Pace RC200 Gravel / Adventure Conversion.. A little Help Here?

Top of tread to bottom of seatstay yoke is 10mm, edge of tread to inside of seatstays is 13mm...



NDS clearance is 14mm, DS is 10mm...



There's about 7mm clearance to the anti-chainsuck plate but you could always file a bit off!

Betsy said:

9sp 49/36/27

edit- of course when i say 'i can't keep up with the 'gravel bikes' on the roads.. these could easily just be road bikes with fatter tyres!?, which would explain why i can't keep up.. i'd have a closer look but they're way off in the distance

..but this is what i'm aiming to build, 650b, light weight carbon forks, drops, 42-48mm tyres and faster gearing.

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I am doing (and I mean that in the very loosest sense of the word, may never happen..) something similar with a much more conventional frame, but I have no allusions to keeping up with anyone. In fact, I'm most likely going with tall stem/wide randonneur style drops to keep the geometry manageable, and keeping with mtb gearing. I would guess you want to get up to at least a 52t at the front, so it would be most auspicious if your bottom bracket is 68mm, (like this Jamis). Opens up a veritable panoply of delights. I've opted for a basic GRX crankset, currently on my road bike, but that is wayyyyy too plain for a man of your tastes. You'll be wanting something much more inspired/(expensive?). Lucky, if you are 68mm down there, to have access to all the road chainsets, that will easily give you the higher end you want. (Touring triple for the win..)
Anyhoo, the point is, that this is 650b in a contemporary era 26er, with 1.95 slicks sitting in 19/20 internal or thereabouts rims, bit balloony. They sit about 52/54mm wide, and there is plenty of room. Where the stays are crimped is clearly for 26er, but wide enough to leave a ton of room. You'll be going for much wider rims, so you'll easily get away with the 42mm you desire, but maybe 48mm would be a bridge too far?





OCDs duly triggered..

phatboytwo said:

View attachment 955424

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This is my take on 26in Ti fame 18 in,47x650b, ultegra 11 speed 11/36 ,26/42 on Tune 94/58 chainset

Thanks @nodding dog .. that makes me feel heckuva lot better..

These are 26 x 2.2 in an 18" frame, there is plenty of room up top with a 12mm gap but down below, the gap is only 6mm which had me concerned!





Thanks @highlandsflyer .. if this all sounds feasible?.. i'm probably keep bumping the thread before i buy each item so i'm not making a costly mistake.. y'see, i've got a few connections around the world who can act as proxy and ship things in for me under the 'radar' but if there are any issues, a return is impossible.

Lovely @phatboytwo .. stick some carbon forks on there and your bike is almost what i'm trying to acheive.. what wheels are they?

I couldn't find any that matched the spec of a sus fork,so had these Ti one's made in China, wheels are 25mm internal 650b carbon farspeed

Before spending ££££ on the build, how about buying a cheap 650b gravel bike and see if you like it? You can then consider geometry, gearing etc. before buying better components and building the Pace.

Modern mtb gearing with 12 speed is set up for Boost with a more outboard chain line and you need Microspline not HG to run the smaller 10t sprocket. This will be narrow-wide, with a clutch rear mech to keep the chain on.

I tried to make my ‘07 Kona modern, but it was always a compromise / miss-mash and in the end I just bought a modern bike.

Great advice above

we build quite a few touring bikes, wilderness riders, World tourers, local mileeaters...

Here's what I'd say 1st off if you came in and asked my advice:

1: rim width effects fitted&inflated tyre diameter. a narrower rim gives a smaller max od.
It's hard to know max tyre size without fitting it on the wheel in the frame, and different riders are comfortable with different clearance.

Buy 1 27.5 tyre at max poss size, see if it fits ok, if it's too tight, use it on the front, and just go 1 size down on the back.

A slightly larger volume tyre up front gives a little more front suspension, and once the front wheel has gone there, the rest will surely follow.

2: thru axle front makes a big difference to stiffness/strength hence control, weight and feel.

Thru axle rear allows different frame design/ compliance, but irrelevant here anyway

Thru axle front/ qr rear is common for good reason -it makes plenty of sense.

3: same size frame 90s mtb and 21st century tour/ Gravel setup.

Drops with STI pull you forward, so a shorter stem gets your comfort back.
(Bar end shifters put you firmly in the Dropbar 90s MTB camp)

If you went smaller in the frame size, the bike would feel less stable.

4: many of our customers riding sometime on tarmac don't get on with 1x.
1x's a mtb thing really. Nothing wrong with a f.mech on a gravel frame -
1x's roots are in fullsus, where chainline is less important than freedom in frame design.

The double choice up front allows 11-40 or so to be plenty on the back

I personally use 105 34/50 on 11-40 11 speed, and have built a lot of all round bikes for faster customers with this setup, they are all happy.

Grx is good if you want little gears and can sacrifice top speed, so a good choice for heavily laden plodders.

5: 105 hydros if you want good brakes. Simple.

These recommendations wont suit plenty of individuals - one of my colleagues uses klampers- they are good... for a cable brake.

Shimano hydros properly fitted and maintained (which is almost never) are incredibly reliable and amazing in function.
Personally though I use hope rx4 calipers

Sounds like a great idea - the only risk is raising the BB, which might be higher than average to start with given the period of frame design.

If you want to ride the pace though, bb height is pretty irrelevant, you might not even notice.

Splatter Paint said:

Before spending ££££ on the build, how about buying a cheap 650b gravel bike and see if you like it? You can then consider geometry, gearing etc. before buying better components and building the Pace.

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I can borrow one from the neighbours @Splatter Paint .. or take a demo Sonder out from Alpkit..

Splatter Paint said:

Modern mtb gearing with 12 speed is set up for Boost with a more outboard chain line and you need Microspline not HG to run the smaller 10t sprocket. This will be narrow-wide, with a clutch rear mech to keep the chain on.

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I'm running a Fouriers narrow wide on my 26" 10sp work bike

Splatter Paint said:

I tried to make my ‘07 Kona modern, but it was always a compromise / miss-mash and in the end I just bought a modern bike.

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You might be right but i'm still going to buy a Pace doner frame, that was the catalyst behind this after all and if it doesn't work, i probably wouldn't buy a modern gravel bike to replace it.. i'd just keep on doing what i'm doing now with the Pace..

I work heckuva lot, we're a single income household with a mortgage and an even more expensive teenager .. i ride too and from work everyday but riding for actual fun is limited to Sundays (and Saturday evenings at this time of year) so i have to squeeze as much enjoyment out of that ride as possible and i'd enjoy it less on a modern bike..

Since joining RB i've managed to reduce my small collection of bikes, (shock! ikr) the flat roof in my rented workshop was leaking (still is) covering them up with a tarp, wasn't doing them any good.. plus, i wanted to get back to basics, for most of the 90s i rode one (albeit very expensive) bike which did everything from commuting, DH, XC, BMX track.. everything!.. also, i don't really have the space at home to store numerous bikes, we have a summer house in the garden which isn't secure.. a converted outside loo for my work bike.. we have a decent sized cellar but we live near the river Porter so it's always a bit damp, my missus has her running machine in the spare bedroom, even if i do build a Pace/gravel, i'll have to be 'creative' finding somewhere to keep it ..so that in mind, if i have X amount of £££s to spend on bikes, it isn't spead over numerous builds..

edit- that's brilliant advice @bikeworkshop .. each question answered, exactly what i was hoping to see.. thank you, it's much appreciated!

You could cure the damp cellar with some diy lining, active ventilation and dehumidification. it would make the space much more usable.
Workshop? Bike rack? Minibar?
The choice is yours