who is from AUSTRALIA Options

[Kurt.]

Thanks Matt. Yeah the old GTs hold up really well as an old school rider. Great frame and forks!

[AndyDiamond]

at $350 I'll buy it muyself again - lol

[Sumo178]

can someone tell me when the square Pro Neck stems came out and when they were discontinued?

[JMCGT]

arent they still making them..

[Kurt.]

can someone tell me when the square Pro Neck stems came out and when they were discontinued?

Do you mean square cornered Jake - the Tuf Neck?

Don't think they were ever stamped as "Pro Neck"with square corners, even though they were made by the same people.

If you mean the square cornered Tuf Neck I'd say 77 - 80.

[Sumo178]

Kurt no I do mean square corner "Pro Neck" I have one here and I know Matt JMCGT has one or 2.

Matt by the amount that have surfaced they must be making 1 a year since the 80s.

[Kurt.]

The split that resulted in the Pro Neck/Tuf Neck happened late '79/Early 80 - I'd think that would be when they date from. Must have been the very first stems produced when Tuf Neck changed its name to Pro Neck.

[Sumo178]

When did the Pro Neck with the round corners come out? and while I'm here when did the Pro Neck II come out.

I'm just trying to sort out builds and part so I can sell some stuff off.

[Kurt.]

Don't know about the Pro Neck II but the round cornered Pro Neck happened start of '80 I believe.

The split was really really messy - I have posted the BMXA take on it once before - can try and find it if you like.

[Kurt.]

Originally posted this back in '07:

Heres the text of the sidebar in the December '80 BMXA which asks the same question...

"PRO-NECK AND TUF-NECK: AN IDENTITY CONFLICT

Two identical stems: the Pro-Neck and the Tuf-Neck Pro-Model. They both even use animals with studded collars in their logos. But they are manufactured by totally different companies.
Pretty confusing, hey?
This sidebar is a careful, hopefully objective, short history of how this came to be. Oversimplified, of course.
First there was Bakton Enterprises, the original designer and manufacturer of the original Tuf-Neck stem.
Then came a company called Superbyke which, in addition to its own products, purchased Tuf-Neck stems from Bakton Enterprises and marketed and distributed them.
But SUperbyke's management was not exactly clickin', and the company went down the tubes.
Whereupon one of the investors in Superbyke formed a new company and made arrangements with Bakton to purchase, market, and distribute Tuf-Neck stems. This new company was called Tuf-Neck, Inc.
Are you with us so far? This is where the plot thickens.
All this was cool until the defunct Superbyke company was purchased.
At this point the new owner began marketing and distributing an identical Tuf-Neck stem - not manufactured by Bakton - along with their other products.
This, of course, created a multitude of identity problems what with two companies advertising and distributing identical stems with identical names but manufactured by different companies.
So Tuf-Neck, Inc and Bakton Enterprises changed the design of their stem by radiusing the corners, and changed the name of the stem to Pro-Neck.
At this point the situation was thus: The Pro-Neck was distributed by Tuf-Neck, Inc., and the Tuf-Neck was distributed by Superbyke. Which wouldn't do at all. So Tuf-Neck, Inc. changed its name to Pro-Neck, Inc. and the identity conflict eased somewhat.
Until Superbyke came out with a newer version of the Tuf-Neck - with radiused corners, called the Pro-model Tuf-Neck.
Ah...what terrible tangled webs we weave. - Bob Osborn"