Fine Forks
£499

Two British makes that I can vouch for are Orange and Pace! Why? Because they’re two makes that I know don’t beta-test on the customer.

What’s beta-testing? I hear you say. Well beta-testing is when the manufacturer has designed something, they’ve tested it in controlled conditions and then (and this is the beta testing bit) they put it on a bike and see if it breaks. That’s beta testing. If it breaks in the big bad world then they beef it up and try again. The problem is that a lot of manufacturers use the customer for beta-testing, rather than a test team. That’s why some people I know won’t buy any new model, be it bike, car, or whatever, until it has at least a year in the market place without any big problems.

How do I know that Pace and Orange don’t do that? Because Steve Wade and the Orange team do their best to destroy our bikes before we buy them, and because Pace sells a limited quantity of pre-production models to its distributors for them to hammer before the production model is sold to the public.

That’s how I came to own a Pace RC37 half a year before it hit the shops.

It had its niggles… an over-machined stanction letting the air and fork oil bleed out, and some threads that stripped in the crowns… and everything was put straight by the factory in next to no time.

So what’s it like? It’s been maintenance free for over nine months now, with only occasional grease-port lubrication to ease my lazy conscience.

It’s so laterally rigid that my riding style has changed to make use of it… two wheel drifting through fast corners with a big grin are the order of the day, and if the fastest line is through the rocks I don’t have second thoughts about going for it.

Travel is 12cm or 10cm depending on how you choose to run it, and thanks to the air chamber helping out the coil spring you can adjust the preload such that full use of the travel is made available, supple over the ripples and topping out only when nose-dives have you wondering how the hell you didn’t face plant that time.

I’ve got friends who run 13cm Bombers and others with 15cm Boxxers and they’re no better than the Pace through the rough stuff. (However they do weigh over a pound more which you notice on the ups).

It’s also handsome if you like that machined look of theirs (I do, my wife doesn’t) and although it’s a tad expensive, you’ll be less likely spend money in the future on replacement stanctions or fork internals (Manitou and Rock Shox owners take note). Pace forks seem to age better than the competition, too.

The current model is basicly unchanged from mine. Some little touches here and there make it even better though, especially the incorporated disc brake mount on the left leg.

So if you’re looking for a top quality twin crown, mid-length travel, disc compatible, fully adjustable fork that won’t be out of date in two seasons, you could de a lot worse than the Pace.