'94 GT Zaskar Aqua (all dead photobucket links)

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re:

The pace RC35 MXC forks ...i struck a deal with ishaw for this set with upgraded titanium bolts and bosses, very nice condition too. Ive had several pace forks b4 but never an rc35 so im quite excited by these. The length is 430mm, so in between the length of the bomber and the on one rigid fork



However... like i said previously they do sag quite a bit, so i took the legs off and found that an elastomer in each leg has crumbled away




Luckilly i have some spares...


Job's a good 'un


Gonna give these another ride on sunday

Sean

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: '94 GT Zaskar Aqua: Pace forks

They look very impressive ..

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re: '94 GT Zaskar Aqua: Pace forks

They look very impressive ..

for the age the condition is amazing, im yet to see how they ride with the elastomers sorted though

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: '94 GT Zaskar Aqua: Pace forks

They look very impressive ..

for the age the condition is amazing, im yet to see how they ride with the elastomers sorted though

Yes i'm really interested to see what your thoughts are on your 1st proper ride now the elastomers are sorted and they don't look their age which is :idea: great bonus ..

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re: '94 GT Zaskar Aqua: Pace forks

They look very impressive ..

for the age the condition is amazing, im yet to see how they ride with the elastomers sorted though

Yes i'm really interested to see what your thoughts are on your 1st proper ride now the elastomers are sorted and they don't look their age which is :idea: great bonus ..

They have a little more travel now so that should help, i'll ride them fairly hard over the weekend to put them through their paces and i'll see how they do. Ive never had high expectations for elastomer forks to be fair, but maybe i'll be pleasantly surprised. I'll post back with another update and some pictures next week

Sean

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: '94 GT Zaskar Aqua: Pace forks

Elastomers were never really out of this world compared to the oil forks damped forks but have the advantage of being alot lighter and easier to maintain so decent elastomers will give a comfy ride but their are meant to be different hardness's of elastomers available from what i'd read over these last few years so if your forks don't perform as well as you'd like then maybe that's worth further investigation ..

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re:

Took the bike down some local woods today, the first proper ride on the onza tyres and they grip really well. The forks are much better, they have more travel and dont sag as much as they did. they compress nicely under load but they still dont rebound as well as id like, for light trails they do the job but they're no match for the z2 bombers i have in the garage.
I think the bike is looking more retro again, especially with this bar and stem. the stem is a KORE litestem 3 and the bars are easton monkeylite carbon fibre in low rise, but with the lacquer and graphics stripped

pics

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: '94 GT Zaskar Aqua: Pace forks

Maybe just maybe fingers crossed the forks rebound will improve with use in time as the stanchions wear smoother with use ..

Loving the pics as your gt is cetainly looking more retro and i'm liking it alot even though i prefer straight bars for looking retro these monkeylite actually fit in really nicely with the Kore stem and the GT just looks bang on .

Those Onza tyres don't look that grippy tbh but i'm quite happy to be proven wrong as they do suit the GT really well ..

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re: '94 GT Zaskar Aqua: Pace forks

Maybe just maybe fingers crossed the forks rebound will improve with use in time as the stanchions wear smoother with use ..

Loving the pics as your gt is cetainly looking more retro and i'm liking it alot even though i prefer straight bars for looking retro these monkeylite actually fit in really nicely with the Kore stem and the GT just looks bang on .

Those Onza tyres don't look that grippy tbh but i'm quite happy to be proven wrong as they do suit the GT really well ..

cheers, the tyres roll really smoothly and they seem grippy, ive not ridden them in much wet mud yet but theyre definitely one up on the charge tyres

Theres no problems with friction on the sanctions like you would expect from new seals or anything like that, its more to do with how elastomers react under load, they just dont return as well as a coil or air/oil fork would... Ive left it a while before replying so i can ride these forks thouroughly before i feedback my thoughts, and im actually really liking them, they fit the geometry of the frame really well and in all fairness with these forks/handlebars is probably the most comfortably this bike has ridden. For future trail rides i'll be fitting the bombers instead though, they're just better forks for harder riding and i have more confidence in them. The z2's are a bit longer in length, which is better for travel but is a downside with the zaskar having 22 year old geometry. I'll try inverting the stem which could work well to reduce the head angle from the longer forks

I do prefer bars with a bit of rise personally, its just what im used to. I did swap to straight bars and theres a few pictures near the start of this thread with those fitted but i didnt like them, they made the handling really twitchy offroad. For commuting they were okay though

Sean

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: '94 GT Zaskar Aqua: Pace forks

Well it's good to see you've given some time and thought using the Pace forks before finally writing your verdict and although i'm a little saddend to see your going to be swapping them over for the Bombers i can't argue with your decission to do so although i'm not entirely convinced that the slow rebound on the pace forks is purely down to them being sprung by elastomers as much as it being more likely the case of the elastomers being affected by their age and just don't spring back like they should so a brand new set of elastomers in theory would resolve the issue but i guess getting hold of a new set would probably prove to be impossible and if you could find them they'd probably be rather costly to for an old designed fork so yes it would make more sense to use the Bombers if they suit your needs better ..

I'm not liking your verdict on the Splashbacks as i got a set of 2.1s a short while ago with the intention of fitting them to my courier but now i'm not to sure about using them but i'm still glad to see that your Onza's seem to be upto the job so far and fingers crossed their upto the job when the trail gets rather sticky ..

Well yes a longer fork will alter the geometrysome what so using flatbars would make it really twitchy so no i certainly wouldn't go down that route especially after reading your verdict on the flatbars earlier on and yes inverting the stem maybe your best option like you say but you won't really know for sure until you try it so it will be interesting to see how it turns out ..