Lapierre Spicy 316 or Trek Remedy 8?

Liam1983

Having spent many months researching various bike brands I have narrowed down my shortlist to the Lapierre Spicy 316 and the Trek Remedy 8.

I have around £2500 to spend and would welcome opinions on which is the better bike.

I'm looking for a bike which gives me options, whether it's climbing technical single track or pining it down, i'd welcome any other bike suggestions also.

Look forward to hearing your opinions.

Liam1983

So many reviews for both these bikes, very difficult to filter the fact from the fiction. As always with internet discussion forums, its hard to get a handle on who's giving advice for purely philanthropic reasons or who has ulterior motives behind what they say!

hobbitsharley

i have no ulterior movtive other than - i own a 516 and am enjoying it no end but i have upgraded a lot of the spec - CCDB shock, hope brakes and wheels and dropper seat post other than that the frame and suspension i find to be as good as if not better than some of the others i have ridden or owned including an orginal Patriot LT and an orginal brain Epic, it suffered with the stock shock but with the CCDB its a different bike

hobbitsharley

i have no ulterior movtive other than - i own a 516 and am enjoying it no end but i have upgraded a lot of the spec - CCDB shock, hope brakes and wheels and dropper seat post other than that the frame and suspension i find to be as good as if not better than some of the others i have ridden or owned including an orginal Patriot LT and an orginal brain Epic, it suffered with the stock shock but with the CCDB its a different bike

dot1

I have a 2009 Trek Remedy 7 and my friend has a 2011 Spicy 316. He was in the exact same situtation as you are about a month ago. Although I love the Remedy, I advised him to go for the Spicy as it's better value for money I feel as Trek have a horrible habit of kitting their bikes out from head to toe in Bontrager stuff. That said, the Remedy is lighter and has the ABP (which I only noticed made a difference when I tried his bike and the rear sus stiffened up under rear braking) It depends on if you're planning or able to do any upgrading then think about getting the Remedy for the suspension design and the fancy DRCV shock. If you can't afford to upgrade or will only do so when stuff breaks, then I'd go for the Spicy.

One thing to bare in mind with the Spicy, which he is a bit frustrated about is that there is no lockout on the front or rear which is a bit of a pain on the climbs!

chiefinspector

I bought a 2011 Trek Remedy 7 a couple of months ago and have been very impressed with it so far. I did look at the spicy as well but the closest bike shop to me that sold them had all run out of thier whole 2011 allocation so no more were due in.

I did manage to have a shot on a spicy but didn't get nowhere near long enough to say if it was any better than the Trek but it certainly was a good bike.

Tbh they are both excellent bikes and to quote what has been said many times before on this forum - try before you buy and choose what suits you best.

Liam1983

Thanks all for the feedback,

It would appear that it's a case of six of one, half dozen of the other in terms of pro's and con's.

In response to Hobbitsharley and Dot 1 I will eventually upgrade parts over time but would not be looking to upgrade such a significant (costly) part as the rear shock immediately, after all this is a £2500 bike. I agree with Dot 1 regarding the Trek finishing kit but I would probably be more comfortable replacing the Trek Bonty stuff than the lapierre shock (afterall personalising these things is all part of the fun but so is having cash for a social life).

I am ashamed to say that looking at the package of both bikes my head says Trek Remedy 8 (because of the ABP and Lock out options) but my heart says the Lapierre purely because it's a Lapierre and ive always coveted them as a brand, lets face it we all like to have the bragging rights on the mountain (sad but true).

I wonder which bike Chief Inspector would have gone for if his local dealer weren't out of 2011 Lapierre stock.

I plan to make a purchase the weekend after next (25th June) so I have just over a week to get some test riding done, I will keep you all posted.

Thanks again.

Liam.

"I will not covet my neighbours Lapierre"

Liam1983

I wonder if those voting in the poll above could give me their reasons for them voting one way or the other.

Theres only been 3 users come forward with qualitative feedback.

All opinions welcomed!

Si-Intense

Santa Cruz Heckler would be my choice, don`t be led by magazine reviews !!!!

dlknight

Good luck choosing Liam, I'm in a similar position but with the Trek Fuel EX 8 vs Lapierre Zesty 314. I've test ridden both of them and enjoyed the experience on both that now I'm stuck against which one to get. Like you I would like the Trek for the ABP and DRCV shock but also liked the fulcrum wheels and formula rx brakes on the Lapierre...

If only the LBS would let you swap if you changed your mind later

When I started looking it was the Lapierre I wanted and the Trek came up in conversation with the LBS.

Liam1983

I think what may be the overiding deciding factor in this will be the deal I can broker with the bike shop.

Now we all know that Trek are rather anal with their policy on distance selling i.e they just dont allow suppliers to sell via post. This in itself makes shopping around for a deal very difficult as what you may save shopping around for internet deals you lose in travel expenses actually picking the thing up!

At least I thought that until I found this particular website:

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/trek_remedy_8.html

Whilst it doesnt offer a great deal in terms of bike discount it does however offer an incentive called podium points, in other words for every £50 you spend you get 1 podium point which relates to various free gear (think petrol reward points and you won't be to far off)
The clincher here is if purchasing a £2500 bike they give you 50 points, which equates to approx £500 worth of free stuff, including computers, gps you name it you can redeem it with these points so all in all your £2500 gets you £3000.

