Proflex 855

[orange71]

This is my Proflex 855, possibly pre-owned by one of the Grewal brothers (haven't got to the bottom of that yet).

Not sure if a) it's retro enough (though it does have M900 shifters and canti's and those Syncros bar-ends) b) it has one wheel suspended too many (not many full suss appear here)

Anyway, that's it. There's a few dodgy parts on it too (stem?!) but finances preclude upgrades just yet!

 

[agrove]

nice lookin bike ya got there.... but your chain looks to be a bit loose.

 

[orange71]

Cheers - chain slipped to granny ring when hauling it up from the cellar!

 

[agrove]

ah yes, would make a bit of sence. How well does the suspension work on that thing anyhow?

 

[Ziggy]

Noice!

Should have my 856 ready in the next couple of weeks, then I've got to decide whether to build up the 854... Can't wait!

 

[orange71]

Suspension is good actually. The front offers 2.5 inches - oil damped spring (MCUs hard to come by these days although I know I could get some from SLIM), very rigid torsionally compared to telescopic.

Rear also good - giving 3.5 inches again in this case via Noleen NR2 (very leaky BTW). This bike though, compared to my Proflex XP-8 (UK-badged 856) and my 857, has a lot of what a friend calls 'sideways suspension' (!) i.e. puts the flex into proflex! I don't know if it's because of the cranks I'm using (RaceFace Next carbon/alloy) or maybe the bearings aren't so good in the pivot or even that there aren't any gussets where the BB shell meets the down tube unlike my other two bikes, I don't know.

Anyway, I love the bike and as a bonus it looks like the one on the cover of the Proflex catalogue for 1996 (see catalogue scans under Proflex 1994), though I haven't got it to that altitude yet!

Oh, it comes in at 26lbs, just weighed it today. Potential is there to get it down to 24lbs easy I reckon.

Ziggy (is that Ziggy off IDriders.com/proflex BTW?) - what's your 856 like?

 

[Ziggy]

Ziggy (is that Ziggy off IDriders.com/proflex BTW?) - what's your 856 like?

Guilty

At the moment, it's thoroughly unhappy. But when the girvin forks arrive from Jez, & the elastomers from Slim (might have some spare hard ones btw), it'll be a whole lot better! I've still not ridden it properly - the rear elastomers are like rock, & the judy xcs just ain't right...
It won't be long now though!