Weaknesses: original elastomer, i replaced with spring!
Not for any one who is in/un/ not capable of rebuilding it alone. As parts are scarce, rare.
Bottom Line:
Still a nasty looker, rides tight and multi link still takes a hit like a sidewalk curb straight on with no issues. Super light combo. Worth every penny. I wish somebody would build a new model lighter, stronger and even Flashier, it's the sexiest Suspension fork ever built and still STRONG after 10 years. ok, I have to go polish them, later
Bike Setup: Girvin Pro Flex Vector fork with Klein Ti alloy composite 125 gram bars, Aluminum Bright BLUE AnodiZed ?forgot the brand name frame, Velocity dual walled Wheels, XTR components
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Stephen Blake
a Weekend Warrior
from Buckinghamshire United Kingdom
Date Reviewed: July 11, 2001
Strengths: brilliant tracking, no brake rub, minimal diving on braking,light weight as stock but upgraded with risse genesis they are awesome for the cost, individual looks in a world of telescopics, easy to work on ( if you can see it you can fix it),
Weaknesses: waaay overdamped with original ODS unit,exposed and cheap bushings,do not jump with these forks if you want to ride home on them one metre drop offs is as good as it gets, has to be frequently cleaned to keep them plush ,travel limited to x-c only, you must upgrade the damper and the risse genesis turns them into excellent forks that perform on a par with current forks,Mountainspeed speedspro spring uprades are pig heavy for the performance increase and you still must change the oil wt , the noleen shocks if you can find them will pi** oil on you after a hard session speak to anyone who has them( or had them)
Bottom Line:
If you still have an old school Proflex, or are using vector forks like me because you're poor, then you must dump the MCUs because they will be shot by now and do not perform like proper springs anyway.( Severe rising rate and wicked rebound). get the Risse ,lose weight and get smart. Without the Risse genesis they score at best a three out of five ( it was higher whe they were introduced because the other forks were crap back in the day) but with the Risse they get a four. They lose a point for the lack of adjustment as the damping must be set at the factory. The value is good if you have the |Vetor already and do not not want to spend more cash on a new fork or buy a secondhand fork from Hans Rey's Older fatter and less talented brother.
Bike Setup: Proflex XP8 Risse genesis damper in the fork, risse Astro 5 rear shock , Shimano XT throughout
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Will Render
a Weekend Warrior
from Ottawa
Date Reviewed: November 14, 2000
Strengths: Rigid, plush, SSWWEEETTT
Weaknesses: lots of Maintenance
Bottom Line:
I see a made a post hear a few years back... I have made a lot more upgrades to my vector1 shock a long with tips and other links.. if you want to change the setup of your shock or look for tuning tips take a look at my web site.. http://www.cyberus.ca/~will/Gervin.htm
Submitted by
Ken
a Cross Country Rider
from Salt Lake City, Utah
Date Reviewed: August 6, 2000
Strengths: It works. Stiff torsionally for when it was made. Different design.
Weaknesses: Overdamped, I'm glad someone finally told me I could run other oil wts. Feels funny in bumpy tight turns and turning dropoffs with the J-curve.
Bottom Line:
This is the most fun I've had reading reviews. So many guys just plain blasting each other...especially over a product that's not that big a deal. For me, it's worked fine. The next fork I ride will be much better. But I'm a sucker for different designs, and I respect a fork that could be so different but be perfectly competitive to other forks of the time. I'm gonna stick it on a beater-bike and tool it around to death just 'cause. The fork performance can always change with a different shock, and as a conversational piece its entertainment value will last forever.
Submitted by
Ron Harrall
a Cross Country Rider
from NJ
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2000
Strengths: Interesting to look at
Weaknesses: Dropouts bend on every root, linkage snaps.
Bottom Line:
Dropouts constantly bend on every ride. Linkage has snapped on my Girvin and my friends, never tracked straight. Also, my 856 frame cracked in two places, my friend checked his, and sure enough his was cracked in the same spots. Pro-Flex did make good on their warranty though. If you're buying this fork now, it's probably used, I'd stay away. By the way, I worked at a bike shop building them.
Submitted by
Donovan
a Cross Country Rider
from Bedford
Date Reviewed: February 8, 2000
Strengths: Strong Light
Weaknesses: Draws confused stares from other bikers.
Bottom Line:
Came with a used Cannondale. After riding and researching I upgraded with lighter oil and Mountain Springs. Really helped out for awhile, but after I had taken it apart a few times for upgrading and lubing I never could get it to track straight. I got really tired of attempting to straighten, even went to K2's website and downloaded documentation, never fixed it. Gave up and bought a Bomber, after riding both I'd probably never pay money for the Girvin, even tweaked it didn't compare to the Bomber.
Similar Products Used: Trek DDS Air Shock Marzzochi Z2 Atom Bomb
Bike Setup: Cannondale M500
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
MGR
a Cross-Country Rider
from SWitzerland
Date Reviewed: December 14, 1999
Strengths: excelent
Weaknesses: one of the best
Bottom Line:
still one of the best !! even at the end of `99 I think, the girvin designed fork if 1/2/3 or noleen elite or whatever they are called is still one of the best designed fork on the market !! I have mine since 1995 ! upgraded it with a coil shock from shock-works and it works greate i think. You will not find a stiffer fork with this weight on the market.
