| I finally got my grubby hands on enough to cash to buy myself my dream bike and at the heart of it was a lovely Pace RC-200 frame and RC-36 EVO III forks. The frame arrived in February – first mistake, the rear stays wouldn’t accept my new Hope XC4 discs. The shop contacted Pace and they kindly agreed to replace the frame with the new F8 model, only drawback was a 8 week wait. While I was waiting for the new frame to arrive I got myself some wheels – Mavic 521 CDs on Hope Bulbs and the rest of the kit – I wanted to build the strongest bike available, not because I’m a heavy rider but because I’m not the most careful and I couldn’t afford to trash bits willy-nilly! I ended up speccing Race Face bits – Headset (Thermo SP), Stem and handlebar; Shimano XTR rear mech, a XT front mech, XT bottom Bracket and XT SPDs. As well as all this choice kit I managed to get my hands on a lovely set of Middleburn RS-7 cranks and chainrings – this thing is lovely, what a work of art! The chainrings are now what would be called old-hat – a 24-36-48 combo, it did me before compact drive and I’m happier with it – reduced chainsuck and longer life… I’m refusing to use 9-speed anything just now so I had huge trouble trying to get my hands on XT or XTR 8-spd pods – 9-spd simply doesn’t last as long, isn’t as reliable and I think is too many gears to have on a bike! So I’m definitely not a today’s cyclist!!! The seatpost was an absolute nightmare to source – Syncros was the first call but as GT had just bought them and was moving them from Canada to Southern California, they weren’t making anything for about 3 months! I finally tracked down a suitable post – a 420mm Roox Bomber which fitted without the need for a shim – for future Pace purchasers, you need a 29.4mm seatpost! The only thing now is to build the beast, I’m 100% sure the bike will not be ridden to it’s full potential for a wee while yet, however I’ve built it to last and to be very strong and reliable – once it’s built I will post another review on how it’s going…have fun folks! P.S. If you do ever see me on the new bike (I’ll no doubt be at the back – making the numbers up!!!), please don’t think I don’t deserve to ride the bike – I got all the bits at ridiculously good prices and just thought – why not? You may never get another chance!!! Thanks to – Pace – for the frame and forks and also agreeing to replace the frame for me Wheelcraft – for getting me the frame and also good prices on parts Malcolm Christie – You know why!!! Middleburn – for supplying me with the chainset and not laughing when I said I wanted a non-compact system! Ski and Bike Clinic – for the seatpost! Hope – for the disc brakes (XC4 Pros) and the Hubs |
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