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

[Coleman]

This is one of my favourite builds on here - great work - awesome bike.

 

[JCS]

Great build. Loving the Suntour.

 

[MR OX]

I expected nothing less.................................................
Stunning.

 

[boy"O"boy]

Congratulations BoB - that build brings back a lot of memories and is very nicely put together. I know they were not everyone’s cup of tea but I always liked a flexstem on a non-suspension bike.

@7Speed Thanks for the kind words.
Completely agree - the Pro-flex is definitely bit of a Marmite retro choice. These early Serotta built ones are often a bit misunderstood....being custom True temper steel rather than the mainstream Aluminum ones that followed these initial ones. These were the ones that sold the Pro-flex suspension concept.
Was the Pro-flex USA Limited/ Cook bros equipped a final evolution of the steel pro-flex / Serotta built frames?

Amazing job @boy"O"boy . Saw it appear in BOTM. Some seriously tasty machines to end 2024 on and some tough voting decisions to be made!!!

Never owned a full suspension bike (it took me 25 years of MTBing until I bought a bike with front suspension!!!) but I always liked the look of this Proflex and the Cannondale SE2000 when they first came out. I know neither worked well, but they looked super-cool in my eyes.

What a very proactive year you have had regarding bike builds!

@27motorhead
Similar story myself. Loved the look of these bitd. Was sold on that Advertisement from the Jan 1990 MBUK, but when it came to actual riding....the fully rigid, then the hardtail was the preferred choice. Maybe because full suspension always seemed financially out of reach, I didn't try it until late. When I finally decided to try....I bought a 2nd hand GT STS thermoplastic.
It was awful. Rode like a pogo stick. Hated it and it put me off of riding for ages. When I did get back into riding, I went straight back to hardtails purely on the strength of this. Sold for a pittance as a trade in against a Scott Scale 30.
I only came round to suspension again when I tried an Orange 5 and was sold straight away.

The Pro-flex for me is all about the era. Perhaps if I'd ridden one back then, I'd have hated it and would have moved on. It's that magazine ad that was etched in my mind though.

Yes to a productive 2024! - the mojo definitely came back last year. See here -
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/what-are-your-retro-bike-plans-for-2024.474280/page-17

Cheers
boy"O"boy

 

[boy"O"boy]

Stunning build!

I love how the neon flex stem pops against the red and black

@Silverfish
Thanks! You're doing some great builds at the moment too.
The best colour for a flex stem has to be neon!
Early 90's epitomized!

Beautiful!!!!
Did not know that there was a Proflex build by Serotta!!! Where to find those?
Hard to find for sure?!?
Great project!

@Thogarma Thank you.
Yes. The very 1st Pro-flexes were Serotta built.
Early in the thread, member @MikesBikesRI had spoken with Ben Serotta and he puts the figure at around 80 built.
Very rare but often mistaken for the mainstream versions that followed from 1991 onwards.

This is one of my favourite builds on here - great work - awesome bike.

@Coleman Thanks. Straight back to those early MBUK days of daydreaming over this or the Freewheel Catalogue.

Great build. Loving the Suntour.

@JCS Thanks.
We've both been through the torment that is acquiring an XC Pro group set. Certainly didn't make this build easy for myself.

I expected nothing less.................................................
Stunning.

@MR OX
Thanks David. The flex stem you donated has come up like new! I'm doing the same again for the prototype....turning rust to neon goodness!

Thanks all.
boy"O"boy