Andy's Proflex 856

[andym999]

Starting a thread now for this as I have most of the key bits in hand and would welcome any advice from those here that have gone down this road before me.

Progress pics to be added to this post when there is some, read on down for the story...

(now finished-finished- pics on pg4 pg5)

 

[andym999]

For background I’m a teenage MTB’er from the mid 90s – more history in the Marin thread to be found in my sig so won’t repeat here. And back then a Proflex was always desirable but also out of reach. Fast forward to many years later and a tad more disposable income and the discovery of Retrobike meant my Marin was brought back from the edge of purgatory. The next stage is a forthcoming move to a house with a garage which means more space for bikes. The Proflex will be joining my road bike, the Marin and a Brompton. What with the kids’ bikes and the missus wanting a new road bike that garage will be quickly filling up.

Anyway, back to the Proflex… I’d been keeping an eye on eBay for a while but with the Marin rebuild experience behind me I wanted a project rather than a bike that was ready to go. And I found it with an 856 frame that was stripped down ready for paint and with a Girvin coil spring unit installed. So far so good, then it was looking for a donor bike for bits to get started with and the all-important Girvin forks. Managed to find both surprisingly quickly – donor bike is to be a 2001 RockHopper which looks like it has decent quality bits on it, and I chanced upon a set of Girvin Vector Als with a Fox shock on FaceBook at just the right time. Inspection on arrival showed a dent to the rear of one of the legs, not too bad but less than ideal so keeping an eye out for a replacement leg / set.

A couple of different plans for the build were going round my head but I settled against the resto-mod look as I’ve already done that with the Marin and getting the forks helped convince me to go for a pretty much period build. Not gong to be to precious though, first aim is to get it rideable and looking nice, then switch out bits gradually. Hence some Gripshift Xrays have been secured on here, and the frame was sent off to a powder coaters near my new workplace for a nice bold red.

Next steps are to bolt the frame and the fork back together to check it all fits, get it on the wheels to make a rolling chassis and see what bits from the Spesh will be used and for how long. Hoping also the two squishy bits work as they should – early signs are good but I’d welcome any advice as to how to get the best out of them…

More to come….

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• andym999
• Oct 7, 2022

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• andym999
• Oct 7, 2022

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• andym999
• Oct 7, 2022

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• andym999
• Oct 7, 2022

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• andym999
• Oct 7, 2022

 

[andym999]

Further parts acquired:
2 x XT deraileurs
Dia compe levers
No name post and seat collar

Just cables and a chain should be enough to have it operational - house move set for 30th Nov so hopefully some garage time pre-Xmas to have it all bolted together...

Then time to comprise a wish list of more authentic / accurate parts, to include:
Sugino chainset
XT/LX wheels
XT/LX V-brakes

 

[Joe*Pro]

Looks like a great start and back to bare bones build.

 

[sparkybhp]

These look so good in bare alloy - I was tempted to powdercoat mine red but left it after a mild polish. When I removed the paint on mine I found a couple of Easton stampings in the tubes and that made up my mind - I didn’t want to cover those up!
I’ll be interested to see how yours develops, you’ve made a nice start there and sounds like your component choice will make a tasty bike once finished. Please let us know how the forks feel with the fox shock.. mines on a standard coil sprung set of Girvins and I can’t believe how well it rides. It’s not really like you’d expect a f/s bike to ride, hard to describe but it feels more like a rigid with suspension travel. I suppose because it’s only 80-90mm of travel. Anyway good choice for your next project - good luck with it.

 

[andym999]

Thanks both...

These look so good in bare alloy - I was tempted to powdercoat mine red but left it after a mild polish.

The chap I acquired if off was planning to do that and had stripped/polished it - perhaps I should have gone it that direction ( I already have one red bike....) but I did want to have this fairly period correct as above, so red with the polished swing arm it is.

Looking forward to playing with the suspension set up and adjusting the 'J' shaped travel to see how it feels. Feedback there from the previous owner of the forks (they'd been on a GT RTS) was that they were very smooth...

 

[Kevhl]

I really like these, still haven’t owned one. Think yours will be lovely!

 

[Suprachrgd82]

That’s gonna be a fantastic ride. I just got back from putting a few miles on a recently completed Beast and I truly love the 856 style frame. Looking forward to seeing new life breathed into that frame.

What’s the plan for cable routing? The ProFlex ferrules are proprietary to ProFlex frames. Do you still have them or will it have outer cables run the length of the frame?

 

[Joe*Pro]

Mine is all original unrestored if you need any references or close up pics of original parts.

 

[andym999]

What’s the plan for cable routing?

So I was aware this could be an issue, I have some cable ends with extended narrow bits on from Jagwire which I *think* should work. I really should whip them out and see later on... I don't have the rear hanger bit so it will need to be Vs which is okay. Alternatives are then either ful length outers or Maguras....

Mine is all original unrestored if you need any references or close up pics of original parts.

That's much appreciated thank you