Submitted by
tink fan
a Cross Country Rider
from Nor-Cal USA
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2008
Bottom Line:
I bought this bike back in 1997. It was called the off the shelf racer and a cherry pickens because of it's high quality. I agree, mostly. It was great for racing, excellent hill climber, and downhill. I did have problems with the rear shock breaking and had it returned several times. I have a good one now. The first two deraileurs had to be returned because of weak springs. The third one was good until last year. I changed out the front fork/shock to a softer Rock Shox because of the stiffness. I think the Girvin fork/Noleen shock is better suited for the larger person, not for small people like myself. I'm still riding on everything else. I don't think this bike will ever need to be retired from riding but someday I'll just set it aside just for display, because I still think it's the most attractive looking bike I've ever seen. I gave the rating to the bike, Proflex, and Girvin, not K2.
Submitted by
Jinder
a Cross Country Rider
from London, Ontario Canada
Date Reviewed: July 24, 2005
Strengths: Lightweight, excellent build quality, super hill climber, rare!
Weaknesses: Old Noleen shocks
Bottom Line:
This is a excellent bike! Overall - one of the best X-country racers ever made, PERIOD! I believe it is the best bike in the Proflex line-up - even today modern bikes don't feel as good as this insane beast! The 957 is very lightweight, very soild and very fast! It climbs hills like a champion...feels like a motor is attached it the crank...its that GOOD uphill!
I recently bought 2 new shocks, Risse Astro-5 for the rear and the Genesis for the front...WOW what a differnce!! The Risse shocks are MUCH lighter than the old Noleens and MUCH MORE tune-a-able This solves the weakness with the old Shocks and totally makes this bike one of the BEST bikes ever made!
GET ONE...if you can...they are extremely rare - I waited 6 years to find mine.
Submitted by
el presidente
a Cross Country Rider
from Piedmont, North Carolina
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2004
Strengths: Great front and rear suspension, noleens are excellent (when they aren't blown). Light (stock is 26, I've got it under 25 and it wasn't hard!), quick, stiff, climbs like nobody's business. Looks fantastic, works fantastic, low maintenance. I've got 8,000 miles on it!! the ride analyzer tells me so!, so I know it is TOUGH! One review said the paint chipped, but the 957 swingarm is carbon (beautiful carbon!)
Weaknesses: Shock blew out during the first ride, but replaced quickly and FREE.
Bottom Line:
This was a fantastic purchase! I bought this in 1997 and have over 8,000 miles on it (22 cents a mile?) and it is still going strong. Fantastic for roots, climbing... I keep telling myself that it is 7 years old and time to get a new bike, but why spend $3,000 on a bike that gets the same amount of travel (maybe a 1/2 inch more) and weighs MORE! This thing is UNDER 25 pounds!
Purchased At: Mud Sweat and Gears (http://www.bikeusa.com)
Similar Products Used: Pro*Flex 855, Santa Cruz Super Light
Bike Setup: 517s, carbon: bar, seatpost, barends (and swingarm), mag-ti, xtr v-brakes, Altek levers (they rock!), XT everything else.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Jason
a Weekend Warrior
from Dartmoor, England
Date Reviewed: March 22, 2002
Strengths: Strong frame, Pace suspension (changed from Girvin), Very light for full-sus. Good posture - mean looking. I got a DH bar which is essential. Damn good ceramic coated mavic rims & conti tyres cool too. V-brakes good as normal too. Easton Alloy rocks!
Weaknesses: rear sus causes some gear trouble-but that could be wear & tear. frame looks tatty after too many crashes / scratches. paint chips easily off rear swingarm (and is hard to touch-up)
Bottom Line:
The bike looks good, rides good, and will last me forever. end of story. If anyone finds a good 2nd hand one like I did then there's no need to upgrade, because you've already got the best bike of the 1997 era
Bike Setup: XTR, Judy 100, Grip shift, other assorted parts, kind of a Franken-bike.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Jeremy
a Weekend Warrior
from Orlando FL
Date Reviewed: September 5, 2000
Strengths: with a few upgrades I have my 957 down to 24 pounds Cool color and finish. I have great faith in proflex bikes I have ridden and raced them since 1992
Weaknesses: I would rather have a different front shock and I plan to upgrade soon.
Bottom Line:
Great bike I love it. too bad the Proflex name is gone.
Testowa³em tê ramê w warunkach ekstremalnego zjazdu. Okaza³a siê bardzo trafnym wyborem. Uzuska³em na niej doskona³ rezultat w nieofcjalnych zawodach w Szklarskiej Porêbie. Doskona³a rama do p³askich zjazdów. Po kilku mocnych glebach na ramie pojawi³y siê wgiêcia, które jednak¿e mnie nie martwi¹. Tak wiêc z czystym sumieniem oceniam produkt Proflexa na pi¹tkê.
Submitted by
John
a cross-country rider
from Minneapolis, Minnesota
Date Reviewed: January 29, 1999
Bottom Line:
I just had my Cannondale F 900 stolen, and had to replace it. Found a great deal on the 957 and bought it. $600! Well, it was used, but not too much.This is a vastly superior bike to the F 900. It really performs well in the turns. Climbs fairly well for a full suspension. Complaints: •both the front and rear shocks damping don't seem to work. I have yet to refer to the K2 site, or determine if they are blown. •front shock is really noisy on big hits (wap! wap! wap!) •rear suspension throws me out of the seat on big hits as the coil spring expands back to its resting size. (see damping above)Otherwise, this is fine bike. I would highly recommend it.
