just picked myself a pace 303 up, got a small amount of work to do on it before its all systems go, just wondering what travel forks the frame is happy with? im currently running the dt swiss carbon 130mm which came with the bike, is this the optimum travel?, if anyone has any pics or specs of their build id be really interested to see them or just any general info.

i ride mostly trail centre stuff, but will venture into the peaks this summer to.

full spec, pace 303,dt swiss xc1800 on hope pro 2, formula oro k24, slx groupset, easton finishing kit.

I’ve got a 305 which runs fox 130 forks. That’s about the ideal length. Make sure you run a long seat post that goes well below the insertion mark as they’ve been know to snap at the seat cluster. Also, I know frames don’t cause chain suck but I’ve suffered and I know a few others have with these frames so its worth a bit of extra protection in this area. I run some stainless plate and a couple of jubilee clips on mine. Wave if you see me in the peaks on mine!

lol, hadnt heard about the post so thanks for that, ive got her well protected, how do you find it? i guess as you still ride it you must like it

Love the bike, just not fan of their commitment to customer service. There was a thread on here a while back with a selection of pics of 303 frames with the same break on each one. Each time, Pace said the seat post must have been too short.

Fingers crossed we’ll both be okay.

Loved mine, but even a carbon seatpost couldn’t take the sting out of the back end for my ol’ bones. Had to sell on eventually. Ran mine with Pikes. Was bit slack at 140mm, but 130mm was its perfect setting. They are a great ride, perfect for a couple of hours trail centre fun, but a bit committed for an all-day ride. (Well, for me anyway). If they copied the geometry & made one in steel I’d probably have another.
Couple of other pics at the pic link tomorrow.

Img_5502 by pten2106, on Flickr

looks amazing in black , ill post my pics tommorow if crc get a move on with my cables,

Lovely bike but I found the same as takisawa – it is very stiff – I ended up using a shimmed out 27.2 carbon seatpost which definately helped but even then had to relegate it to short rides – mind you my back has been iffy for 20 years! Enjoy

I built up a 305 in December 2008(?).

I’ve got the Pace RC41XCAM forks, which I believe are the predecessor to the DT ones you refer to. 130mm air – very good match to the frame (I think Pace matched the frame to that fork)

It’s a good bike. Not as good a climber as other bikes I have / had. it’s quite light (25lb) so I put the slow climbing down to the more upright geometry.

very nice again, starting to wish id gone black now instead of silver,lol

I’ve had a 303 for four years – lovely frame, good choice! I also have it set up with the Rc40(41?)XCAM forks – the ones with the max travel at 150mm. I have mine pretty much permanently at 130mm though – very occasionally I’ll dial them out to 150mm for some of the steeper, rockier trails in the peaks etc.

Second what everyone else has said re:
– cracking at the seat cluster. Get a long post! Even though I could, according to the min insertion mark on the seattube, get away with a 350mm post, I use a 400mm for piece of mind. Going on the number of frames on the thread that Onzadog mentioned I thought I had the only one left that hadn’t snapped!
– chain suck [disclaimer]I know frames don’t cause chain suck[/disclaimer]. Mine suffered really badly with this, chainstays seem to be made of cheese. There’s an old thread of mine where it got so bad it wore a hole through the the chain stay without me noticing (or, more likely, not checking regularly enough). Anyway, i had it spot/flood welded (can’t remember the proper term), 18 months ago and, touch wood, it’s been fine since. I’ve had it set up as 1×9 for over a year now, so don’t worry about it anymore.
– Pace lack of customer service – the only reason I wouldn’t put any more money their way.

It’s a great bike to ride – have taken mine all over (in the peaks loads, wales, dales, NY moors, moab, fruita etc). I don’t find it quite as stiff as some, quite happy riding it all day, although i did wuss out and buy a thudbuster for when we did the coast-to-coast!

Oh, and it’s clearly better in black 😉 Paint finish, as you’ve probably already seen, isn’t the sturdiest – it chips really easily. No pictures of mine, sorry, as they’re on fotopic and that seems to be borked at the moment.