What I should metion at this point is that this company do not stock Lapierre only the Trek.

Unless anyone can point me in the direction of a similar deal with Lapierre I think I will soon be the proud owner of a Remedy 8

dlknight

Have you been to your LBS? I was pleasantly surprised at mine (they stock Trek and Lapierre) and they have given me discounted prices on both bikes (roughly 10% off).

Not sure where you are located but you will need to pick the bike up from pedalon as they are not allowed to courier it to you as per Trek's policy.

There is also welovelapierre.com with good deals.

dot1

I actually bought my Remedy from Pedalon. Its a good 60-odd mile drive for me, but I got loads of free stuff courtesy of the podium points which I thought was easily worth it! I emailed them with a list of all the stuff I wanted and it was all sitting in a box waiting for me when I arrived!

timpop

Get the Spicy, I absolutely love mine. Picked it up a few months ago. It's a sweet ride all over the place but OMG, it rocks on the descents. Give me some gravity any day on the Spicy. The ride is super smooth and responsive, it tracks really well. Go for it, you won't regret it.
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-lapierre-spicy-316-11-41142/

In the last issue of Mountain Biking UK it got the highest score of the bikes in that category and price range. 5 stars.

Liam1983

I have actually back ordered last months Mountain biking UK on the strength of the £2500 best buy feature, maybe that will point me in the right direction!

hobbitsharley

Liam1983 wrote:

Thanks all for the feedback,

It would appear that it's a case of six of one, half dozen of the other in terms of pro's and con's.

In response to Hobbitsharley and Dot 1 I will eventually upgrade parts over time but would not be looking to upgrade such a significant (costly) part as the rear shock immediately, after all this is a £2500 bike. I agree with Dot 1 regarding the Trek finishing kit but I would probably be more comfortable replacing the Trek Bonty stuff than the lapierre shock (afterall personalising these things is all part of the fun but so is having cash for a social life).

Thanks again.

Liam.

"I will not covet my neighbours Lapierre"

Liam
i didnt upgrade the shock until i took it down Kinver Edge down hill and found the air can 'wanting' up until that point the Fox RP23 with Boost valve fitted stock to the 2010 was more than man enough for everything that was thrown at it, it just needed a bit more air than suggested - read 5'6" 200lb, nutcase attached to the bars with a lack of polished skills due to almost 6 yr break

oh and no coveting my Lapierre

Brood

timpop wrote:

In the last issue of Mountain Biking UK it got the highest score of the bikes in that category and price range. 5 stars.

Out of interest, what were the other bikes and what score did they get?

*AL*

Brood wrote:

timpop wrote:

In the last issue of Mountain Biking UK it got the highest score of the bikes in that category and price range. 5 stars.

Out of interest, what were the other bikes and what score did they get?

The Orange 5 was awarded 6 stars out of 5

solsurf

Have looked at both my self and decided to stick with my cannondale and get some new wheels. I think I would go for the Trek

morleyman200

id go for the trek personally, you get a better suspension design and the DRCV shock is a real dream. have to be ridden to be appreciated though,

was just looking at the podium points thing, one point to consider, you cant buy bars and stems etc which aren't bontrager, so if you wanted to get rid of the stock bontrager, you can only replace it with better bontrager stuff.

tom

jasekay

I`ve got a Trek remedy 8 and i can honestly say its the best bike i have ridden. I had to change the stem for a shorter 70mm one and also the stock tyres and saddle but now its smokes....!! I have always had specialized before and my last steed was a 2008 stumpy expert but this Trek just blows it away , it climbs like a mountain goat and comes down with absolutely no effort the fox suspension just eats anything in sight and smooths the way. I am definetly riding far faster than i ever have . I was reluctant at first about the Trek but after owning mine for the last 9mnths i am truly converted.

Liam1983

Moving the goal posts slightly I think the Trek Scratch Air 8 would suit my style a little better, does anyone have experience of the 2011 Scratch Air 8?

jonnyashworth

I ride an 09 remedy9 that I have customised alot. I would say that remedys produced after 09 have lost their balls a bit. They use 32 forks have steeper head angles not 20mm axles up front......... My older remedy does feel more akin to a scratch (geometry wise). For your origonal conundrum I would have a spicy if its a hard hitting all mountain bike you want but a remedy if its just a trail bike! If you do dabble with freeride and downhill then that puts the scratch into the mix. I would personally rather have this years scratch than the spicy or remedy.

If you spend more than 50% of your time riding doing downhill and freeride buy the scratch if you spend less than 50% of your time riding doing downhill and freeride buy the spicy and If you spend more than 50% of your time doing XC buy the remedy

Liam1983

Thanks everyone for your help.

For those who are interested I have gone for the Trek Scratch Air 8 (ordered today)

Much appreciated.

Finally a forum discussion that didn't descend into abuse and petty squabbling!

Hoorah for the Mountain bike Fraternity!

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Trek-Scratch-Air-8-Previewed-2011.html

dot1

That is NICE! Make sure you post some photos up in the Your Mountain Bikes section!