PACE RC35, different styles...

I've recently got hold of a couple of pairs of PACE RC35s, taken them to bits and noticed that there's quite a difference between the 2 set ups.



Piston / Elastomers
One set has a pair of threaded metal bars that screw into the end of the pistons through two of the elastomers (which are separated by hard plastic discs), through a guide hole in the carbon sheath, then through a final smaller elastomer. There's a plastic stopper on the end of the bar, presumably to protect the lower smaller elastomer / allow some rebound?



In the other set there are no bars, just two elastomers in the upper section of the fork (no plastic discs separate them) the smaller lower elastomer is held in place by a bolt and a washer (so it effectively does nothing as far as I can see).



Brake Boss Mounts
One set has a pair of boss mounts that are glued on (one of them wasn't attached and fell off when I removed the mount).


The mounts on the other set fully surround the arms and are bolted in place.


I'm intending to take the best of both i.e. the full surround boss mounts, and the pistons with the bars... can anyone (Tim?) advise me on the age / difference between the two? And which if either is better... pros and cons?

I'm gonna need a shorted steerer - I've got 2 steerer tubes, one threaded one plain - both too long, so looking for a trade, although not sure how to work out how long the one I need is... any help (where do I measure from... the full length, or from the bearing cup?)



Means I've got also got some bits left over (albeit without elastomers) I've offered them to someone, but if they don't want them, they're up for grabs.

What will you have left over?

Bonded boss ones are the earlier ones, they were replaced with the clamp on ones because they came un glued (surprise!). Both those sets are very early in the chronology of the forks as they both use matt, heavy weave carbon with the single stepped legs. I seem to remember that my very early ones were similarly different to latter ones. I'm sure justbackdated will know more!

They are both first production[about1992] RC35 with the pronounced step in the carbon.

The one with the bolted on brake /bridge mounts has been modified I think as the bonded mounts did, as Pete says, fall off as a regular occurrence! It also has the later 'Damper screw' with the black acetal washer to retain the legs, and the 'Air balance' washers between the elastos; both a feature of the later'93 fork. It may have been upgraded/rebuilt after a crash maybe.

The one with the bonded brake/bridge mounts looks to be just about how it should be-are there rods screwed to the stanchion base into which the bolt and washer screw into in the dropouts to retain the legs? Rare to find them with the bonded brake mounts as most of them fell off and were upgraded to the bolted type. I can rebond it for you if you like on the original jig.

The small elastomer is the topout bumper btw.

glad you're enjoying the fettling : )

justbackdated":23i4ua3o said:

They are both first production[about1992] RC35 with the pronounced step in the carbon.

The one with the bolted on brake /bridge mounts has been modified I think as the bonded mounts did, as Pete says, fall off as a regular occurrence! It also has the later 'Damper screw' with the black acetal washer to retain the legs, and the 'Air balance' washers between the elastos; both a feature of the later'93 fork. It may have been upgraded/rebuilt after a crash maybe.

The one with the bonded brake/bridge mounts looks to be just about how it should be-are there rods screwed to the stanchion base into which the bolt and washer screw into in the dropouts to retain the legs? Rare to find them with the bonded brake mounts as most of them fell off and were upgraded to the bolted type. I can rebond it for you if you like on the original jig.

The small elastomer is the topout bumper btw.

Click to expand...

Eh up Tim! My first gen ain't fallen off yet boy'o

Aye - I love a fettle...! Cheers for the info Tim...

The one with the bonded brake/bridge mounts looks to be just about how it should be-are there rods screwed to the stanchion base into which the bolt and washer screw into in the dropouts to retain the legs?

Click to expand...

There are no rods in the bonded set... (didn't get a photo, so unsure if there's a threaded hole in the base of the stanchion), there were just a couple of elazzos in each leg below the stanchion (above the divider bit). Below the divider bit there's just a bolt and washer that fixes the topout bumper in place, it's screwed straight into the divider bit, which is threaded, so I can't see that it does anything..??

See what you've done there Tim "how it should be"... "Rare to find"... "I can rebond it for you"... dangle the carrot of old skool temptation..

So is the modern glue any better? Might it (or the other one) fall off again in the future?... any word on that rocker yet?

Rocker is on my dining room table

I am confused about this fork with the threaded dropout/bolt arrangement, can you post some pics. I will piccy a set of the other type of mounts for you.

Glue that was used back in the day is starting to go off a bit-hence some people are getting spinny dropouts[which I can rebond too ] The new stuff is better but due to the design/stresses involved cant guarantee that they wont ping off again

Although RC300 says different

Piccy showing the two types of elastomer skewer/carbon retaining bolts.

The lower rod type is the earlier one-the rod is screwed to the stanchion base plug and the bolt/washer holds the legs and topout on within the dropouts. The upper one is the later 'Damper screw' type mostly used in the '93 RC35 and '94 XCS.

These can be found in any combination in the RC35 forks though as a lot of them have been rebuilt/modified over the years.

are those ones with the rods the ones i sold you?