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

[boy"O"boy]

Logging on & looking forward to updates!

Cheers David. Slow and steady with probably a few twists along the way!

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?

Thanks.
Yeah. Still learning about these....but you can't miss the 'hand crafted by Serotta' on the rear swingarm. I'm going to add more scans but I've read so far the KG engineering out sourced these early steel frames to Serotta.

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 !

Apologies. No disrespect intended.
What I meant was maybe this is 'the' hire bike.
Without doubt I'll be messaging you at some point for Pro-flex knowledge.

So. Continuing the next installment, here's some more pics that show the true condition of the frame. I've removed the rear swingarm - easy to do with an Allen key.

I'm selling some surplus to focus on purchasing the missing parts I need....then I'll be dropping into the paint store in Leamington to get an exact colour match on the red before I start a full bare metal strip and paint.
Having bought a new (well newish) modern on a whim - a Cotic Soul MK5 27.5" hasn't helped the cash in the parts sourcing fund!

Here's some detail













Cheers
boy"O"boy

 

[24pouces]

Fantastic project on a quite rare bike !

 

[ibbz]

This is going to be Good!!!!!!

 

[fatfixie]

I spossib

Cheers David. Slow and steady with probably a few twists along the way!


Thanks.
Yeah. Still learning about these....but you can't miss the 'hand crafted by Serotta' on the rear swingarm. I'm going to add more scans but I've read so far the KG engineering out sourced these early steel frames to Serotta.



Apologies. No disrespect intended.
What I meant was maybe this is 'the' hire bike.
Without doubt I'll be messaging you at some point for Pro-flex knowledge.

So. Continuing the next installment, here's some more pics that show the true condition of the frame. I've removed the rear swingarm - easy to do with an Allen key.

I'm selling some surplus to focus on purchasing the missing parts I need....then I'll be dropping into the paint store in Leamington to get an exact colour match on the red before I start a full bare metal strip and paint.
Having bought a new (well newish) modern on a whim - a Cotic Soul MK5 27.5" hasn't helped the cash in the parts sourcing fund!

Here's some detail
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Cheers
boy"O"boy

Is possible it's the same bike, I remember being told at the time there were 10 in the UK. Andy

 

[boy"O"boy]

Is possible it's the same bike, I remember being told at the time there were 10 in the UK. Andy

Thanks Andy.
Got this scan from MBUK NOV 1990 - this one is from the classifieds at the back. Check out some of the other F/S too!
Interesting that this seller reckons 25 in UK - but I reckon your figure is more accurate as you sold them so would have the Gen.
I've a scan to add later that features the Daihatsu Offroad team...and that article says that even the Team could only get one Offroad Proflex between them!


It's not @pete_mcc 's fantastic example as he built this to his own build spec....but there's definitely some similarities.


More to come....

Cheers.
boy"O"boy

 

[boy"O"boy]

So. Starting off with my research for this build, the 1st scans I'm adding are these magazine reviews shamelessly 'borrowed' from the internet.
The 1st is from Mountain Biker 1990....before the 'International' was added. Sadly, this is one of the issues I don't have in my MBi / MBUK collection. and the quality of scan is not very good.
Should I manage to score the correct copy, I'll replace this one....
*EDIT* 30/10/24
Mountain Biker International Midsummer 1990 scored! Thanks @Tomac23
Article now readable!!









The 2nd test Article is courtesy of MOMBAT.org
Bicycle Magazine Oct 1990.





I'll be adding more scans of articles featuring the Offroad Pro-flex along the way. Most of these come from the 1990 monthly issues of MBUK. Interestingly though, MBUK doesn't have any test articles or reviews of this bike, but it does have favourable mentions in tech / show round-up features.

Enjoy.
boy"O"boy

 

[boy"O"boy]

More research info.
The 1st reference of the Offroad Pro-flex I can find from my MBUK archive is from January 1990.
As mentioned in my opening post, it all starts with the Advert on the inside cover.


Next is article from the Milan '89 show which mentions the Proflex on the last page.






More to come.
boy"O"boy

 

[Once A Hero]

Interesting to see the differences in the frame design for such a limited run bike.
By that I mean the near vertical brace behind the seat tube - as shown in the advert bike, but not on your frame.
Then there's the shape / position of the swing arm pivot bar between the seat and down tubes - appears broadly level/straight on your frame, but very much curved/swooping on the advert bike.

Also the seat stay continuation tube forming the triangle between seat and top tubes - not present on @pete_mcc 's frameset.

How many of these are down to frame size, or is the advert frame nothing like production frames?

 

[boy"O"boy]

.....and onto February 1990.

Jaime Carr riding a Pro-flex at the Mountain bike masters event at the NEC.




More to come.
boy"O"boy

 

[boy"O"boy]

Interesting to see the differences in the frame design for such a limited run bike.
By that I mean the near vertical brace behind the seat tube - as shown in the advert bike, but not on your frame.
Then there's the shape / position of the swing arm pivot bar between the seat and down tubes - appears broadly level/straight on your frame, but very much curved/swooping on the advert bike.

Also the seat stay continuation tube forming the triangle between seat and top tubes - not present on @pete_mcc 's frameset.

How many of these are down to frame size, or is the advert frame nothing like production frames?

Cheers Pete.
Yeah. There's plenty of differences between these frames in the research images.
The vertical brace behind the seat tube, I believe that was only on the pre-production prototype only.
The forward drop on the swing arm mount. Again only on the prototype....or is it? The Jaime Carr bike in the article above could also have this, or it could be Camera Angle? - Maybe that's a feature of the larger size only? - or that this is also a prototype. If it's production, it's most likely the 1st in the UK.
The seat stay/ down tube brace. I'd say that depends on size frame. If @pete_mcc is the smaller frame, mine is Medium, and they also offered a Large size? - Still, quite a lot of effort to go to for a limited production run.
My Marin Pine mountain Browning Fork kept the limited production idea simple. It seems from all the known examples, it was only ever sold in one frame size.

boy"O"boy