Comments, questions? |
Paké - 57cm - Black
Dennis:
The Paké (pronounced pAH-Kay) retails for just over three hundred dollars, and that's for frame and fork. It's available at several of the supporters of the Gallery
including American Cyclery in San Francisco, TrackStar in New York City, and Blacksheep Cycles in Charlotte, N.C.
It comes in "any color as long as you want black" powdercoat and the decals
are easily removable, but they are also pretty nice and simple and they were applied straight - I like 'em.
The Paké isn't a lightweight bike, it's a 5# 5oz. frame and another 1# 12oz. for the unicrown fork, but for an urban
pothole-knocker it might be pretty handy to be packin' a couple extra ounces.
Besides, we're talking three hundred bucks here. A bit right up front about
the unicrown fork. It's ugly, but with the all-black frame maybe you'll never notice it.
I like the straight-forward statement.
This is rightly called a 57 because the seattube is 56.8cm center to center (and has a level toptube) and a 56.0
toptube. But enough with all that, I don't know about you, but I want to hear
what Nils thinks about it.
Paké Frameset
“I got a new frame for you to test.” Dennis told me. “Bars, pedals and tires as well.”
This review is for a 57 cm Paké frameset, including the Paké unicrown fork, the Soma Major Taylor handlebars, MKS Sylvan Track pedals with MKS clips and Soma double straps and a pair of Maxxis Courcheval tires.
Paké is an interesting name. In Hawaiian slang it means Chinese but in a cheap way. I’m sure that is not what they had in mind with the name though.
Paké Frame size 57 cm
Entry level fixed/track frameset for those on a budget.
Dennis built up this frameset with a Miche track group and it’s a good looking bike. Dennis: I oiginally built it up with a Miche threadless headset too, but I could never get it adjusted properly. I thought it was "just me", but Nils had the same problem, so he swapped in an FSA Orbit that I had. Zippo, easy adjustment, plus this Orbit has the split crown race that makes swapping forks a real snap, but you'll hear more about that later in this review. I got lots of approving looks and comments while riding this bike. Unicrown fork is the eyesore here; butt-ugly. Geometry is a bit of a compromise between true track geometry and something that will be comfortable for riding on the road, although it’s aggressive enough that it leans towards track geometry. Predictable and stable ride with the exception of the fork. Not only is it ugly as sin but it feels super stiff and not in a good way. What is the fork made of, reinforced rebar or something? Whatever steel it is made with, combined with the shallow rake, gives it an unpleasant ride on the road; overly quick and stiff. This fork might be good for the track but for riding on the road, I’d like to see an upgrade in steel quality and maybe a rake of 42 mm (short of changing the head tube angle). A simple lugged crown fork of a decent grade of steel would do wonders for this bike. Riding around in town fits this frameset like a glove. The longest ride I rode on this bike was 30 miles and I’d have to replace the fork for rides longer than that. I never had one of those moments when everything clicked into place (when you’re feeling it) but the solidness of this frame is reassuring when the road gets rough. So this frameset is supposed to have clearance for 28 mm tires and I just happen to have some lying around to test this. A few minutes later and voila! Yep, 28’s fit easily in the rear and barely in the front (see photo). This bike’s ride was vastly improved with the wider tires. The fork wasn’t quite as jarring anymore and potholes seemingly shrunk in size. Of course any bike’s ride quality will improve with wider tires but it was an amazing transformation nevertheless! I’m not any slower with 28’s than I am with 23’s but YMMV.
One thing that I’m going to pick on (besides the fork) is the seatpost diameter. 27.0? Must be pretty thick tubing to not have 27.2 inner diameter seat tube. Straight gauged indeed. It might prove to be a bit of a pain in the ass finding a decent 27.0 seatpost without dishing out the cash for something like a Thomson seatpost. You can find all the 27.2 seatposts in the world at your LBS but good luck finding a decent but inexpensive 27.0. Kalloy is probably the best bet but chances are that you’ll have to order it. All in all, this is a decent enough frame and the price is right. This frame is a logical choice for an entry level fixed, budget fixed or as a second fixed for commuting, bar bike and just goofing around. You won’t feel bad beating on this frameset as it can take all the punishment you can give it. A frame like this makes sense for a lot of riders. Look for a decent steel fork in your LBS parts bin or on EBay. When you find a fork that will work, pitch the one that comes with the frame. Or else run 28 mm tires. Soma Major Taylor Bars
These bars are all about style. If you’re concerned about weight, you’re not considering these bars or the Pake frameset either. Dennis left the upper half of these bars unwrapped to show off the chrome. OK, so they look good, how do they ride? Well, if you ride in the drops a lot, they’re great. The drops have a slight outward flare and are wider than typical track bars. This translates to a very comfortable hand position. What about the rest of the bar? Not much room on top due to the huge curve of the bar. Basically there are two hand positions with these bars: in the drops and on top near the stem. If you’re going to ride on the tops, my advice is to wrap the entire bar. The chrome finish is slippery when dry and potentially dangerous when wet. Nice bars for around town and for retro-style but forget long rides.
