Pace RC35 - show us yours & any knowledge

[Joe*Pro]

I acquired a set of these on bike a while back, and they had been locked out by previous owner. To my delight, PACE HQ still have parts for them and do full factory service, so off they went, came back good as new with fresh elastomers and seals.

In chatting with the mechanics over the phone when done, they said they hadn’t seen any in ages and seemed quite impressed with them. They were a small batch of the ‘Iridescent pink leg logo’ versions. One of them seemed to remember making these in small number at the end of 1992 and partly into early 1993.

love a bit of original knowledge on what would have been pace first carbon suspension fork.

There’s also a set for sale on eBay at the momen, along with a set that the original owner says he had built to order gold stanchion legs as a one off set.

I also note this variant is missing from the Pace model time line. So if you have any info generally about the RC35, feel free to share it here.

GoatSurfer Retro MTB - Pace Forks Timeline

 

[Joe*Pro]

 

[mk one]

Mine are on a thread somewhere on here, plenty of other threads with Pace history/info too. Tim @justbackdated is the man to fill any gaps.

Here is a thread showing my lower legs with the bonded canti studs and original decals pg1, and some interesting history from jbd on pg2...

The earliest Pace RC35

There have been so many variations of the RC35. Stepped legs, AB, cast brace, Magura brace etc Does anyone have a picture of the earliest consumer RC35's available? I found a pair of these recent (very similar to the pic attached) Are these the earliest? Note the half clamps for the canti studs.

www.retrobike.co.uk

 

[kingoffootball]

If I'd seen this before I went to my storage I would have taken a photo of my Scapin-crowned RC35. There are other photos around online though.

 

[Nice But Dim]

Got these off ebay for 40 quid.... they were pretty shocking but replaced all elastomers polished the brace up to get rid of the rust and will be running V brakes so no need for the rocker.... Can't wait to get them out on the trail. Always wanted some but couldn't afford them. 1993 build I think.... got a new set of decals to go on them once I have all the old ones off.

 

[kingoffootball]

Took a couple of quick photos yesterday.

 

[Once A Hero]

I’ve had a pair tucked away for a little while that I’ve been meaning to open up to inspect.
They move up and down, but I’d noticed that when I turned them upside down, there was a ‘thunk’ caused by something moving inside one of the legs…

Here’s what I found!


The bump stop elastomers we’re there, almost intact, but the rest appears to be pieces of garden hose / rubber tubing!

Otherwise pretty clean inside, so I’ll get some new elastomers ordered and installed ready to release this set back into the wild

 

[Joe*Pro]

I’ve had a pair tucked away for a little while that I’ve been meaning to open up to inspect.
They move up and down, but I’d noticed that when I turned them upside down, there was a ‘thunk’ caused by something moving inside one of the legs…

Here’s what I found!
View attachment 677479

The bump stop elastomers we’re there, almost intact, but the rest appears to be pieces of garden hose / rubber tubing!

Otherwise pretty clean inside, so I’ll get some new elastomers ordered and installed ready to release this set back into the wild

Mine apparently had rubber trainer soles in them

 

[joglo]

This is getting funny here, "look what strange things I've found in the legs of an old suspension fork" .

I can add one too:
The previous owner has stuffed in the RC35 I've bought a while ago very strong coils. Those look to me like from hydraulic lifters of a big diesel engine, probably from a Truck?
As they aren't long enough, he has added some steel BMX pegs, sliced into smaller pieces.

Sure, this wasn't working at all, those coils allowed zero travel, moreover all this crap made the fork very heavy too.

It's now nice and working well again.

 

[portlandgrey2]

Here are mine - supplied direct from Pace as an upgrade to my RC30 in 1992 i think? The carbon legs have a very rough feel. The forks have just been rebuilt with new elastomers & wiper seals.