longlong14

Can anyone share some insight on this?
Is the new model better than the old version?
Reach seems like a perfect road bike, fully suspended too.

jur

I think the newer one is lighter as well as being more refined.

And at least on the old one, the front suspension various joints develop play over time so that it rattles over rough surface. I have had a go at removing play from mine using a variety of techniques, but it only worked for a time. My analysis of the joints led me to conclude the design is flawed. Or perhaps it is simply fair wear and I need to replace all bushes.

longlong14

Thanks jur! How does it compare to your moulton? It's probably lighter, but does it ride faster and more comfy?
If you can't fix the fork, I guess you could buy a new one. I'd like my bike to last more than five years tho, how does the moulton hold up, and is it maintenance heavy?

jur

The Moulton is unquestionably more refined and comfortable; the suspension F&R are matched to each other. On the Reach the front is much firmer than the back. The Reach rides much like a big-wheeled bike. It is pretty good in the scheme of things.

New fork would be overkill - new bushes should do the job. Granted the Reach rides very rough surfaces very regularly and has been doing so for years, with not a single problem. We have had it touring several times as well.

ro-monster

I like the looks of the new Reach but I haven't ridden one. My primary transportation bike is the old Reach, and I love it. The only flaw I've noted is that the drive train is rather noisy and tends to require frequent adjustment. This could be peculiar to my bike, or just this one model (Reach City, 9 speeds).

Folding-Bikes

The Pacific Reach is one folder that doesnt get the recognition it deserves, with the exception of the few people that own them.

George Lin(Pacific founder) says its the best bike they have ever made.

This coming from the people who build and/or design bikes like the Birdy, iF Mode, CarryMe, Airnimal, Dreamslide and suspension bikes like Astrix MTB's , Canfield Brothers, or Niner MTB(considered by many some of the best in the world) and many more.

OLD vs NEW
Something you should know is that Pacific dont do "Old" and "New" models they dont have a new "2011 Reach" and they never will, in a world where the average bike life cycle is 100km(US stats), they want you to enjoy your bike for the rest of your life, without needing to buy the "latest model". Its easy to bend a tube, change colour and call it a new model, but its not what they are about.


Saying this


I owned both the earlier Reach and the latest Reach, the difference are subtle, little thing here and there, but the "spirit" is exactly the same, the geometry is exactly the same, and so are the elastometers (that can be changed to harder/softer ones).


Mounton vs Reach

Many people compare this two, here is what I know from my own experience

I recently rode the Dunwich Dynamo ride a 200km ride at night, I did this on my Reach together with a friend on his beloved beautiful Moulton AM. The first 20km in town I could see why the Moulton suspension system was so loved by many, it was like a boat! no vibrations, very little movement, maximum confort. My Reach looked much stiffer, with the suspension moving only 1cm it was a more uncomfortable ride than the Moulton. But then we got up to speed: up hill the Moulton struggled, it was tough to put power down without the suspension absorbing a big chunk of the efford, the Reach with its pivoted rear triangle felt striff and transfering power felt very efficient, once the hill was over the down hill would come, having suspension makes the whole experience of high speed cycling much more fun, it feels safer and confortable, until you brake to take the corner, here is where the Reach is in my eyes outsmarts any suspension system out there, I dont know of any other suspension that when you brake, it does not dip!

We both concluded that both bikes are awesome, the Moulton suspension could obviously be adjusted, but at 3ish KG heavier than the Reach you have to ask yourself if its a little over-engineered?

Should you upgrade?

YES! but I wouldnt go for a new frame, the City Reach frame is just as good as the Racing frame but with lower end components, it uses of the shelf components, start with getting a new chain drive?
TL;DR
Moulton = English gentleman, confortable & a little overweight
Reach = Young hunk, a little crazy & chiselled ABS

Hope this helps,

Juan

longlong14

Wow, Thanks fb, that is all the info I need. I like the reach better than moutons actually, it just looks so cool. And I'm sure it's a sturdy bike since it's in almost all of jur's cycling albums.
There are different suspension blocks for the reach, so I supposed one can sub a softer block in the front if the road condition is a bit rough?

BruceMetras

The available different suspension elastomers are only for the rear and fit in what looks like the rear shock.. I've had a Road Version with the Capreo rear wheel since they were introduced and still find it one of the top folders available ... if there is a downside, it is lack of wide 451 tires (if you were so inclined and wanted something like a Big Apple).. that's pretty much a non-issue with a caliper brake model, but with the V-Brake bikes, I could see where a 451x1.75 might be a nice option.

Folding-Bikes

You can get different suspension elastometers for both front and rear, but I wouldnt change the front one, its the "standard" (I think green) and has the best performance/comfort combination. But if you want a quick fix, get some good quality grease and be generous with it in the trailink, it sometimes gets stuck when the grease eventually dries out, to find out if it has, push with your foot at the top of the fork (where the machined aluminium block that holds both parts of the suspension together), if it moves down it means it was stuck and not working 100%

What is proving quite popular with the Reach is people building their own, you can now buy a 30th Anniversary Scandium frame only (2kg!) https://www.pacific-cycles.com/produc...&cat2=6&pid=39







There are more pictures and some great adventures from Reach riders (including a crazy 60 year old Australian who has done tens of thousands of miles on his Reach) on the Pacific Reach Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MyPacificReach

Juan