Latest impulse buy... Lapierre Zesty 314

Paul 8v

So, I was thinking of buying an Orange 5 frame and swapping the parts over from my Kona to make a new bike but then I saw this in my LBS and it was actually only £100 more than the RRP of the Orange frame, it would have been rude not to!

I'm planning on swapping a few bits over from the Kona like the XT Chainset, wheels and XTR brakes but I'll see how I get on with what's already on it before I muck about with it.I'll definitely swap over the shifters as it's only got Deore's on it at the moment.

The Kona will now have flatties and be used for lighter duty stuff or when it gets really muddy in the winter as it's a massively capable bike still and the missus will also use it if we go out together, this will be more of a trail centre bike I think, not had much of a chance to ride it yet but it's like a bloody missile!

Here are the pics, sorry about the quality, I'm no David Bailey...

DCR00

Nice bike man. Love the silver frame.

You have a massive cat

Paul 8v

Lol, she's actually pretty small but she looks massive in that photo! The silver is a really nice finish to be fair

jay12

very nice bike. have fun

Tolk

Nice bike.
Just noticed you're from Maldon, i used to live in Mayland. Is there much riding round those parts? I used to ride from Mayland to Danbury forest every weekend with my mates when i was younger, pretty much all we knew of!

Paul 8v

Danbury is where most of the cool stuff is, the trails around there are really well developed these days, there's quite a few nice trails around the rest of Essex but you've got to hunt for them! I should hopefully be taking this up to Nottingham as I've got a week of training up there, going to see what I can find, the ultimate plan is to take it to the Alps but I want to get used to it first, it's very different to what I'm used to.

Andy!

I like that.

The cable bosses on the down tube are a really nice feature.

Devastazione

Congratulations and welcome to the Zesty owners club. I tell you what,that metal looking frame has a lot more character than the usual black carbon on my 714. Happy trails,you're gonna love that rig. Just do yourself a favor,get rid of that Race King in the back,trust me 8)

Paul 8v

Lol, I don't think the Race King will be too amazing when the mud gets worse, what did you swap yours to?
I like all the red anodised bits, it looks like you've spent a load of money on tricking it out with aftermarket bolts 8)

Devastazione

Paul 8v wrote:

Lol, I don't think the Race King will be too amazing when the mud gets worse, what did you swap yours to?
I like all the red anodised bits, it looks like you've spent a load of money on tricking it out with aftermarket bolts 8)

My dealer swapped for free with a Maxxis Crossmark placed reversed.I still have to the test what's the advantage of having it reversed tho.... :? He was out of Mountain King 2.2 . I'm pretty happy with all Continental selection anyway . Race King on my XC rig for example are fantastic !!!

Also invest in a Hope seat clamp,it seems that although good looking and functional the OEM one won't last that much... :roll:

Stevo_666

Nice bike, wish I could do an impulse buy for that amount of wedge !

Paul 8v

I was a little bit surprised the missus let me buy it to be fair, I just phoned up and said can I buy a bike, she didn't even ask how much it was! I've just swapped jobs and I had three weeks holiday owed to me so that pretty much covered it but she's very understanding, we're off to Vegas to get married in a fortnight so I've said she can buy whatever she wants, it's only fair!

Stevo_666

Paul 8v wrote:

I was a little bit surprised the missus let me buy it to be fair, I just phoned up and said can I buy a bike, she didn't even ask how much it was! I've just swapped jobs and I had three weeks holiday owed to me so that pretty much covered it but she's very understanding, we're off to Vegas to get married in a fortnight so I've said she can buy whatever she wants, it's only fair!

Enjoy it while you can mate. In just over 2 weeks weeks you'll learn that it's better to ask forgiveness than permission

MountainMonster

Very nice bike man. Where you thinking of going in the Alps for a ride? If you make it to Austria or near Vienna in specific, i've got a few nice trails I can take ya on. Only one with a proper downhill section, most are all pure climbing then straight back down the same path.

Devastazione

Paul 8v wrote:

I was a little bit surprised the missus let me buy it to be fair, I just phoned up and said can I buy a bike, she didn't even ask how much it was! I've just swapped jobs and I had three weeks holiday owed to me so that pretty much covered it but she's very understanding, we're off to Vegas to get married in a fortnight so I've said she can buy whatever she wants, it's only fair!

