Back in the 90’s when DH was still in it’s infancy there was a bike brand with a hardtail and a full suss DH bike like no other. The DH bike was out there in terms of design, an alloy box section frame in anodised purple and they even did their own forks for DH and (as it was then called) XC. These things were seen as the highest bling, sporting top price tags and full desirability. Now, as if out of the blue, they have brought this fantastic looking chromo hardtail out to the market, marketed as long, low, slack and fun; we had to check it out!

Pace RC127 Review Bike Shot
The Pace RC127, would it prove as desirable as some of its predecessors?

With a 28 year history, Pace resides in North Yorkshire. The RC127 bike comes either as a frame only € 623 (£ 499) or complete bike, with a good mix of components on this model for their price of € 2875 (£ 2299) The front bounce is taken care of with a set of 140 mm RockShox Pike Solo Air forks, this frame is designed to take up to a 150 mm fork too. Sram’s X1 drives the wheels, sporting no top guide for simplicity. This base model came with no dropper post, a dropper being classed as an upgrade on your original purchase, this was one of our two gripes; droppers are essential nowadays and it seems pointless supplying a bike without one! Mavic Crossroc trail tyres sit on their matching Crossroc wheels, the Mavic logos and black spokes giving an added feel of trickery to the build, even if they are the base model versions. The cockpit on this model comprises of a nice and short 45 mm Raceface Respond stem and wide 785 mm Raceface Respond lowriser bars. Stopping power is taken care of by the trusty Sram R4 Guides.

Specification of the Pace RC127

  • Fork RockShox Pike Solo Air 27.5″ RCT3 Custom
  • Drivetrain: SRAM X1
  • Brakes:SRAM Guide R 4
  • Seatpost: Raceface Ride (upgraded to a RockShox Reverb)
  • Stem: Raceface Respond 45 mm
  • Handlebar: Raceface Respond Lowrise Handlebar (785 mm)
  • Tires: Mavic Crossrock 2.4 Tubeless
  • Wheelsize: 27.5″
  • Wheels: Mavic Crossroc XL WTS with Mavic XD Driver Body, Black (rear with DT Swiss RWS 142×12 Thru)
  • Weight: 11.6 kg
  • Price: € 2875 (£ 2299)

In the dropper post department, it comes fitted with internal routing for the dropper cable and external routing for the rest of the cables, making for easy cable maintenance or swapping of components. This bike comes with 15 colour options adding colour to the British 853 Reynolds chromo tubing. One of the extra touches we liked from the start was the fitment of load lugging mounts for the adventure riders and the choice of thru axle/QR slide out system, so a rider could also choose to go single speed if they wanted, the wheelbase can be adjusted up to 13 mm. There is plenty of tyre clearance for rubber up to a width of 2.4″ for 27.5″ tyres, but our other gripe is that this frame isn’t boost or plus-size compatible for today’s very competitive hardtail market; although we have been informed this is soon to be an option in the very near future.

Pace RC127 Review Detail Shot 1
The tried and tested Rock Shox Pike offer up 140 mm of plush travel.
Pace RC127 Review Detail Shot 2
A tidy RaceFace cockpit with a short stem and wide bars were a perfect match for the bike.
The British 853 Reynolds chromo tubing offers up a little bump and vibration damping.
The British 853 Reynolds chromo tubing offers up a little bump and vibration damping.
Plenty of tyre clearance for riders who like to run up to 2.4" rubber.
Plenty of tyre clearance for riders who like to run up to 2.4″ rubber.
Frame Size Small Medium Large
Seat Tube 406 mm 444 mm 482 mm
Seat Tube Angle 73° 73° 73°
Head Tube Angle 67° 67° 67°
Head Tube Length 95 mm 105 mm 115 mm
Effective Top Tube 590 mm 610 mm 630 mm
Chainstay (Adjustable +13mm) 432.5 mm 432.5 mm 432.5 mm
BB Height / Drop 305/45 mm 305/45 mm 305/45 mm
Stand over (Vertically through BB) 710 mm 740 mm 770 mm

The Ride of the Pace RC127

On the climbs, with the mixture of a large roomy frame and the ascent eating Sram X1 this thing just made easy pickings of the steepest and slickest of ups, seeming to find grip out of the Mavic tyres where none should have been available. The chromo tubing seems to ease out all the harsh bumps, making it feel like a Rolls Royce of a ride when climbing rough or loose terrain. We were really blown away by the bike’s almost mountain goat like climbing ability. One particular ride that made the bike stand out was a 6hr beast of a day up the Dales, known for it’s massively long and steep climbs, we found it very stable and able to keep the nose down on the steepest of uphill trails, this we could only put down to the ‘not mega slack’ 67° head angle.

Pace-RC127-Steel-Hardtail-Review07

When is the saddle all day for long rides this bike is very comfortable and extremely fast rolling, thanks to its wide 785 mm bars and lengthy 630 mm top tube mixed with the Mavic trail tyres. At no point during testing did we feel cramped or as if the bike was too long. Of course with the chromo tubing the bike has a small bump dampening effect on the ride, taking away that often ‘too-rigid’ feel many hardtails can produce. On flat, tight turns it steers around them with ease, due mostly to the short-ish 432.5 chainstays and the head angle, We kept the chainstays to their minimal length, choosing not to ride with the longer wheelbase available after adjustment.

Pace-RC127-Steel-Hardtail-Review08

Point this bike downwards and the steel frame again makes for a very forgiving and great bump soaking ride, the short back end and long front enables faster corners to be ridden hard and aggressive. Only the base level Mavic Crossroc wheels show any sign as to the harshness of what is being ridden, as they shout and moan under the strain of the heavy hits. As for big hits and straight line roughness, the bike takes them well, but advertised as a long, low, slack bike, we would have preferred to have seen this bike around the 66-65.5° mark for a proper raked out front end, but that may have limited its other uses as a marathon bike and all day XC machine, so 67° seems like a good compromise.

Pace-RC127-Steel-Hardtail-Review11

We think this bike has almost a limitless appeal to what type of riders it would suit. With the possibility of fitting panniers and single-speed it goes into the market of adventure, with it’s fantastic steel tubing and very trick looking welds it could be classed as boutique. As it comes standard with X1, and relatively light at 11.6 kg it can be an all day XC machine too. One of our test riders being a Hardtail Enduro racer, would quite happily race one of these as an All Mountain machine, but would prefer to rake the front out a little more with an angleset and fit the 150mm forks. Pace seem to have cleverly fitted this bike into a lot of hardtail categories, an extra one of which will be added when it’s available as plus/boost size very soon.

Conclusion of the Pace RC127

Pace seem to have produced a bike here with great looks, a good weight, which is able to perform well in many categories and definitely still keeping the desirability of the brand like the old days. Once available in plus/boost size, we think this bike could be a big hit in the hardtail world, but only for true hardtail riders. If you start looking at pricing, then the Pace with its base level components is in a similar price bracket to cheaper full suss bikes out there. There is no doubting this is a beauty of a bike and we’re sure we shall see more out on the trails very soon.

For more information head to the Pace Cycles Website.

Words: Jim Buchanan Photos: Isac Paddock


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