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

[boy"O"boy]

Hi all.
Been meaning to get round to starting a thread for this project. In true boy"O"boy thread tradition, I'm aiming to include research and step by step progress with plenty of pics throughout.

It's got to start somewhere. So I've made a brew and got myself a copy of MBUK Jan 1990.


This was the 1st copy of MBUK that I purchased BITD. I'd just been given a Bickerton 'Mean Green' for Christmas and the world of Mountain biking was just about to open before me. I turn the cover...and what's the 1st bike I see?

There it is. Right there. Stuff of dreams.


I'm going to leave this here as some kindling (not literally!!) to get the fire going.

Expect slow progress at the moment. I'm still parts gathering. Might even drop a pic of the actual bike in question in tomorrow!

Cheers all.
boy"O"boy

 

[mk one]

Looking forward to this as usual Ben

 

[Star12]

Great opening scene, I’m subscribing…

Star12

 

[Once A Hero]

I like the strap line for the ad - especially because if you did look at the rest of the range, you might find something you could afford!

Looking forward to seeing this be re-born

 

[27motorhead]

Great opening post! Looking forward to some more teasing...

 

[fatfixie]

I worked in a Proflex LBS BITD. We had one of these as a hire bike believe it or not . I often wonder what happened to it....

 

[boy"O"boy]

Looking forward to this as usual Ben

Cheers Mark.
Expect slow progress with scans and research along the way.

Great opening scene, I’m subscribing…

Star12

Take a seat. How do you like your tea?

I like the strap line for the ad - especially because if you did look at the rest of the range, you might find something you could afford!

Looking forward to seeing this be re-born

Thanks Pete.
Yeah. That ad was the one that drew me in. No mention of the price or the fact they were impossible to get hold of. I've got some great scans to show this as we go on.

Great opening post! Looking forward to some more teasing...

Cheers. More teasing below. Pics of the actual bike!

I worked in a Proflex LBS BITD. We had one of these as a hire bike believe it or not . I often wonder what happened to it....

Wow. Given the limited availability of these, that's crazy it was a hire bike. For the '91 model year, this was replaced with the cheaper aluminum range so it became the defunct model pretty quickly. Who knows. Maybe this is the bike you remember?

So. Time to add some start off pictures of where I'm at. Bought this from Manitou916 via eBay back in December. The rear elastomer has been replaced as part of the package. The biggest problem was that it was missing it's original true temper straight blade forks.
I spent some time looking for viable alternatives - early project 2's/ tange switch blades etc...but an eBay ad was highlighted to me by @pete_mcc and I managed to score an original 1" pair of true temper forks that had come off a slingshot.
@MR OX Karma'd me an original 1" Gen 2 flexstem that is a vital part of this build.
Currently, I'm still at the parts accumulation stage....but I'm going with a Suntour XC pro build as I believe there was not set factory build.
At a cost of £1395 back in '90 - you would have probably been able to afford what you wanted!

Here's some start off pics.










More to come...
Cheers
boy"O"boy

 

[MR OX]

Logging on & looking forward to updates!

 

[Canuckbiker]

Yep, very nice opener, signing up too. I didn't realize Serotta was involved in producing early frames, very cool. Was their involvement only with the early steel frames?

 

[fatfixie]

Cheers Mark.
Expect slow progress with scans and research along the way.

Take a seat. How do you like your tea?


Thanks Pete.
Yeah. That ad was the one that drew me in. No mention of the price or the fact they were impossible to get hold of. I've got some great scans to show this as we go on.


Cheers. More teasing below. Pics of the actual bike!

Wow. Given the limited availability of these, that's crazy it was a hire bike. For the '91 model year, this was replaced with the cheaper aluminum range so it became the defunct model pretty quickly. Who knows. Maybe this is the bike you remember?

So. Time to add some start off pictures of where I'm at. Bought this from Manitou916 via eBay back in December. The rear elastomer has been replaced as part of the package. The biggest problem was that it was missing it's original true temper straight blade forks.
I spent some time looking for viable alternatives - early project 2's/ tange switch blades etc...but an eBay ad was highlighted to me by @pete_mcc and I managed to score an original 1" pair of true temper forks that had come off a slingshot.
@MR OX Karma'd me an original 1" Gen 2 flexstem that is a vital part of this build.
Currently, I'm still at the parts accumulation stage....but I'm going with a Suntour XC pro build as I believe there was not set factory build.
At a cost of £1395 back in '90 - you would have probably been able to afford what you wanted!

Here's some start off pics.
View attachment 735526

View attachment 735527

View attachment 735531

View attachment 735533

View attachment 735534

More to come...
Cheers
boy"O"boy

Respectfully, i sold (and rode them) for a number of years and know my proflexes . It was definitely a steel Serotta built - and yes it was used as a hire bike !