boy"O"boy's 1990 Serotta Offroad Pro-flex

Hey guys.. I posted this actual barn find (yes, it’s that bad) last year on the Proflex FB page, and due to the cross brace a few guys did confirm this is one of 2 prototypes..

in a right state but all original. I’m yet to get to it .. (along with an 89’ pink muddy fox Alu pro and an MF1)

I do like my rare bikes !

Cristian-T said:

Hey guys.. I posted this actual barn find (yes, it’s that bad) last year on the Proflex FB page, and due to the cross brace a few guys did confirm this is one of 2 prototypes..

in a right state but all original. I’m yet to get to it .. (along with an 89’ pink muddy fox Alu pro and an MF1)

I do like my rare bikes !

Click to expand...

What a find! That's ace. Cheers for adding it here.
Interesting it has a Daihatsu logo on the fork legs - not only is it one of 2 Prototypes, it could also be a team bike.
Here's the MBUK article from Jun 1990 which features the Off-road Daihatsu team. It mentions on P.5 that the team will be riding Pro-flexes but they only had one prototype between the team at the time of the article.
The pro-flex on the last page has the cross brace on the rear swing arm.....I'd say yours is the bike from this article.

Note the Mike Cookson cycles ad that lands in between the pages of this article. It becomes more relevant later....but in Jun 1990, they don't list the Pro-flex yet.











More to come.

boy"O"boy

The MBUK scan research moves onto Jul / Summer Special 1990

1st up. Jul 1990 Zoom race section. Offroad Daihatsu team rider (Carl Sturgeon?) on a Pro-flex. Looks like a medium size one. No cross brace on this one. Maybe the team were finally able to get more than one bike?


1990 Summer special. The Offroad ad has now changed to show the entire range. Still no ads yet of where to buy one.

Page 3 of the 'Strange Frames' article mentions the Pro-flex. The picture appears to show a 'Large' frame size version.
Apologies for the scan quality...Don't know why it blurred the middle?






Cheers.
boy"O"boy

Love these MBUK scans! I remember this Summer Special like it was yesterday. In fact I remember it better than what happened yesterday!!!

Some seriously tasty bikes in the front of the grid! Pace, Fat, Serotta Proflex, Explosive, Attitude...

Now name the rider competition:

Richard Thackery on the Pace???
Jake Elliott on the Fat Chance
Carl Sturgeon on the Proflex
I recognise the rider on the Explosive, but their name escapes me...
Dave Hemming on the Attitude

27motorhead said:

Love these MBUK scans! I remember this Summer Special like it was yesterday. In fact I remember it better than what happened yesterday!!!

Some seriously tasty bikes in the front of the grid! Pace, Fat, Serotta Proflex, Explosive, Attitude...

Now name the rider competition:

Richard Thackery on the Pace???
Jake Elliott on the Fat Chance
Carl Sturgeon on the Proflex
I recognise the rider on the Explosive, but their name escapes me...
Dave Hemming on the Attitude

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Very young Sam Humphreys on the Kona with Dave Hemming on the Klein next to him? I hated racing those two As a youth/junior

7Speed said:

Very young Sam Humphreys on the Kona with Dave Hemming on the Klein next to him? I hated racing those two As a youth/junior

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Thanks for that, Sorry Sam Humphrey's! All of them fast b**tards!

27motorhead said:

Thanks for that, Sorry Sam Humphrey's! All of them fast b**tards!

Click to expand...

I believe Sam went on to get a silver at the Worlds in his last year as a junior so I don’t feel too bad. Still, I was a long way behind him…

7Speed said:

I believe Sam went on to get a silver at the Worlds in his last year as a junior so I don’t feel too bad. Still, I was a long way behind him…

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I think he did!

The sheer pace of some of the top guys was crazy.

Cant wait to see this finished. And an excellent thread...

Glad the scans have been well received so far and have jogged a few memories. I have scanned some non Pro-flex related articles from these 1990 issues that I will ad to the Magazine Scans category at a later date.

sinnerman said:

Cant wait to see this finished. And an excellent thread...

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Cheers Carl. Going to be a bit of time yet before the restoration actually gets going but starting out with my research gets the inspiration going.


Here's some more scans from 1990 MBUK.

October 1990. Another race shot from the ZOOM section.


November 1990. Dawn raid on Snowdon article. The pro-flex gets some photo exposure in this one but nothing in the actual article. This one's a large frame size. Definitely a production version.



November 1990 Mike Cookson Cycles ad. 1st time it appears in the product line-up with a price. Now commercially available?


Cheers.
boy"O"boy