ProFlex Beast
 

I posted this over at the MTB forum but know that a lot of you guys deal with vintage MTBs too :thumb: so here it goes. Does anyone here know the size (diameter and lenth) of the springs (front and rear) needed to replace the old rubber thingys on the Girvin ODS (oil damping system) shocks on the ProFlex Beast? I just picked up a Beast for a really decent price but of course the rubber "bumpers" are all melted to hell! :( If anyone can help me in any way I'd truly appreciate it. :) Its just like the bike pictured below but green.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...oldproflex.jpg

If it has Noleen shocks then the springs should be steel coils, not MCUs. Are you talking about the bottom-out bumpers?
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=164291

I guess I'm posting the wrong name for the shocks? Its the ones pictured above, the little yellow bumper like thingys on the shocks. They are labled Girvin ODS. (oil damping system)

I clicked on the attachment and my bike is the same exact bike you have but it has/had the rubber "bumper" things on it instead of the springs! Help please! LOL! ;0)

OK. Those are MCUs (multi-cellular urethane). It's common for them to harden up with age.
One trick I've heard works well is to drop them into a pot of boiling water for a few minutes. Softens them up and returns them to their original size.
Have you found a source for replacement MCUs? That would surprise me since I haven't seen any since the 90's. A lot of people swapped out the yellow foam for a coil-over shock at some point.

Is it the Polyurethane elastomers you're talking about?

Never mind, Torchy beat me to it.

Yes! Those things just melted! for some reason Tourchy McFlux thinks they hardened up? but as I stated in my postings they melted!

I'm trying to replace the Polyurethane elastomers with coil springs, it can be done as I've seen it done (years ago) and it works better than the elastomers.

I have seen rebuild kits for early Manitou forks that replace the elsatomers with springs, so I'm sure it's possible, I don't know where you'd get the springs though.

In my readings online I have found instances of people making their own replacement elastomers, so that might be something to look at.

I'm going to try the springs from other shocks and see how it works out, I'm pretty sure most springs are a standard size. :) unless you can post a link to the people making the replacement elastomers. ;0)

This site may have the elastomers your looking for http://suspensionforkparts.net/eshop/index.php

There is another site that has spring kits.........let me do some digging...........

Well.........these guys were making them but quit. http://www.rapiddescentscotland.co.u..._position=10:7 longshot but might be able to scare a set up on ebay.

Dude! I love you! :love: haha! Thanks much man! Your a ****in' life saver! :thumb:

Your welcome..........I bought an old Manitou fork off the bay last winter that had supposedly been rebuilt with extra heavy springs installed and when I received it, it had zero rebound with some of the original elastomers missing. Misrepresented for sure, but that was one of the online retailers I came across in an effort to correct the problem. Finding some Girvin springs may take some extensive searching. If thats the same ProFlex that was on Chicago CL, I took a long look at it myself, but decided not to persue it.............Happy Trails :)

OK, I decided to not replace the elastomers as they still have the same melting problem. Instead I went ahead and measured the cups where the elastomers used to be, found a coil spring that would fit and viola! Perfection! Here are a few pics of the bike in as found condition 'cept for the rear shock which I just rebuilt using the coil spring to replace the elastomers.

This is the bike.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...proflex023.jpg

This pic shows the elastomer (black tarry stuff) melted all over the wheel and tire.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...proflex022.jpg

This pic shows remnants of the melted elastomer on the swing arm.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...proflex021.jpg

This is the rear shock cleaned up and mounted with the new coil spring. You can see some melted elastomer on the sway arms.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...proflex020.jpg

Rear shock
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...proflex019.jpg

Front shock with melted elastomer all over it, I'll clean it up and rebuild it with a coil spring soon. The rear shock looked just like this.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...proflex018.jpg

Where did you get your springs?

Well, of course. They're always melt... wait. What? WHY?

I ended up with a bunch of machines and some bags of plastic bushings when Pro-flex "took the nickle". The bushing are for sale.