Submitted by
Tim Gilbert
a cross-country rider
from Lebanon NH
Date Reviewed: December 19, 1998
Bottom Line:
I've been riding my 957 since this spring, all the while reading the reviews here at Mtbr and holding my breath that something major would break. After a lot of hard miles I'm getting ready to put it away for the winter and have not had any failures beyond a couple of spokes. I've had a great time riding this bike, everything has worked great-especialy the fork. I hesitated getting a full suspension bike because we climb a lot of hill up here in New England any I did not want to pay the weight penalty. As it turns out the design of the bike acually helps traction on climbs. I've been able to climb things I've never been able to climb before. And there is essentially no weight penalty for me as this bike weighs the same as my hardtail it replaced. I ride a size large and it weighed 26 lbs on the scale at the shop before anything was changed. I really havn't changed too much: Swiched to Time pedals first thing and love em, and got rid of those terrible green tires-the rear wasn't too bad but the front sucked big time. The only real problem I have had is with the finish-or I should say lack of finish! Corrosion apeared right away and continues to still happen no matter what I do. I know it is only cosmetic but you would think a 3000 dollar bike would come with some kind of finish. I've called K2 and posted on their web site but they have flat out ignored me-not the response you would expect if they were a class organisation-which I can only guess they are not. Sooo..great bike, no paint, poor cust. serv. 4 stars.
My first question is, has anyone actually weighed their bikes? I bought my 957 in June 1997, (my second Proflex), as a frame and fork only. I outfitted it with full XTR components, Crossland then later Crossmax wheelset, WTB seat, Scott carbon handlebars, Ritchey stem, Ultimate ti seatpost, and Corratec ti pedals. It is a large size frame and just barely breaks the the 25 lb mark. Oh well, except for the two blown rear shocks, and one in the front, I have loved the over 2800 miles I have put on the bike. I race Vet Sport and ride just for fun alot too, and the bike is comfortable and capable. I am confused why Proflex, now K2, keeps changing their designs so often (including those hideous carbon monsters) but I hope mine lasts a few more years.Kudos to the company for replacing the shocks in a timely fashion but shame on them for letting it happen in the first place.Happy trails!
Submitted by
carlos
a cross-country rider
from queretaro, mexico
Date Reviewed: September 2, 1998
Bottom Line:
I´ve been riding mtb for years now, in all kind of bikes, but my 957 it´s the best I´ve ever ridden, I only change tho whole drivetrain with XTR, and I was about to marry the bike, until the rear shock started leaking, now I´m really mad, becuuse before I purchased the bike, I never read an article in any magazine regarding the poor qualty of it! It only worked fine the first couple of rides. Now I stuck with a very expensive piece of junk (no P.F. dealers around here)Result: great frame + great drivetrain + terrible shock = terrible bike!
Submitted by
stewart mccracken
a cross-country rider
from Scotland (Edinburgh - Pentland Hills mostly!)
Date Reviewed: August 7, 1998
Bottom Line:
What a bike!, looks f***in great, work of art for the swingarm is right. I've got a pair of Pace RC 36 (coil/oil)forks which match perfectly with the NR-4 in terms of performance. The forks have carbon fibre legs which looks pretty amazing in combo with the swingarm. Wait a minute though, the best thing about this bike is the ride!, my first full sus bike and I doubt if I'll have another hard tail.
Submitted by
Scott Reynolds
a cross-country rider
from Sterling, MA USA
Date Reviewed: July 22, 1998
Bottom Line:
I have had my 957 for about 3 months now and I ride pretty much every day. I did not buy the whole bike I just bought the frame and built the bike myself. This frame is outstanding once you get it dialed in. I had to buy a 350lb spring for the rear shock but now it is outstanding. I would reccomend this frame to anyone. At first I thought that I would have a problem with the carbon fiber rear swing arms but they are bullet-proof. The only problem that I did have was that I bent the rear strut but that was PURELY my fault as I endoed and it landed solidly on a sharp rock. I replaced it and even got a yellow one which looks cool. I have beat the crap out of this thing and I cannot say enough about how it just takes the beating and is ready for more. It definitely my new best friend, although my wife doesn't like my baby because it takes up too much of my time. Finally BUY ONE!!!
Submitted by
Rob Quarrato
a cross-country rider
from San Jose, CA
Date Reviewed: June 24, 1998
Bottom Line:
I was extremely skeptical about purchasing my ProFlex but after I did I knew I had done the right thing. It's awesome on the down hills and because it's only 23.5lbs it's easy to manuever on the technical stuff. However, I was disappointed with the the fact that I sheared the bolts on the inner chain ring for my climbing gears. The carbon fiber forks and swing arm suspensions provide plenty of travel for that killer down hill run. I must say it took a while to get used to the full suspension but after you get used to it you'll say I'll never ride a hard tail ever again!! Over all, it's an awesome full sespension bike!!!
Submitted by
BOB
a cross-country rider
from Clarksville, TN
Date Reviewed: May 30, 1998
Bottom Line:
Switched out the pedals (not enough float for my bad knees), tires (I'm a Smoke/Dart fan)and the seat (I've had a flite since 90' that fits my butt well). All components are working great on the wet and muddy trails we have around here now. The bike is ridden in very rough and technical terrain. The bike's lightweight (23.5 lbs) is very apparent, especially on climbs. The closeout prices makes this rig very competitive. K2 has a great website to help with the technical set-up.