MKS Sylvan Track Pedals w/ MKS Clips and Soma Double Straps
These pedals are great; they look good, spin smooth and last forever. Maybe you’ll break a toe clip here and there but the most you’ll have to do to these pedals is rebuild them every year or so, depending how much you ride in the rain. What can you say about clips? The chrome finish looks good and my feet fit fine in them. They work as advertised. I like the Soma double straps too. Like those uber-expensive NJS Keirin straps but for a fraction of the price. Held my feet pretty secure. I had one mishap riding brakeless while coming up to a redlight. Tried to skid and jerked my foot out of because the strap was too loose. Learned my lesson right then and there as I nearly castrated myself on the stem. If brakeless, KEEP THE STRAPS TIGHT!
Maxxis Courcheval Tires
Dennis wanted to have some orange tires to match the orange bar tape, kind of a Halloween theme. Well, that’s harder to do than it sounds. When’s the last time you saw some orange tires at your LBS? I know at one time Vredstein made some but I can’t find them in a catalog anymore. Dennis was researching orange tires and came across the Courcheval tires. He contacted Maxxis and the good folks there sent him a pair to try out for the Pake review, awesome! The photos I took don’t do justice to the color of these tires; they really are orange and match the bar tape better than it appears. I’ve been having a great deal of difficulty lately mounting cheap wire bead tires to rims, so it was a pleasure to mount these tires on the Velocity Aerohead rims. Easy. I was impressed with the ride of these tires. Until these tires, I’ve had zero experience with Maxxis road tires. I’ve concluded that they hold there own against the racing tires of Continental, Michelin, Hutchinson and the like. A nice round profile with lots of grip in the corners. I leaned the bike over and pushed it through some corners, half-expecting a tire to wash out but these tires kept on gripping. Tenacious grip even on wet pavement. They seem durable, they’ve already outlasted a pair of Hutchinson Carbon Comps that I have on another bike. Garbage sidewalls started to split on my Hutchinsons after 150 miles but the sidewalls on these Maxxis tires are still like new with the same mileage. They roll nicely too and the Kevlar belt give puncture protection. I like these tires. Downside? The orange gets dirty pretty easily. Maybe the black and gray Courcheval tires would be better for dirt and grime.
Dennis: Actually it wasn't Halloween that inspired this thing, it was the interesting tape colors that Soma makes. I'd been dying to try some
of their tape anyway, and they have some other swell colors that aren't available in other brands - like the orange. So I asked
for a package when they sent the frame. After I got the tape I was wondering what the heck I could use for tires - and discovered
these nifty Courchevals. I can't wait to try them on another, more familiar bike.
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Postscript......
Dennis: So, we wanted to see what difference it made swapping out the stock fork, to something slightly more compliant and with a bit more trail - this is a late/mid-90's Kinesis carbon fork with alloy crown/steerer and dropouts. Ya just gotta love that split crown race on this FSA Orbit headset (non-sealed bearing - roller bottom/ball top) because the fork swap can be done in 5 minutes max. You can find 1" threadless carbon forks like this pretty easily in close-outs - and it makes a quick easy swap for a lot of frames. This fork was originally on Nils: If only everything in life worked this way. Complain about something and it gets fixed! So I didn’t like the steel fork that came with the Paké and I bitched about it in the above review. I had concluded that this fork should be swapped out or one should consider running wider tires. Dennis calls me a day or two later and asked me if I’d like to try out the Paké with a carbon fork. Sure, I would; it’d give me a chance to see if I was right about the fork or if I was full of it. Picked up the bike from Dennis with a new front end as seen in these photos. A older Kinesis carbon fork with alloy crown, ITM stem, Titec Malone handlebars, an old XTR brake lever and a Campagnolo brake caliper. What an eclectic mix! First and foremost, I did notice an improvement in ride quality. This fork helps make riding feel more ‘normal’, meaning I wasn’t thinking about the fork. With the Pake unicrown fork, I was always conscious of the fork due to the feedback I was getting. With this Kinesis fork, I didn’t have to think about the fork because the ride wasn’t as harsh or as jarring. So, put a big checkmark next to swapping out the front fork! The purpose of swapping out the fork wasn’t for aesthetics but I can’t keep the fashion police inside of me from speaking out! I think that aesthetically, this fork doesn’t work very well with this frame, mainly because of the polished alloy crown. I think that this fork would look better on a lugged or older TIG frame due to the older look of this fork. Maybe it’s because of the Pake’s black color. As ugly as the Pake unicrown fork is, it matched well with the frame; same color and keeping in theme with the simple design. For the Pake, I’d like to see a decent steel fork with a simple lugged crown or an all black carbon fork, straight-bladed. Titec Malone bars. Dennis likes them, I don’t. I like the width and the long flat top but they flex like a wet noodle, especially in the drops. I see the Paké as a bike for shorter rides, like commuting and riding around town so for me, some riser mountain bike bars with the ends trimmed would be perfect. Then the XTR brake lever would look better too! Hey Dennis, so are you going to fix the things that I bitched about this time? While we’re at it, replace the Rolls saddle with a Flite!
Dennis: Hey, why did you wait till now to say you wanted a Flite? Personally, I really like that polished
crown on the Kinesis fork, and I like it on the Paké too. These Titec bars are 46cm wide, did I say "Wide"? I like wide bars.
Well, my Dad always said "That's why they paint cars different colors."
I'm sure those of you who grab onto a Paké will personalize yours to just the way you want it, but for Nils, who is just never satisfied,
how about we swap this bar and stem?
What's next? Well I really liked that idea of stripping the paint, wire-brushing the bare steel and then applying some
gun blueing to the bare metal. Is there one like that in the Gallery?
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