[MMcG]

I'm looking at a used one, but have no real knowledge as to quality, performance, problems etc.


Do any of you Monkeys have ride time experience on one that you care to share with me?

Thanks!

Mark

 

[IronhorseCT]

Spent a season on one...Here is the scoop..

It is a very durable frame...matter of fact, it was the least problematic frame I ever worked on. I'm on Turner now, as are most of my team, but the Profile was turn Key every time.

The frame is long, which makes it a high speed machine. I found it to be great on wide open platty stuff...The downside of that length is it turns a little slower in the woods. You need to use more body control to make it go where you want. To it's credit, it is very predictable when turning, with very little washout. The rear end is super stiff, and the BB is REALLY low, which makes it rail open turns. Pedaling in the rocks takes a bit of finess because it is common to bang the cranks. The lawilll design makes it an efficient pedaler.

The suspension is straight rate. It would benefit greatly from a progressive shock, but I did not find one that would work. But today, there are soo many more to choose from so your odds are much better.

The greatest attribute of this bike I did not realize until I began riding the turner. The Profile brakes like a champ. The floater keeps the rear wheel planted during steeps and the like, where the Turner tends to skip a bit. I actually wrecked during my race run because the braking onthe Turner was so different and I could not judge the corner.

All in all, a solid frame. I am coming to like the Turner alot, but the Profile served me well also.

Any further questions, Let me know


Brennan

 

[IronhorseCT]

Pic so others know what frame you are talking about

 

[SuspectDevice]

pros: Great handling, excellent geometry, BMW strong

cons: mind blowingly heavy

I know a few people who had the IH profile bikes and while they loved the way the bike handled, it was pretty darn unwieldy in the tights, and weighed a lot. If you can get one really cheaply, go for it, but it will definetly be a strange tranistion going from a trail bike to a profile...

 

[MMcG]

Thanks for the information so far - the frame does look super strong and along with that comes weight I guess.

How much travel does it offer?

How would it compare to this Rock Lobster (Ahrens) stormtrooper frame that I'm also looking at??


Anyone know much about this Storm rear triangle/suspension design? The seller has been super informative about the frame, but I'd love to get other thoughts.

Thanks again!

Mark

 

[SuspectDevice]

Originally posted by MMcG


How would it compare to this Rock Lobster (Ahrens) stormtrooper frame that I'm also looking at??


Anyone know much about this Storm rear triangle/suspension design? The seller has been super informative about the frame, but I'd love to get other thoughts.

Thanks again!

Mark

Ahhh Run away! So, are you only looking to buy antique dh bikes? Storms were super long flexy beasts that blew through their travel. Adding a nice steel front end won't fix that...

 

[MMcG]

Originally posted by SuspectDevice
Ahhh Run away! So, are you only looking to buy antique dh bikes?

No, but my budget is very low on fundage for a newer bling bling DH bike and I don't DH exclusively...it is just a new and super fun component to the types of riding I like to do.

 

[DHS]

well the rocklobster looks like its somewhat a lawwill design aswell. but theres no floater, so i'd be worried about that.

lawwill NEEDs a floater.

 

[Lexx D]

MMcG, check your pm's.

 

[MMcG]

The Profile frame in question - maybe some of you even know who owns it and how it was maintained.

 

[MMcG]

another

 

[MMcG]

last one

 

[eastcoastzigzag]

i always wanted one of those

 

[Jm_]

The rear end of the profile is steel, that's one reason why it is so heavy (and it usually has steel profile cranks )

The Storm H2 is a semi-URT design, the bottom bracket is on the swingarm, while the rear is kind of on a horst/lawill type linkage, I don't think it would work very well because it is probably going to suffer from the same thing that URTs do, when you stand a little bit, it will load the suspension and make it much stiffer, while when seated it will be a lot more active. In simpler terms, it's not going to be consistant.

The profile has a concentric pivot, lawill design, whether you are seated or standing will make no difference. I don't know why they dont make em anymore, but they look fun...

 

[MMcG]

Originally posted by Jm_

The profile has a concentric pivot, lawill design, whether you are seated or standing will make no difference. I don't know why they dont make em anymore, but they look fun...

Thanks for the additional info.

Just curious but how heavy is heavy??

 

[Cooter Brown]

Originally posted by MMcG
The Profile frame in question - maybe some of you even know who owns it and how it was maintained.

I'd say go for it Mark, slap a Shiver on that bad boy and tear P-kill up

and now after talking about P-kill I'm extremely jealous :angry:

 

[Froggy]

Get the profile!

I think my buddies (ironhorsect) weighed in around 44-45lbs. Not sure but he'll chime in.

I've ridden Turners for 4years now and when I rode his bike at Mt. Creek for a couple of runs I was suprised by how well it rode. If it was the correct size for me it would have been great. Low BB slack angles great braking. I really didn't notice the weight. Oh the rear end is stiff!

If I was on a budget and had a chance to pick up a profile for a deal, I would be all over it.

Our buddy is rocking it now and loves it! He upgraded from an Ironhorse G-Spot.

 

[zane]

The profile frame is WAYYY better than that rock lobster. Stay away from the rock lobster!

And profile has awesome customer service if you ever have any problems with the frame.

 

[IronhorseCT]

My profile was around 45 lbs w/ boxxer

That is Todd A's bike....Good guy, pro rider and i've looked at the bike, it is in good shape. Todd is about as mellow a guy as there is. he is a good person to deal with.

Good luck, I would never throw a leg over something called a "Rock Lobster"...

Brennan

 

[Sandwich]

These guys pretty much nailed it. The storm would be fun as a novelty, but I wouldn't pay too much for it.

If you're looking at these frames, why not check out a real used Lawill from schwinn or yeti. Resale value is tiny, I'm parting with my complete bike for 875, probably. Take a look on ebay or the buy/sell here, and you can find a frame or even complete bike for real cheap. Even the pullshock models are great bikes, and despite RS's crappy pushshocks, the pullshock models, especially with the piggyback, are great performers. If you're in the market for a cheap used bike, I don't think you can go wrong with one of these.

I've seen framesets (hub brake frame etc.) go for as little a 375! on ebay.

 

[MMcG]

well I'm putting anything on hold right now - I got hit by a PayPal fraudulent email scam and am now out over $700 because of my gullible nature and the crappiness of internet criminals.

I think it will be resolved in my favor - paypal already confirmed the fraudulent nature of the email and I sent that to my bank - and the transactions occured in South America and I haven't stepped foot out of North America (EVER!)

:angry:

 

[ska todd]

Originally posted by IronhorseCT
That is Todd A's bike....Good guy, pro rider and i've looked at the bike, it is in good shape. Todd is about as mellow a guy as there is. he is a good person to deal with.

Ya that does look like Todd August's bike. He barely rode that bike after being injured for 2 straight seasons. It's in pretty mint shape.

As far as the ride...definately a solid bike! I raced the bike for a yr and a half. It's long, low, and slack. The weight isn't shabby considering it runs a cromo rear end. My bike actually became IronhorseCT's. I think there are only like a dozen of those bikes in existence. The guy who designed/build them at Profile passed away soon after they started production (Dave Robi RIP!!). My feeling is that with some more development and with the new shocks out there those bikes would be top NCS and WC caliber.

-ska todd