94 (I think) Kona AA
- Thread starter redaeston
- Start date
Thanks for the links
They are similar to the above. They do have a valve in one leg. I have seen a guy called just-backdated referenced in lots of other pace related threads so I have sent him a message. It seems he services and fixes up forks like these.
I might have got lucky in the steerer swap thread so that might be sorted. Just waiting to hear back how long the available steerer is.
They are similar to the above. They do have a valve in one leg. I have seen a guy called just-backdated referenced in lots of other pace related threads so I have sent him a message. It seems he services and fixes up forks like these.
I might have got lucky in the steerer swap thread so that might be sorted. Just waiting to hear back how long the available steerer is.
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That's good news on the steerer. If you can find somebody who does servicing on these then that might be worth looking into. Air leaks can be problematic to track down. If you're lucky, a good clean and lots of silicone grease will be enough to stop the leak but if not then getting replacement seals will be a pain in the arse.
Some more good news is that those forks take the bolt on V-brake adapter that just goes around the fork legs. I think this is the same one that is used for the RC-31 rigid forks and Pace actually sell these from their website. Just make sure you put them on the wrong way round.
Once you've got them sorted, as with all Pace forks I'd strongly recommend getting some RC-7 grease (Pace still sell this on their website) and a small grease gun and giving them a good regular squirt of grease through the grease port on the side. It will make all the difference in terms of the fork's performance. There's also a lot to adjust on those forks so be prepared to do some fiddling to get them just right.
Some more good news is that those forks take the bolt on V-brake adapter that just goes around the fork legs. I think this is the same one that is used for the RC-31 rigid forks and Pace actually sell these from their website. Just make sure you put them on the wrong way round.
Once you've got them sorted, as with all Pace forks I'd strongly recommend getting some RC-7 grease (Pace still sell this on their website) and a small grease gun and giving them a good regular squirt of grease through the grease port on the side. It will make all the difference in terms of the fork's performance. There's also a lot to adjust on those forks so be prepared to do some fiddling to get them just right.
Oh and FWIW I think those are Evo III's not II's. The design of the metal part of the lower legs that goes into the dropout is different to the picture I posted. Your one has the same lower legs as the Pro Class II's that came along the year after yours. It also has the air valve on the bottom not the top.
Re: the leaky air spring.
I can't find the manual for this fork anywhere but I did find this diagram (linky) on Pace's website (http://www.pacecycles.com/manuals-exploded-diagrams/).
I have to say, these are rather interesting. What is basically inside there isn't that different to the Pro Class II's which came the next year (and which I have 2 pairs of). The big difference is that the Pro Class II's do away with the air spring and have a different spring stack with another 10mm of travel.
As far as I can see, when you pump up the air spring what you're doing is pressurising the bottom of the fork leg. There is an extra seal (number 37 on the diagram) which holds the air in and sits below the external wiper seal (36) which is there to keep all the mud and crap out of the fork.
Now if the air spring is leaking, there are 3 places it can be getting out. One is into the damper cartridge which sits above the air spring in the upper legs of the fork. You can spot this easily because if air is getting into the damper then that means oil has to be getting out. Frankly this is unlikely.
The next possibility is around the valve at the bottom of the fork leg. Again this is fairly unlikely as it should be well sealed.
The finial possibility is that the air is escaping between the lower and upper fork legs through seal number 37 on the diagram. IMO this is by far the most likely. This seal is moving up and down every time the fork compresses and is quite close to the external seals so is going to be vulnerable to any mud and rubbish that makes its way into the fork. As the fork is 15 years old this is quite likely going to be dirty.
I'd try pulling the forks apart (I'd be happy to tell you how to do this if you want to do it - it's actually quite straightforward), giving everything inside a really good clean, applying a load of fresh RC-7 grease and seeing if it holds. If you can pop the air seal out without damaging it, give the seal and the space in behind it a really good clean too.
I can't find the manual for this fork anywhere but I did find this diagram (linky) on Pace's website (http://www.pacecycles.com/manuals-exploded-diagrams/).
I have to say, these are rather interesting. What is basically inside there isn't that different to the Pro Class II's which came the next year (and which I have 2 pairs of). The big difference is that the Pro Class II's do away with the air spring and have a different spring stack with another 10mm of travel.
As far as I can see, when you pump up the air spring what you're doing is pressurising the bottom of the fork leg. There is an extra seal (number 37 on the diagram) which holds the air in and sits below the external wiper seal (36) which is there to keep all the mud and crap out of the fork.
Now if the air spring is leaking, there are 3 places it can be getting out. One is into the damper cartridge which sits above the air spring in the upper legs of the fork. You can spot this easily because if air is getting into the damper then that means oil has to be getting out. Frankly this is unlikely.
The next possibility is around the valve at the bottom of the fork leg. Again this is fairly unlikely as it should be well sealed.
The finial possibility is that the air is escaping between the lower and upper fork legs through seal number 37 on the diagram. IMO this is by far the most likely. This seal is moving up and down every time the fork compresses and is quite close to the external seals so is going to be vulnerable to any mud and rubbish that makes its way into the fork. As the fork is 15 years old this is quite likely going to be dirty.
I'd try pulling the forks apart (I'd be happy to tell you how to do this if you want to do it - it's actually quite straightforward), giving everything inside a really good clean, applying a load of fresh RC-7 grease and seeing if it holds. If you can pop the air seal out without damaging it, give the seal and the space in behind it a really good clean too.
Oh and finally, (no really), those look like they're set up for 90mm travel at the moment. That may be OK but I'd be tempted to drop them down to 70mm for a frame of that vintage. To do that you'll need to pop a little kicker spring out of the spring stack. Again, let me know if you want some help and I'd be happy to talk you through how to do that.
