Estimated reading time: 21 minutes
For the first bike test in Singletrack we decided to do something just a little differently. We’ve not picked three similarly priced hardtails. Nor have we plumped for a range of full suspension bikes. Instead we have three bikes from the best of Britain’s bike industry.
First for the off we have pure handmade XC race-bike porn from who else other than Pace up in North Yorkshire. Next, we head west to Halifax and Orange with perhaps the UK’s finest all round full suspension bike. Finally we head south down the Calderdale valley to ride a very curious bike from PlanetX.
What ties these three very different bikes all together in one thread other than the Yorkshire connection is that each of these bikes has been acquired from their manufacturers or designers pre-production.
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| Bike Test Issue 1 Specifications Table | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pace RC300mpo | PlanetX Compo | Orange SUB 5 | |
| Price | £1095 – frame only | £499 – frame only | £1399.95 – £2099.95 |
| Overall Weight | 22.5 lbs | 26.75 lbs | 25.5 lbs |
| Frame | |||
| Material | 7000 Series Al and Carbon Fibre | Easton RAD (7005 Al) | 6061 Al |
| Rear Shock | n/a | n/a | Custom RockShox SID, 200mm length |
| Fork | Pace RC38 Air Force II (63mm travel) | Pace Pro Class II (100mm travel) | Manitou Mars (80mm travel) – Mars Elite internals |
| Headset | Chris King Ahead | Cane Creek C2 | Race Face |
| Transmission | |||
| Chainset | Middleburn RS3, Pace chainrings | Truvativ Stylo ISIS, Truvativ Rings | Race Face Turbine LP, Race Face rings. |
| Front Derailleur | XTR | SRAM 9.0 | Deore XT |
| Rear Derailleur | XTR | SRAM 9.0 | Deore XT |
| Shifters | XTR (9 speed) | SRAM 9.0 (9 speed) | Deore XT (9 speed) |
| Cassette | Shimano M900 (11-32) | SRAM 7.0 (11-34) | Shimano M737 (11-32) |
| Chain | Shimano HG90 | SRAM PC89 | Shimano HG90 |
| Pedals | Ritchey | Wellgo (Ritchey style) | Shimano 747 |
| BB | Hope Titanium | Truvativ ISIS | Race Face |
| Wheels | |||
| Hubs | Hope Suspension Front, Hope Tiglide rear | Mavic CrossMax Disk Front, non-disk rear | Hope Sport front and rear |
| Rims | Sun DS1-XC Disk specific | Mavic CrossMax Disk Front, non-disk rear | WTB Speedmaster |
| Tyres | Tioga Factory XC 1.95” | Continental Vertical ProTection 2.3” | Continental Explorer 2.1” |
| Brakes | |||
| Front | Hope XC4 150mm disk | Hope XC4 150mm Wavey disk | Shimano Deore 160mm |
| Rear | Hope XC4 130mm disk | SRAM 7.0 V-brake and lever | Hope XC4 130mm disk |
| Details | |||
| Bars | Pace RC130 | PlanetX 2” riser | Orange Hotrod2 |
| Stem | Pace 100mm | PlanetX 90mm | Race Face SYStem 90mm |
| Saddle | SDG Satellite | PlanetX (WTB SST clone) | WTB SST |
| Seatpost | Ringle Moby Inline post | PlanetX | USE Inline |
| Geometry | |||
| Listed Size | 18” | Small | 18” |
| Seat Tube | 17.5” | 17.5” | 18” |
| Standover | 30” | 28” | 29” |
| Effective Top tube length | 23” | 21.5” | 23” |
| Chainstay length | 16.6” | 16.5” | 16.6” |
| Head tube | 5” | 5.25” | 4.75” |
| BB Height | 12” | 13.125” | 13” (uncompressed) |
| Head angle | 71° | 71° | 71° |
| Seat Angle | 74° | 74° | 73° |
Final Word
The diverse nature of the UK and in particular, Yorkshire’s riding conditions has produced three bikes of such contrasting styles yet of which all could be defined as ‘cross country’. Each is as much a product of their environment as they are that of their designers’ imagination and skill.
North Yorkshire’s rolling open moors providing a fast, smooth, refined, racer in the Pace RC300 whilst West Yorkshire’s punishing Pennine trails giving us a strong hardtail for bashing up and down valley sides and a comfy all round trail bike with the PlanetX Compo and Orange Sub5 respectively.
It’s unfair to compare each against the other so we won’t. In a perfect shed, there’s room for each of these bikes in your collection as each does what they do well. It’s up to you how you define cross country.
