven't really decided how i want to build it yet.

options are:-
m900 xtr, mag20s, use post, atac stem (how mine was built)

7speed xt, manitou forks

7 speed dx, original fork and flexstem, as per the stock model

the only issue is going to be the brake cable rocker, i may beable to make something and i have a picture of the part so i'll see what i can do.

i must admit i find myself thinking about early magura brakes.

I find mine handles well erm....... strange is the only way I can describe it :?

I've only ridden it on the road and it feels like it has a lot of sideways flex, not play but definitely flex. It's a bit weird but not awful and I'm pretty sure I'd just get used to it after a while.

I'd say that brake rocker is going to be a hard one to find, the sort of thing people take off and lose, a bit like a previous owner has done with yours!

I have the RF-1 model from 1991, I will show here early.
I think that the DX + flexstem option is the best, it's a beautiful frame and the DX match very well with it.

Anyway, the 962 model came with a rock shox mag 20 and a ti flexstem (XST model).

You can adapt the cane creek bushes to that model. They are cheap, very similar to the originals, there are three models and they are good. I use them in my RF-1 and in my 550 from 1991 too.

hey Miliu, do you mean the elastomers? as mine are dead, but i have emailed suspensionforkparts.com for some info on spares.

anyway, here is a pic with the rigid fork in it, which i prefer to the marzocchi but i might be fitting some manitou forks, we'll see.

Yes, I mean the elastomers. Now I'm out of home writing from my smartphone, when I get home I'll try to post any pic and some info about those elastomers. I think they are closer to the originals than the ones you said. Maybe you could get two elastomers from one of the cane creek ones, if i'm not in a mistake your model got three elastomers instead the two of the 1991 models.

As curiosity, first pre-production series in 1990 had a big one elastomer but it cracked a lot and proflex crew decided to use two short bushes instead in their production models of 1991.

jonnyboy666":10joxkki said:

haven't decided which fork i'll use yet but i like the idea of the original rigid fork, and before you ask drystonepaul has first refusal on the suspension fork, but being honest i don't even know what the fork is! early marzocchi i assume

anyway, here's the initial pics

Click to expand...

I beleive they're Marzocchi Star forks, but I'll check as I've a boxed (never used) set in the loft that have been up there tucked away for donkey's years

in the mean time http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=98293

Well, here they are


They are the LT model. In my case the medium hardness (blue). There are 4 different. I bought them here:http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=11272
and here: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/es/elastomero-para-tijas-de-sillin-cane-creek-thodbuster-lt/.

You must make bigger the orifice. I drilled them until getting 12mm of diameter. Then I made them shorter. I don't remember the longitude, but you can use the same size of the broken ones.

If you get the black ones there will be practically identical to the originals.

I prefer the original fork with a ti XST flexstem like this:

(yes, it's mine)
Or if you get a black one it will be nice too