New toys

Swapping over to disc brakes has proven a bit more painful than I expected! My old trusty RC36 EVOIIs was from the era where disc mounts were an add-on. A quick call to Pace showed how far behind I am - Clamp-on disc mounts have sold out *two years* ago. Being such a weightweenie, there was only one choice when presented with either the RC38 Race or RC36 Stealth Dark LT at the same price. Yes I went for the supposedly slightly less durable but lightweight choice. Hope Monos were the choice for stopping power. Pretty as they were, the Mono6Ti would definitely have been an overkill. In the end I plumped for the middle, Mono M4s with 185mm disc. They came with a French manual of all things as punishment for me running a "froggie" lever setup (god help me if I move on to motorbikes!).

After much swapping round of bits and pieces with fair lashings of WD40 and hairspray, the updated Green Monster was ready to roll. Setup of the Mono M4s were relatively simple, requiring selection of the right combo of spacers. Initially the pads were not backing off evenly, this was solved (RTFM) by pushing the disc against the side which was pushing out too much, a two person job. The RC38 setting were left at stock for it to run in a bit.

First test, the Continental Trail at Nant-yr-arian on Friday. Nice trail, the big climb at the end came as a bit of a shock to the system. Only 600m of climbing, I think not. Second test, an easyish potter around the Malverns on Sunday. The bluebells were out in force on the western lower flanks of the Hills, covering them in a carpet of blue. There was a (electric) fenced off area between North Hill and Worcestershire Beacon where what appeared to be Highland cattle were grazing.

Fork action was pretty plush but I felt that they were diving a bit much under braking. A significant increase in braking power was noted during the test period. Accidental endos became quite easy to do towards the end of the Continental Trail. After completing the trail the first time, I did the initial singletrack section (just after the climb out from the car park) again and had a close encounter with a tree at the rock step with an alternative route round to the left due to overzealous finger pressure of the left hand. A similar incident happened on the Malverns, this time with a spiky bush. Together with the little blister on my left wrist due to a cooking related incident, the scratches and rashes would be enough to get social services worried if I was any younger. Locking up the front wheel was exceedingly easy to do and was accomplished on many occasions. Perhaps I will just have to get used to the brakes...


Blue scraper seals on 2003 Pace RC38 R
These are supposedly letting in more water and cr*p into the innards of the 2003 forks. Wonder why as they have been in use for quite a few years now...


Close up of caliper on Hope Mono M4
The pads spring back ever so little but just enough to clear the disc...


Disc surface after 2 rides
This is what happens to the disc surface after some bedding in.

Location: 52°N 2°W