This is a follow-up after 2 years of having ridden on these shocks. I love these, only thing is that you should change the oil to around 7. They've NEVER broken, always had more room, meaning never bottomed out, I've taken this fork to hell and back numerous times and not a single problem. It's amazing how many stupid people keep posting on this board saying that they've ha dall sorts of problems...IT'S YOU, NOT THE FORK...they're virtually idiot proof, yet there's always bigger idiots...all you need is PROPER maintenance (2 times a year) where you clean the whole shock out, every piece cleaned and re-oiled. e-mail me if you have any problems with the fork or how I expressed this review.And once again...a strong 5 for the Girvin fork
Bike Setup: K2 757, still stock except for dual rear deraileur shifters (x-ray)...it's actually very nice to adjust wile not getting off bike with those
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Don Fitterer
a Weekend Warrior
from Ithaca, NY
Date Reviewed: March 24, 1999
Strengths: Great strength and stability. Not light. I blew the Noleen shock on both my front and rear suspension of my proflex. Both were replaced for free. I bought the shock for my new bike because I wanted a fork that was going to last more than one season. The RS SL and the others just didn't inspire my confidence.
Submitted by
jim
a cross-country rider
from manitoba
Date Reviewed: March 6, 1999
Bottom Line:
I road my PF 855 for 2 years than cracked the frame. Was replaced with an 857. Kept my original girvin 3, now has over 4000 km of hard ridin with nearly perfect results. Front whell alignment was difficult at first but ok once you figured out the linkage set up. Changing to an atom bomb this year, should be interesting to compare them. overal have to give them a 3 1/2 . no halfs give them a 3 cause they aint quite a 4. Remember IF YOUR NOT ON THE EDGE,........YOUR JUST TAKIN UP SPACE
Submitted by
Will Render
a weekend warrior
from Ottawa Ontario Canada
Date Reviewed: January 29, 1999
Bottom Line:
I bought a Gervin Vector 1 ( the original ) two years ago, used. It has the ODS upgrade and I installed a speed spring and changed to 10 Weight oil to boot. The shock came alive… I have added more upgrade since to help improve my all around riding style. Such upgrades as an elastomer stack in the center of the shock to take the edge off what would have other wise bottomed out the shock. The changes have left me with 2 ½ inch travel that will suck up even the smallest bump and still take a large impact. No Question about it these shocks needs a mechanics touch, but if setup correct and maintained I haven't road anything that compares.
Being that I work in the bike industry I rarely ever try the same product twice. However I used to ride the old silver vector fork, in 97 the new models were introduced so I upgraded. The new models are 100x plusher undoubtibly. However I now know that more linkage means play. No matter how much service the fork undergoes. Several of us mechanics used to ride these forks, one by one we are all converting. I think I too will be changing back to a telescoping type fork for 1999. Oh yeah, on the plus side I just blew out the original Noleen cartridge, so I replaced it with the 99 version. So far (two and a half months of COLD weather riding) it seems much more adjustable and far more responsive. Check in with your local retailer for price and availability. As for the rest of the Pro-Flex, Girven, Noleen, K2 whatever they are calling themselves this week. I work on that crap every day and I can say without hesitation its all junk. For lighter wieght less abusive riders I would say the fork is a solid 4. For us heavier riders maybe a 1.5, if half points are possible. So overall a 3, I guess.
I thought the girvin fork worked great intiially. It tracks better than anything with the possible exception of a cannondale headshock. However once the girvin goes bad it's over with. I had my forks worked on by dealers in three states and no one could fix them, so I don't want to hear any crap and them being ok when tuned by knowledgeable person! Once they bend and get out of plane they will never track right again. I wuold also have to say that I was very disappointed with Pro-Flexs' support. I hope that K2 is better now. It's really a shame that the forks wont hold up because they do work well initially, and I,m still a fan of the K2 bikes.
Well, I really don't have anything to say about the Girvin fork since I have not ridden it for a long enough time. But what I am about to say is that people should stop whining and just ride. Half of you punks who give bad reviews don't know a thing about riding anyway. I ride a '96 Mongoose IBOC Comp with the original Rock Shox Judys and I motor past guys on fancy URT full suspension bikes on ANY race in my class. Well, since most morons who post bad reviews are wanna-be racers anyway. Come on guys, unless you are racing in the top 10 in Sport or are in the Expert class, you don't know a thing about PERFORMANCE. In the meantime, while all of you whining weight weanies are out counting grams, I'll be out training on my old and beat up bike and I'll just whip your ass on the next race.
At first I loved these forks...yeah AT FIRST....that was before everything started breaking. First of all the stock oil was WAY overdamped. The fork came with 30wt oil which would be overdamped for ANY rider unless you weigh 350+ lbs. (Most Rock Shox, Manitou, and Bombers use anywhere between 5-15wt oil)So I put 10wt oil in and a Dirt Works coil spring and it felt better for a couple months. Then the weak little lower links bend everytime you wreck and a new link that isn't supposed to do that costs $70...I'm not paying that much for a piece of aluminum. and finally the bolts on the top link snapped off and I ditched the entire fork for a manitou FS on sale for $100 4 stars stock, plus 1 after the new oil and spring, minus 3 for the shitty links, minus 1 for the broken bolts, equals 1 flamming pile of s....
I'm amped up about getting this bike on the road, but I'm curious about the rear shock - what can I expect from it performance-wise? Can you list some comparable shocks? What con Read More »
Howdy,
Tried posting this in two other forums but didn't get any hits...just learned about manufacturers' forums...some of us are a bit slow on the uptake!
Now that I'm in t Read More »
