Pace rc35 advice

[Tootyred]

Pretend if you can, a world where knees and elbows were suspension devices.....a world where 6 months on a test proflex in my late 20s was enough to put you off suspension for life......now imagine all the joint problems i have ( probably) as a result!

Ive decided i might like to dip my toe into the suspension world, and quite fancy some pace forks.

I know nothing about these, so....

Am i correct that the earlier versions were technically more basic ie spring and rubbers?

Also, what do i need to look out for when buying.....im happy to pull anything apart ( they can't be as complex as honda race forks), but are there any things that sign immediate death of the unit?

What should i be looking to pay?

Cheers guys for your sagely advice

 

[stevet1]

RC35's basically just had elastomers in the legs. Thats it. No damping or anything else, the elastomers provided natural damping qualities...
There was a later model that was 'atmospherically balanced'. This meant it had a hole drilled in the leg near the bottom to let air out, and occasionally suck water in.
That said, they only gave 50mm travel or thereabouts so no point in over thinking it, they work well IMO to smooth out the bumps a little.

 

[Tootyred]

Cool. Thanks. I like the idea of the sucking up water, sound like a fantastic engineering oversite!

Im not after 160mm travel, more just a bit of wrist protection, combined with a bit more front end height......i assume they are 425 a to c?

 

[Tootyred]

Bitd i had both gen 1 and gen 2 rigid pace forks, i only sold them 2 years ago, as i realised i would never put them back as they were seriously hard work.....like riding on girders. But everybody had them....so like a prat i just followed! My switchblades were much easier to ride, but to be honest you can't beat a bit of curved steel as a fork!

 

[ishaw]

The main things to watch out for imho are;

Stanchions crimped due to over tightening of crown bolts

Bent stanchions due to crash damage

Rust on stanchions

Damage to carbon

Debonding of drop outs

They are simple to work on, eladtomer and bump stops provide the bounce. Bushings are replaceable. Not much too them really, they work well for what and when they were intended for.

I did convert s set I had with springs. That worked too, I expected pogo effect but seemed fine.

Fork English can make a set good as new if you don't want to do it yourself, bit sounds like you'll be fine.

 

[Blackers]

If your passing mine in the near future your welcome to take my p7 out for a ride and see what you think of the rc35s mxcd .
don't worry it's a 21" frame so nearly ok for you
Also got a few sets in workshop if you want see how simple they are to service etc ?

 

[Tootyred]

Cheers everybody. Blackers, i may well take you up on that, very kind, and yours is a good ride out to start with.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Pretty poor forks suspension wise, there is actually an extra damper-ish in the stanchion, kind of friction, possibly a bit of air damping..
Added extra sometimes as the inside of the stanchion rust up.

Onky later did they get a poor, fragile damper.

They good good and that's about it.
No better than a low end suspension fork by others.

Still more travel than a modern gravel bike suspension fork and tunable and tweakable easier.

Air/oil at the time are a better suspension fork, just some didn't look as cool.

So get some nice pace forks .
Just because thy look nice and take out a few road bumps.