I loved my 303 but… it broke like many others. Pace did replace it no questions asked but I sold the replacement 305 as I reckoned it’d do the same again. Cracked around the weld between the gusset and seat tube. Best check it regularly I’m afraid…

It was spot on with the 130mm Revs I had. 115mm for less steep stuff.

another lovely black frame, grrr lol, i was worried about the chipping/flaking on the black, nevermind eh.
crisped wheel i like the idea of the longer forks, just the option to up the travel when needed appeals to me – suprised at the amount of negative pace customer service comments, is that as a result of them not standing up and admitting a problem with the cracking seatpost/gusset area?

heres mine. Runs great with xmc 130’s

hey a silver one wahooo,lol

Yeah, looks shite though 😉 (Kidding!)

lol

I used to, but I chainsucked a hole into it. It was great apart from that. Pace changed the rear end a year later. But of course frames have nowt to do with chainsuck. (yes, i’m bitter, 400 quid down the pan)

crispedwheel – Member
I’ve had a 303 for four years – lovely frame, good choice! I also have it set up with the Rc40(41?)XCAM forks – the ones with the max travel at 150mm. but set at 130

That will be RC40F (fighter) then.

Saccades – thanks, can never remember which they are.

sounds like a plane, but quite fancy one of those badboys, slightly off topic but whats the resale value on these forks i see there mega money new but is there much of a market for them second hand?

Thats mine running a 1 x 9. Selling the frame on the classifieds if anyone is interested. Has chain suck but otherwise mint. Selling as its a bit too small for me. Short top tube good for agressive riding but not for all dayers that i do now…

the forks are 130mm and are perfect.

sounds like a plane, but quite fancy one of those badboys, slightly off topic but whats the resale value on these forks i see there mega money new but is there much of a market for them second hand?

Not sure, I bought some 2nd hand rc40 xcam ~24 months ago for £130, just before all the new gear took massive price hikes. Pace forks did have a bit of a rep of having a lot of friday builds, I’ve never had a bother with my rc41f’s which were just serviced after 4 years and my rc36pc2’s need a bit of loving but have been abused for ~9 years.

I had one for about a year but didn’t like it. It was light and responsive but had a very harsh ride and the head angle is high so didn’t inspire confidence on the steep downhills here. I used a 130mm revelation fork which seemed about right. Build quality was shocking, I had a 140mm gap between rear drop outs which should have been 135mm obviously. Mine wasn’t the only one with this problem either. The paint chipped very easily also. Definately the worst bike I’ve ever owned. If you like harsh but light aluminium frames try a Cove Stiffee instead, I’m sure you’d like it 1000 times more.

No paint probs with mine, infact the paint is pretty much excellent after 4 years of use. Definately a harsh ride though, but this frame is designed to compete with the likes of the santa cruz chameleon and the like. They are all pretty harsh rides designed not really as XC bikes, more all mountain.

I had a 303, i really liked it, the stiff back end didn’t bother me.
However, mine creaked, it came from the top tube to seat tube area. It was stripped and rebuild with different parts, went back to pace twice.
Then one day it cracked. (410 thomson post)
I think it was one of the first to go, because we where well on the way to legal action when everyone else started cracking and Pace admitted they had a problem.
The paint finish was poor for a £400 frame, and “frames don’t cause chainsuck do they”. I used alloy tape to protect my chainstay.
I’ve not heard of any real issues with the 305, but thats had a reengineered back end.
I liked that as well, but sold it when it was a year old.

Ride it and enjoy it.

Had one for a while, cracking bike, light and stiff, great fun for blasting around the woods or long technical trails. I started to get into endurance racing though, so sold it for something a bit more suitable.

Only problem I had was at 6’2″ I found the large to be a bit cramped cockpit wise. Layback post and a 100mm stem and it still felt a tad small.

now ive seen the 305 im tempted by that but all the negative pace customer service comments would put me right off buying a new frame, took the 303 round cannock yesterday, thought she road great but definatley harsh at the back as people have said, my ass is killing today,lol

lovely looking bikes.

Looks better in silver 🙂