Today I took a very short ride along the river to the Long Island City pier. Along the way, I saw someone riding a bike I hadn’t seen in a long time.
Back in the day, a couple of my riding buddies had them. I even knew a guy who raced on one.
If you were a National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) member in the early to mid 1990's, as I was, you knew someone who rode this bike if you weren't riding it yourself. The Pro Flex was one of the first mass-marketed full-suspension mountain bikes.
The first time I saw one of those frames, I thought that the rear was something Salvador Dali might've made if someone had stolen his palette and brushes and left an Erector set in their place.
I never owned one, or any other full-suspension bike. However, I did have the chance to ride one. I was not prepared for the springiness and cushiness of the ride, accustomed as I was to hardtail mountain bikes and very stiff road bikes. In fact, I found the bike's bounciness disconcerting--like something I might expect of a pogo stick on wheels.
I suppose that had I raced off-road, or simply become a more dedicated off-road rider, I would've appreciated the Pro-Flex or some other full-suspension bike. But having such boingy ride was rather distrubing to me: I felt that I had less control over the bike.
Plus, I came to feel about this bike, and full-suspension bikes, the way I came to feel about carbon-fiber bikes: They're great if you're willing and able to replace them every couple of years. (I was riding a lot, and hard, in those days.) A year or so after I first saw those bikes, the suspension mechanisms broke on some of them. Once, during a ride on a trail upstate, I saw a guy lash the ends of his frame together so he could ride his suspensionless suspension bike back out to wherever he parked his car.
Later versions used elastomers. They were shaped sort of like miniature tires, and performed one of the functions of a tire: shock absorption. The problem was that, in time, the elastomers either hardened or collapsed like deflated tires. In either case, they no longer absorbed shock. They were replaceable, but not easily. Plus, they were a proprietary part. Thus, anyone who still has one of those bikes would need to find replacements on eBay or, as "Citizen Rider" did, improvise new parts.
I'm guessing that ProFlex bikes have been out of production for at least a few years now. That would account for their relative rarity. Plus, performance-oriented mountain bikes simply don't last as long as good road bikes because they get more wear and tear. I know that because I wore out more chains and sprockets, and broke more parts, in my first two years of off-road riding than I did in twenty years of road riding.
It will be interesting to see whether this bike develops "cult" status and collectors start buying them. That brings me to another parallel with carbon-fiber bikes: They date themselves, which means that they don't grow old gracefully. A quality lugged steel road frame will always look and feel right, whether it was made in 1930, 1960, or just last year. The same can't be said for a full-suspension bike from 1990. That means, I believe, that neither the Pro-Flex nor any other full-suspension bikes will become "classics" in the way some iconic road bikes have.
Back in the day, a couple of my riding buddies had them. I even knew a guy who raced on one.
If you were a National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) member in the early to mid 1990's, as I was, you knew someone who rode this bike if you weren't riding it yourself. The Pro Flex was one of the first mass-marketed full-suspension mountain bikes.
The first time I saw one of those frames, I thought that the rear was something Salvador Dali might've made if someone had stolen his palette and brushes and left an Erector set in their place.
I never owned one, or any other full-suspension bike. However, I did have the chance to ride one. I was not prepared for the springiness and cushiness of the ride, accustomed as I was to hardtail mountain bikes and very stiff road bikes. In fact, I found the bike's bounciness disconcerting--like something I might expect of a pogo stick on wheels.
I suppose that had I raced off-road, or simply become a more dedicated off-road rider, I would've appreciated the Pro-Flex or some other full-suspension bike. But having such boingy ride was rather distrubing to me: I felt that I had less control over the bike.
Plus, I came to feel about this bike, and full-suspension bikes, the way I came to feel about carbon-fiber bikes: They're great if you're willing and able to replace them every couple of years. (I was riding a lot, and hard, in those days.) A year or so after I first saw those bikes, the suspension mechanisms broke on some of them. Once, during a ride on a trail upstate, I saw a guy lash the ends of his frame together so he could ride his suspensionless suspension bike back out to wherever he parked his car.
Later versions used elastomers. They were shaped sort of like miniature tires, and performed one of the functions of a tire: shock absorption. The problem was that, in time, the elastomers either hardened or collapsed like deflated tires. In either case, they no longer absorbed shock. They were replaceable, but not easily. Plus, they were a proprietary part. Thus, anyone who still has one of those bikes would need to find replacements on eBay or, as "Citizen Rider" did, improvise new parts.
I'm guessing that ProFlex bikes have been out of production for at least a few years now. That would account for their relative rarity. Plus, performance-oriented mountain bikes simply don't last as long as good road bikes because they get more wear and tear. I know that because I wore out more chains and sprockets, and broke more parts, in my first two years of off-road riding than I did in twenty years of road riding.
It will be interesting to see whether this bike develops "cult" status and collectors start buying them. That brings me to another parallel with carbon-fiber bikes: They date themselves, which means that they don't grow old gracefully. A quality lugged steel road frame will always look and feel right, whether it was made in 1930, 1960, or just last year. The same can't be said for a full-suspension bike from 1990. That means, I believe, that neither the Pro-Flex nor any other full-suspension bikes will become "classics" in the way some iconic road bikes have.