Enjoy Vegas man !! I lived there for 3 years,those were THE years 8)

Paul 8v

Devastazione wrote:

Paul 8v wrote:

I was a little bit surprised the missus let me buy it to be fair, I just phoned up and said can I buy a bike, she didn't even ask how much it was! I've just swapped jobs and I had three weeks holiday owed to me so that pretty much covered it but she's very understanding, we're off to Vegas to get married in a fortnight so I've said she can buy whatever she wants, it's only fair!

Enjoy Vegas man !! I lived there for 3 years,those were THE years 8)

Looking forward to it, we're going to LA, Hawaii and San Fran after too :-)

Paul 8v

MountainMonster wrote:

Very nice bike man. Where you thinking of going in the Alps for a ride? If you make it to Austria or near Vienna in specific, i've got a few nice trails I can take ya on. Only one with a proper downhill section, most are all pure climbing then straight back down the same path.

We weren't really sure where to go so, you might well be the man to ask!

cee

mind and get your grass cut before you go though.....

Thewaylander

hehe good bike,

I was trying to decide between this and my mondraker, ended up with the mondraker as this felt more like a bit xc bike, while the Mondraker was a small play bike if that makes sense. Both rode really well but came at the riding from different angels.

Paul 8v

cee wrote:

mind and get your grass cut before you go though.....

Hehe, yeah I was meant to do it that weekend but I got distracted by shiney things

Paul 8v

So, had my first proper ride on the Zesty today, I was very impressed with how it rode, very capable even in the muddy mess that was todays ride. It climbs like a mountain goat and descends like a tank, just ploughs through roots etc like there's nothing there!
The only thing I wasn't impressed with was the white grips and white saddle, not only do they make you look like a bender they also are really impractical and look awfull after about the first ten meters of the trail! I've bought some new grips for it and I've got a black saddle on the way, this should help to stop it looking like Ronan Keatings bike with all the white!

Here's a few photos to prove she's no garage queen!



The offending items...

Devastazione

Well done mate !! You've got some sticky mud in your area,I wish I could have that. Over here is mostly graniteish mud that doesn't stick much and wipes off the tires itself very easily.
How did rear tyre perfom ?? I was thinking of putting it back as I'm having some issues with the Maxxis Crossmark... :roll:

Paul 8v

Te rear wasn't too bad to be fair and it had to contend with some pretty wet roots, it did drift a little bit on some of the corners but it handled it a lot better than expected, even up steep climbs in the mud!

Paul 8v

PS, Essex mud is basically clay 8)

ash.addy

You might like to look in on the rest of us lapierre owners

http://www.lapierreownersclub.com/forum/index.php

Paul 8v

Cool, thanks for the link Ash

popstar

Gz with new bike. I'd have to agree that first upgrade of the bike would have to be tyres first. Conti's are solid tyres but suppose they are more suited to XC type of trails, while the bike is something different. For their size, their weight is astonishingly low hence to massive acceleration and speed bike gives you.

My rear RaceKings had first deep scuff to the cord just after 1 day riding, so had to think of swapping them. Front MountainKing is a huge tyre at 2.4 but it only works in the dry at moderate cornering speeds. The washout comes way too fast and unpredicted that those tyres had to go too. They aren't bad riding at normal speeds and are helpfull with roots, but just didn't like their surprise wash out at places.

LP seat is bonkers too, was cought out few times on techy terrain. That fork shape seat is evil, but I just readjusted angle of it before I finally decide on which seat to go for.

Seatclamp was worn out in 3months, so have to look out for new one or finally buy the riser seatpost at last.

That info is my own experience of owning standard LP, and i can honestly say ... the bike is something else. It may not corner as fine as my mate's Wolfridge 6.9 does (maxles on both ends) but boy oh boy once you get to the exit of corner, Zesty just flies off like a bee from hell into straight line!

I run Maxxis Minions DH (front) Highroller (back) , they don't roll as well as Conti's on climbs but IMO they are worth for aggresive XC riding.

kopite1979

wise choice, welcome to the club.
I`ve changed a few things since buying mine last year, seat was the first to go, seatpost, chainset, tyres definately went! My seatpost QR is fine though.
I bloody love it, gives you great confidence!

kopite1979

oh... and it`s currently in the shop having the bottom bracket & headset replaced