Can a well put together hardtail – with the right geometry – do more than a XC full-susser? TLDR: yes.
- Brand: Pace
- Product: RC629
- Price: £799.00 frame
- From: Pace Cycles
- Tested by: Benji for 5 months
Pros
- Probably the most capable and versatile hardtail currently available
- Geometry, geometry, geomtry
- Looks lovely
Cons
- Sliding dropouts
- Not cheap
Our rating
£800 is a lot for a hardtail frame. Even in the not infrequent sales offers that Pace puts out, it’s never a ‘value proposition’. Is it worth it?
Well, as with most stuff from Pace, at least it looks the part. Pace really knows how to put tubes together and paint them lovely colours in an extremely aesthetically pleasing manner.
But having fallen for pretty bikes before – that ended up being very, very ugly to ride – the Pace RC629 has to offer something more than style. I need substance. And the substance in this case is geometry.
The RC629 is the nearest hardtail yet to ticking all of my boxes. Plenty of hardtails have similarly capable (circa 64°) head angles now. Plenty have roomy reach. Plenty have suitably low BBs (65mm drop). But rare are the ones with actually steep seat angles (78°… more about seat angle later).
Even rarer are ones with short seat tube lengths (440mm on this Large) for acres of standover and properly long travel (225mm) dropper insertion.
And rare to the point of not-existing-AFAIK are hardtails with all of that PLUS mixed wheel capability.
From a pure no-other-options point of view, the RC629 is worth the money because there are no alternatives. The only box that this frame doesn’t tick for me is chainstay length; for a Large, I’d prefer longer than 430mm stays.
And while you can theoretically slide the dropouts back 10mm-ish, I haven’t been able to get the wheel to sit, or rather remain, bang-straight in the frame once you’ve put a couple of rides through it. It really wants to be run at 430mm. Which is a compromise I can live with in exchange for the far more important aspects of the RC629 (dropper insertion, mullet wheels, steep seat angle, et al).
Now then, the ability to run a 27.5in rear wheel is interesting. Principally because Pace hasn’t put any geo correcting flip chip things on the frame. It’s essentially a 29er frame that you can put a 27.5 rear wheel in, and the geometry ends up – so the theory goes – being mullet-appropriate.
The resulting slacker head angle, lower BB and slacker seat angle does require some careful thought when it comes to set-up and build spec. Basically, short cranks are a wise idea due to pedal strike potential. So too is sliding the saddle forward on its rails as far as possible to offset the slacker seat angle (although the ‘mullet seat angle’ is still fine at 76.5°-ish really).
Anyway, whether by accident or design, this way of doing things works incredibly well. If the point of mullet-wheeling is improved cornering, steep descents and arse-tyre clearance, the mixed wheel handling of the RC629 has that dialled.
In terms of ride feel, the steel frame is much more of a ‘muted’ than a ‘springy sinuous’ nature. It deadens harsh landings and impacts just fine, but I wouldn’t say it really does the lateral give of other steel frames.
FWIW I can strongly recommend running Schwalbe Radial casing tyres, should you want to improve aspects of off-camber traction with the RC629. If something can be ‘surgically stout’, that’s how I’d describe the RC629 feel.
Overall
Long story short, I love this bike. It is a thousand times better than a short travel ‘down-country’ full susser. It’s just way more capable at extreme gradients and slo-mo silly technical riding. If I want to ride something that isn’t my usual 17kg ‘all mountain’ full susser, this is the perfect choice.
Geometry of our size Large (29/27.5)
- Head angle // 63.5°
- Effective seat angle // 76.5°
- Seat tube length // 440mm
- Head tube length // 105mm
- Chainstay // 430-440mm
- Wheelbase // 1,244mm
- Effective top tube // 646mm
- BB height // 75mm BB drop
- Reach // 498mm
Still riding my 2020 529 especially during the wet winter we’ve had (still having?). The sliding dropouts do move unless you’re very careful how you adjust the bolts. Loctite was the answer and happily stayed put for the last few years, giving a few extra millimetres chain stay and more tyre clearance (early 529 had less).
A great bike capable to go from the steeps, flow and bike packing. Suspect the 629 has been made a little more hardcore to distance from the 429 and so probably slightly less versatile.
This invites comparison with the BFE. What are your thoughts?
I’m sure it’s very nice but what fork travel is it and is that static or sagged geometry? And what makes it better than a Moxie or BFe, etc?
Pace always used to give a range of travel, think the 629 was 130/150mm?
Just looked, says 140/50mm now, also can be MX’d. I had a 627 up until last Autumn and they really are lovely bikes, very neat and tidy. 853 tubes too compared to 4130 on most. Haven’t read the article yet but mine was certainly versatile as it was at it’s best bashing about on the moors but was also a comfortable Trail Centre bike or mile muncher with the right tyres. 2.6 on the back made it as forgiving as a short travel full suss.
My hardtail is a 529. Hands down best hardtail I’ve had. I love the versatility. Can be taking riding singlespeed xc on day 1, built geared taking it down tech lines or over jumps on day 2 or stick a rigid fork and a rear rack on and go bike packing or cycle touring on day 3 with a few easy parts changes.
I’ve not had any problems with dropouts moving.
The only feature I’ve preferred from my previous hardtails is the double down tube bottle mounts on the cotic Solarismax. Was a better use of the space in the frame main triangle (I’m in an XL)
Its a shame they don’t offer the 429 with slidey dropouts. I think that might be the sweet spot for many people who want to stay more at the long miles/xc side of things
My thoughts are that, on paper, the Pace has a steeper seat angle than the Bfe. Although that would likely be cancelled out if running with a mullet set-up. Pace is possible nicer tubing. Bfe is UDH but can’t run full mount transmission. Pace has sliding dropouts… that’s what puts me right off… they look ugly and aren’t very secure imho.
I’d go Bfe 🙂
FWIW, BFe – slacker seat angle (even factoring in mullet RC629), higher BB, longer seat tube. Both fine bikes though.