BEST OF BRITISH PACE

There are few British mountain bike brands with a history as long and storied as Pace Cycles. For 32 years this family-owned firm has been doing things its own way, seemingly more interested in pragmatic innovation than trend chasing. In the process it has developed some era-defining bikes and innovative products that were way ahead of their time.

Back in 1987 Pace rolled out its first bike from a basement in Bradford. The RC100’s most eye-catching feature was that it used machined, square-section aluminium instead of round tubes, and this was something that came to define Pace. But the RC100 was more than just a box-section bike; details such as direct-fit Magura hydraulic rim brakes, a threadless headset and an integrated stem steerer were unheard of at the time. It was a revolutionary bike, one that borrowed ideas from the off-road motorcycle world at a time when most mountain bikes were little more than adapted road bikes. Even today, the models that followed, such as the RC200 F8 and RC500, look like bikes of the future.

While Pace might have been born in West Yorkshire, its spiritual home, and actual home for the last 30 years, is the North York Moors. Adrian Carter, Pace’s founder, managing