I told Marc I'd take a look at it...see what I could do. Well, this is what Marc brought over (I already took off the front wheel when I took the picture)...
The biggest challenge of this project was trying to find the elastomer replacements for the rear suspension. The elastomers apparently disintegrate over time. When Marc brought the bike over, the elastomers were completely gone.
Another challenge was to clean the bike. The old elastomers appeared to have "melted" in that there was sticky gooey residue all down the back side of the bike...and I mean everywhere. It took significant cleaning.
Since the bike was old and needed so much cleaning, I decided to simply disassemble the entire bike and redo it all...new grease for the bearings, re-cable it, etc...
The old tires were a bit rotten as well. Since I have a ton of spare mountain bike parts, I dug up some pretty much new tires and tubes to replace the old ones. This is what the bike looked like after a thorough cleaning...though you can see the elastomers for the suspension are still missing...
Since I knew finding the elastomers would be a challenge, I did a little research on the internet and a few emails back and forth with Jim of Suspension Fork Parts, I scored two elastomer replacements. I ordered them on the Monday after Marc brought the bike over. As luck would have it, they shouwed up today!
Here they are installed on the bike...
And with that, the restoration is complete!
Not bad at all if I say so myself...especially for only a half-day's work!
:-)
I have the same exact bike. How does it ride since the refresh?
ReplyDeleteWell Ethan...to be completely honest, I have no idea. When Marc brought the bike over, it had no rear suspension at all and was basically unrideable. That said, I've obviously taken it out for a spin since rebuilding the bike, and it rides perfectly. The rear suspension is obviously old school...so it's nothing like the Fox shock on my race bike (not even close actually...hahahahahaha), but for what it is, it rides fantastically. I can feel the rear suspension working, and it does absorb the bumps as I would expect it to. I'm glad I ordered the "medium" elastomer; I think the "firm" would be way too harsh. I'm a buck-fifty, and Marc weighs less. I'm thinking the firmer elastomer woulda been more like a pogo stick. By the way, how did you find this post so quickly? (just curious)
ReplyDeleteI was looking for more information on my bike and somehow found your blog. I need to do the same stuff you did on Marc's, to my bike plus a rear derailleur. Marc's bike looks good and I'm looking forward to riding it. I got this bike used and the elastomer was pretty shot then so should be fun.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Make sure to keep us posted on how it turns out!
ReplyDeleteSimply incredible! It's my bike, I mean exactly. Right down to the melted yellow, rear shock thing. Considering I only weigh 115 lbs, I was wondering which was the best replacement, and what web site I could check out. Any help would be greatly appreciated. More info on how I temporarily fixed it for free if anyone cares.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you use to clean up that sticky elastomer goo?
ReplyDeleteI have it all over my bike.
GooGone. http://www.googone.com/ And yeah, this one was a nasty mess too. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI also have a Proflex but never could find any elastomer replacements. Brother in-law is an engineer and he ordered a machine die spring through McMaster Carr and it works as good as new. It's slightly larger in diameter than the original polymer marshmallows, so it isn't sitting truley flush. He also is a machinist so he may fabricate some new seats for the spring.
ReplyDeleteI ride a pro flex attack and when my elastomers died the bike shop could only get a medium and a firm. The combination of the two rides well with me at 225 lbs. i love the bike and hope i can still get the elastomers when these cash in their chips. i was wondering about taking the spring route but thanks for the article, hope the suspension fork parts is around for a while.
ReplyDeleteAfter my elastomers melted, I used a small pressure washer to power wash the goo off. Worked great! Just had to be careful not to inject the water into any bearings.
ReplyDeleteAnybody willing to sell their proflex attack, preferrably in silver? That was my first full suspension purchased in '96. Unfortunately it was stolen a day after a major tuneup and elastomer replacement ( hifitrading (@) gmail dot com I still mourn it
ReplyDelete