Urban Velo - Bicycle Culture on the Skids

Pake Track Frame

The Pake Track Frame is a no frills steel frame meant for people building up a bike on a budget, or at least not looking to break the bank while still looking for “true” track geometry. At $225 for the frame and another $80 for the straight blade fork, the Pake frame is one of the least expensive track frames out there. I bought my first Pake over four years ago, and in that time have put lots of miles on it in all sorts of situations as it has more or less been my go-to bike for the entire time I’ve owned it. Street track bike, single speed, with a basket, with panniers on a couple of overnight camping trips, as a polo bike for two seasons and as it stands now as pictured with a flatbed rack and upright bars—the Pake track frame has served me well in a number of iterations it was meant for and a few it wasn’t.

The frame is steep and tight, with my 59cm frame having parallel 75° head and seattube angles, a short 988 mm wheelbase and a track legal bottom bracket height with only 58mm of bb drop. It is kept clean with a rear brake mount but no cable guides. There is ample clearance for big, comfortable and ride anywhere 28c tires, and I’ve crammed 32c cross tires in there for riding through the snow. While the pictured bike is the older 1” headtube model, on the latest version the fork has been changed to a 1 1/8” straight blade model. Welcome changes, but unfortunately they seem to have come at the expense of the water bottle mount and those of us that get thirsty when the rides start stretching out. I have two other track bikes without bottle mounts and I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve wished they had one.

When it comes to the actual ride of the bike I have zero complaints, the steep geometry is the main selling point of the bike and is where you come to love or hate the frame. I love it, I just find steep and tight geometry so much fun to ride I’ve been hooked since I first gave it a go. While some will find it tiresome on long road rides or even overly twitchy overall, if it’s what you’re looking for the Pake has it. The bike rides surprisingly nice, and the frame has proven durable in my experience with nary a dent or serious ding through tons of spills and lock-ups.

Check out www.pakebikes.com

Visit www.urbanvelo.org to read these reviews and more.


	Pake Track Frame The Pake Track Frame is a no frills steel frame meant for people building up a bike on a budget, or at least not looking to break the bank while still looking for “true” track geometry. At $225 for the frame and another $80 for the straight blade fork, the Pake frame is one of the least expensive track frames out there. I bought my first Pake over four years ago, and in that time have put lots of miles on it in all sorts of situations as it has more or less been my go-to bike for the entire time I’ve owned it. Street track bike, single speed, with a basket, with panniers on a couple of overnight camping trips, as a polo bike for two seasons and as it stands now as pictured with a flatbed rack and upright bars—the Pake track frame has served me well in a number of iterations it was meant for and a few it wasn’t. The frame is steep and tight, with my 59cm frame having parallel 75° head and seattube angles, a short 988 mm wheelbase and a track legal bottom bracket height with only 58mm of bb drop. It is kept clean with a rear brake mount but no cable guides. There is ample clearance for big, comfortable and ride anywhere 28c tires, and I’ve crammed 32c cross tires in there for riding through the snow. While the pictured bike is the older 1” headtube model, on the latest version the fork has been changed to a 1 1/8” straight blade model. Welcome changes, but unfortunately they seem to have come at the expense of the water bottle mount and those of us that get thirsty when the rides start stretching out. I have two other track bikes without bottle mounts and I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve wished they had one. When it comes to the actual ride of the bike I have zero complaints, the steep geometry is the main selling point of the bike and is where you come to love or hate the frame. I love it, I just find steep and tight geometry so much fun to ride I’ve been hooked since I first gave it a go. While some will find it tiresome on long road rides or even overly twitchy overall, if it’s what you’re looking for the Pake has it. The bike rides surprisingly nice, and the frame has proven durable in my experience with nary a dent or serious ding through tons of spills and lock-ups. Check out www.pakebikes.com Visit www.urbanvelo.org to read these reviews and more.	Baileyworks

Baileyworks