(Clockwise from top left) Liam Killeen, Christoph Sauser and the Pace RC39 fork that they’ll be using this year

Pace Cycles has announced that it’ll be supplying forks to the XC wing of the Specialized Factory Team for the 2006 season. This is something of a coup for the Yorkshire suspension manufacturer, and will see its RC39XC model gracing the S-Works bikes of World Champion Christoph Sauser, top-ranked Brit Liam Killeen, Sabine Spitz and Alban Lakata. The riders got to test a load of forks in a range of conditions before making a decision. Christop Sauser comments, “Stiffness to weight is incredible, and also the 100mm of travel is working absolutely super! Especially when the terrain becomes very rough, the fork still works very smoothly. The RC39 also maintains the same suspension abilities even after a long downhill, and in high temperatures.”

Liam Killeen is pretty enthusiastic too: “I’m really happy with the new RC39XC fork the Team will be using this season. It’s a really good fork and Pace’s attention to detail and superb engineering makes the fork the lightest, stiffest and most responsive XC fork I’ve ridden.”

The RC39 is a 100mm travel fork (which in itself is a fairly interesting departure for top-level XC racing) with an air spring and a remote lockout. The fork is designed to retain a hint of compliance when locked out to retain some fatigue-reducing powers – there’s also a blow-off valve should any of the riders carelessly start riding into lumpy bits with the lock-out still engaged. The new 2006 carbon fibre Hollowform sliders, cold-forged crown and 7050 T6 aluminium stanchions and steerer keep the weight down to 1.4kg (3.1lb).