Zesty 714, dropper seatpost, Crank Joplin or Pure i9500 ??

poucher

Hi All,

I have just bought a 2010 Lapierre Zesty 714 and am in the process of prepping it ready to go ride, so far I've fitted Easton Monkeylite carbon bars to it and Hope floating sawtooth discs 203 front / 180 rear.
I've also coated some areas of the frame ( chainstays, top tube etc ) with clear protective film, and made a 2mm thick abs bashplate ( heated and formed to fit nice ) that fits the bottom of the downtube and bottom bracket area so I dont have to worry about rocks clonking it :shock:

Mods to date :-


I have a couple of further questions that I'd like some opinions on :-

Do you think its going to wear the carbon frame in the seatpost area if I'm lifting the seat up and down all the time for downhills?
And if so, which do you think is the better seatpost dropper between these two, the Crank brothers Joplin


Or the Pure Racing i9500?

Or are these things not worth a light, and I'm just worrying about wearing the frame unnecessarily?

Also I was thinking of changing the tyres out for some Schwalbe Rocket Ron's or Nobby Nic's instead of the 2.4 Conti Mountain kings fitted, as I intend this bike to be my summer only( if it ever gets here ) ride.
Opinions please, are dropper seatposts a waste of time and money??

Thanks in advance,

Poucher

The Big Cheese

They're much of a muchness the seatposts, IIRC they use the same system, Joplins has a bad rep for side-to-side play, which was inevitable, but I would imagine thats something you just have to live with.

It's a bike at the end of the day, and as long as you've helitaped contact areas, and fitted a shainstay protector, I wouldn't worry about anything else. It won't damage the seattube raising the saddle etc

sniper68

I have a Joplin a mate has the K9000i.Apart from the travel they're about the same,sideways slop on the saddle(you DO get used to it ) and require a service every few months.
The new Joplin4 may be better but as you can get a Joplin for £120 i wouldn't go for the £200+ Joplin4 until some reviews are in.

scale20

If i had my time again I wouldnt buy the joplin. I love it for what it does but I've had it since just before xmas and it back with the fixers for the 2nd time so I've demanded a replacement, been told I'm getting the new Joplin 4, lets see how that one goes. You dont really notice the side to side movement after a while!

It wont wear the carbon frame dropping the post all the time, however do you really want to put a heavy joplin in a nice light set up?

timmys

I use a i900 with my Zesty.

When I bought it both Joplins and i900's seemed to have similar amounts of people complaining of reliability issues with them. Both manufactures also seem to say that they had improved the designs. Based on the fact I didn't think there was much to choose between them, reliability wise, I went for the one that was cheaper and had more travel. Haven't regretted my decision to go with the i900 and haven't had any problems. Can't even say I have any sideways play in the saddle that I've noticed.

fivelittlefish

Poucher wrote:

and made a 2mm thick abs bashplate ( heated and formed to fit nice ) that fits the bottom of the downtube and bottom bracket area so I dont have to worry about rocks clonking it :shock:

:

Any chance of a pic?

fivelittlefish

Oops - double post :oops:

poucher

Fivelittlefish,

I'll stick a pic up in the next few days of the bashplate, keep your eyes on this post.

Anyone got any opinions on tyre choices?
I'm looking for a nice lightweight fast rolling summer tyre, but the Schwalbes always seem to get criticised because of very thin, tear prone sidewalls?

Cheers,

Poucher

fivelittlefish

I've got a Ron and a Nic on my Zesty, seems OK so far. I'm running tubeless with some No Flats in there. The 2.4 Conti it came with was too big for me.
I ran Maxxis Minions thru dec and Jan and they were great... if a bit heavy.

What do you think of the Hope rotors compared to the formula one's? Do they work OK with the calipers? You had to use centerlock adaptors I assume?

fivelittlefish

Sorry did it again

poucher

FLF,

The Hope rotors mostly just add to the bling factor to be honest, I went up on the front one from the 180 Formula to the 203 Hope, its a hellish tight fit on the PM adaptor, there's less than 1.0mm clearance on the rivet heads as the disc revolves, its a bit of a faff to set up.

They are standard six bolt Hopes as the XT wheels already have suitable centre lock adaptors, they feel more powerful but that's due to the increase in diameter up to 203, but they are about 30 - 40 grms heavier each, but I recon I've made that back with the carbon bars, the standard syncros bars were 380 grms, the monkeylite carbon ones were 160 grms :shock: :shock:

ILooking at your Avatar, is yours a carbon 714 also? any issues with it yet?

