Old-School Junk

[RobAR]

Seen one of these?



A Pro Flex 856 from 1996 that I dug out of my 'Work On Me' pile in January.



These are the end-result pics. See the cool Salsa junk?



"If It Ain't Moto It's Worthless, Baby!"

[X-RAY]

nice! i love that fork.

[nameused]

ah man I love the look of those bikes!

[RobAR]

I'm 10 years older and 20 pounds over what I once was,,, she still loves me!
It's a solid 28 lbs but i really like the linkage fork idea. I've not ridden a tele fork that comes even close on big, unexpected hits.

[GeorgeET]

Ye interesting fork. They stole the idea from BMW motorcycles. :-)))
A lot of motorcycle inspired parts on this bike all you need is an engine.

[KC-Steve]

So what are your thoughts on this bike Rob? Calling it "junk" has me wondering. I am clueless when it comes to this style.

Thanks,
Steve

[hcjg1]

remember one mans junk is another mans treasure, you could let me have that bike when you're ready to throw it in the bin.

[RobAR]

Steve, I capitalized Junk.
hcjg1, I will keep u in mind. May only be a broken frame but...
George, I AM an engine

Like my shotguns and favorite fishing poles, I have a hard time letting go of an old friend. This is an old friend that I keep in-touch with.

[Bill]

Oooo I would definitely ride this old school junk anytime

[RobAR]

(03-31-2011, 07:17 AM)Bill Wrote:  Oooo I would definitely ride this old school junk anytime

I rode her this evening, Bill. Only about 4 miles, though - was getting dark with all the trees putting on leaf. Our first ride together since 2007 and we roosted !!! I had to up my pre-load on the springs a bit more than I would care to comment on... d@nM beer and age.

Old MTBs are my passion and I have a select-few that I take meticulous care of, for both Memories and Archeology. Funky and Experimental add points, for me.

My other fave is a 1997 DBR (Diamondback Racing) WCF 6.1. I forget where I put the pics but.. here on BT somehere in this Topic. This was Diamondback's foray into the carbon frame realm and WCF was for Welded Carbon Fiber. Cool old bike!

[JohnV]

Quote:I had to up my pre-load on the springs a bit more than I would care to comment on... d@nM beer and age.

Rob, It's not the age.....

[Bill]

Wow Welded Carbon Fiber? Have to say never heard of that. I have a womens diamond back something, have to take pics tomorrow. Anyways that thing is sooo light and easy to ride over my beloved XR-75! I definitely envy this bike of yours because of the way the suspension and frame layout is.

[RobAR]

Thanks Bill. Maybe I'll let you ride it someday!
If you're interested in a bit of MTB history, I can talk for days...
You have probably heard of a company called K2. They are into bikes, snowboards, rollerblades, etc. Bought Pro-Flex in the late '90s.

In the early-days of MTB suspension (remember the first RockShox with Neon Pink decals?), telescopic forks were very prone to stiction if not serviced "regularly". A nice way of saying it. LOL
Pro-Flex looked at MX bikes with linkage forks and thought to scale it down. They teamed-up with motocross suspension guru Bob Girvin (that decal on the right leg used to say 'Girvin') to make this happen. The forks were surprisingly light compared to thier mass. Never any stiction. And STIFF. No flex under a lateral load (hard cornering). Its biggest shortcoming, though - travel was limited by its own nature.
In the rear, a Macphereson Strut design worked well with that fork. It too, was limited in travel by its nature.

Telescopic forks soon began to be more reliable, durable, tuneable, inexpensive, ... left this old idea in the dust. As rear travel grew, the last nail was driven. It's all about the history, brother! I do love the history. I hope I didn't bore you.

This one was born with GripShift and canti brakes but has been, over time, upgraded to full XT with V-brakes. Mostly 739 and 740 parts. I am thinking that the yellow cage needs to go. Too much yellow.

[Bill]

Actually I didn't know that!

[Bill]

(04-11-2011, 07:09 AM)Bill Wrote:  Actually I didn't know that!

As far as for riding it we live quite a bit a ways from each other lol. I would definitely enjoy something like that even if I had to sell of all my MTB's to get it .

[RobAR]

You asked about Welded Carbon Fiber. Wanna see?

[Bill]

(04-23-2011, 10:40 PM)RobAR Wrote:  You asked about Welded Carbon Fiber. Wanna see?

Yea if you got a good reference picture video or something!!

[RobAR]

okiee dokiee, Bill!



I think it was 1996 when Diamondback began delving into the carbon fiber frame business in their DBR (Diamondback Racing) line. This is a WCF 6.1 from 1997. Color was called Red Cross. Looks like an ambulance, huh?



What they did was take carbon fiber tubes for the Top, Down & Seat tubes and bond them to steel lugs at the junctions so that they could be welded into a frame. The seat and chainstays are steel. Basically, you got a frame that rides like a sweet steel bike with the damping qualities of CF. Weight savings was probably less than a pound but, it was a cool idea at the time!



She's been upgraded to full XT with XTR V-brakes. Weighs in at 24 pounds even. Still has the original Manitou SX fork. I overhauled the fork this Spring with the last of the parts I had. We will see what the future holds!

[JohnV]

Quote:What they did was take carbon fiber tubes for the Top, Down & Seat tubes and bond them to steel lugs at the junctions so that they could be welded into a frame.

Very interesting! I learn something new every day on this forum.

[GeorgeET]

Wow, interesting bike. I used to ride Mountain Bike Patrol for dept. of parks in Santa Monica mountains in the early 90's. I used my 1990 aluminum Schwinn High Plains. First thing I did was to put a 20T granny gear and add a Rock Shock. But it weights more than 24 lbs. Thats awesome for a MB:-))

My Buddy had one of the first Cannondale X frame bikes, that bike was nice and sure easier to ride in dirt than mine, took less effort uphill to.