Originally Posted by
Scrodzilla
the welds are nicer
I'm skeptical. The welds on my Pake look pretty good. You can't really evaluate welds by appearance anyway.
Originally Posted by
Scrodzilla
the finish is better
The Pake finish is fragile...it could be better.
Originally Posted by
Scrodzilla
the dropouts have double-sided stainless plates
After riding the Pake for several months, with only stainless plates on the outsides, this seems like a non-issue to me. My dropouts still look fine. The one sided design makes more sense to me (less likely to slip) even if it looks a bit jankier.
Originally Posted by
Scrodzilla
and it doesn't use an integrated headset.
This is more of a style issue (and to some extent, geometry) than a quality issue.
Originally Posted by
Scrodzilla
I also happen to like the Thunderdome's geo better (but that's obviously a personal factor).
This is what is really boils down to. The Pake geo works better for me.
I don't see how the Thunderdome is worth $200 more, unless the geo suits your better. I think the subtle geometry differences between the two would be lost on most.