Cheers,

Poucher

fivelittlefish

Yes, mine's a carbon 714. No problems apart from water in the seat tube - I think it's getting in thru the backwards facing slot. I'm trying a fix today for it, will post if it works.

poucher

Already done it

Try the Park glueless puncture repair patches, they are clear as well so just stick one over the rearward facing slot in the seatpost to keep the mud / water out, they flex as well for when you loosen / tighten up the clamp.
Try them, they work a treat!

Poucher

fivelittlefish

Ah - good idea. My fix was clear heli tape. Yours is a better fix.

lawman

damn you people with 714's, i havent even saved up for a 514 yet if it were my bike (and i wish it was ) id go for the new joplin, looks far better than before and crank bro's normally sort out all they're problems eventually, the wheels had naff freehubs and these are no fixed so the joplins should be too i guess

t-bone-king

Tyres- I just love nobby nics! Never had a problem with the thin walls.

poucher

Just ordered a pair of 2010 Evo Nobby Nic's from next day tyres £83 delivered so thst's a pretty good price.

Lawman - At least you believe I have one of these rare beasts, you've seen the pic!!

Poucher

nferrar

I don't think frame wear is much of a concern, I'd only get a dropper seatpost if you want the convenience and don't mind the weight. Not bothered with one yet on my 314 but do have an i900 on a hardtail (but rarely ride it). Post has been fine though but for some reason I don't find the saddle gets in the way as much on the Zesty so rarely drop it (hence havne't bothered getting another dropper post).

The Big Cheese

I always use Absolute Cycles (via ebay)

£26 for 2010 Evo NNs (2.1 though)

Bought my racing ralphs from there, my Conti Racekings, and various other tyres. In fact it's the only place I buy them from now.

Not OEM, always current model (unless stated otherwise) and top guys to deal with.

Always worth checking them out prior to ordering anywhere else.

poucher

Seems a good site Big Cheese, but I was after the 2010 NN's in the 2.25 size and UST tubeless fit, couldn't find them anywhere cheaper than next day tyres.
Most people were quoting just short of £50 per tyre :shock:

Poucher

The Big Cheese

Poucher wrote:

Seems a good site Big Cheese, but I was after the 2010 NN's in the 2.25 size and UST tubeless fit, couldn't find them anywhere cheaper than next day tyres.
Most people were quoting just short of £50 per tyre :shock:

Poucher

Yep, it's good, they had the USTs but not in 2.25 (thats what I run on my RRs)

You still got a good price, rubber is expensive these days

lawman

Poucher wrote:

Just ordered a pair of 2010 Evo Nobby Nic's from next day tyres £83 delivered so thst's a pretty good price.

Lawman - At least you believe I have one of these rare beasts, you've seen the pic!!

Poucher

yer very true ive just bought some non ust NN's for my maxlight , didnt pay full price tho cos i got them through work the LBS where i work is looking into to getting lapierres, but it looks like we'll be waiting til 2011, the things are selling like hot cakes

Northwind

The old model Joplins don't like the wet at all, there's a load of them on sale cheap just now and (no coincidence) a load of people complaining about them failing after just a couple of rides and needing services. The i900 earned itself a terrible rep for unreliability but the new versions seem to be better...

I must seem like a broken record but Gravity Dropper is the obvious choice, they're lighter and they work. I don't think you really need to worry about wearing the frame but dropper posts are brilliant anyway.

Where are my stabilisers?

I've got an i950, three months in, no problems to report and no play to speak of!

poucher

Five little fish, here's the pic of my bashplate as promised, as I said its 2mm thick abs and has a 1mm foam backing on it, so it acts just like a shinpad really I suppose.
I've picked up the mounting screws from the spare one on the downtube just below the last cable guide and one of the iscg bolt flanges ( bottom left of pic )
I'm quite confident it will protect the downtube / BB area from any rock hits, and it fits nice and snug, you have to bend down to even see it
If I ever get around to making a Mk II version of it ( I have more ideas :shock: ) you can have this one, probably never happen though :oops:


Thanks for all the comments on dropper posts guys, I'm loath to add more weight to the bike, but if I do go for one its gonna be the Pure i9500.

Poucher

elm37

i've got a specialized command post. 100mm of travel, and no play, even after 6 months. it uses a mechanical locking system, instead of hydraulic like the other two as well, so if anything does go wrong when i'm out, i could just lift it to the correct height and it would lock. also has an adjustable air spring so you can control the rebound speed.

not cheap though, but much better than the other two that you've suggested.

fivelittlefish

Poucher wrote:

If I ever get around to making a Mk II version of it ( I have more ideas :shock: ) you can have this one, probably never happen though :oops:

Poucher

Very nice of you Looks like a good job.

...and I'm still getting water in my seat tube even after blocking the slot :? :evil: