Lapierre Zesty 514

jamescw

As much as I love my Cotic Soul (http://on.fb.me/GDJpte), about six months ago I decided it was time to buy a full-suspension trail bike. After a lot of deliberation I settled on a Lapierre Zesty.

I was originally going to get an alloy model but none of them came with a through-axle fork, which was one of my main requirements. I could have bought a 314 and forked out for a new front wheel and new fork lowers but it seemed like it was worth spending a little extra for the carbon frame.

In the end I opted for the entry-level carbon model, the 514, in size XL as I'm 6' 2". You can read all about it in my 'first look' on BikeRadar:

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/article/lapierre-zesty-514-just-in-33495/




As soon as I'd taken those pictures, it was time to start swapping bits over to suit my personal preferences! The bar was a bit narrow for my liking at 680mm so I replaced it with a Ragley Wiser. At 710mm it's still slightly on the small side but sod it, the graphics match the bike perfectly!

Off came the own-brand grips because I like to ride with my hands right on the ends of the bars and didn't like the feel of the outboard lock-on collars. On went some Specialized Grapplers, which only have an inboard collar but still seem perfectly secure.

I fitted a Stan's tubeless conversion kit (in retrospect I wish I've gone for Joe's instead, as it's a lot cheaper) and swapped the Conti tyres for some larger volume Bontrager XR4s I had in the shed.

Working for BikeRadar, I'm sometimes called upon to help with long-term testing of parts. As a result, the Zesty is currently sporting Magura MT8 brakes instead of the standard Formula RXs and a Selle San Marco Concor saddle.

So far I've only had the chance to ride the bike on my local trails in Bristol and I've no complaints. All the cliches are true - it corners like it's on rails, climbs with ease and feels planted and lightning fast on descents.

I haven't had the chance to take detail shots of the current build but I'll upload a smartphone pic from the new Yer Tiz trail in Bristol in a few minutes.

jamescw

specialeyes

Really nice! How are the crossrides on it though? A mate has em on his lightweight ht and they seem very flimsy to me( they may not be of course )

buzz1

I have the crossrides on one of my bikes and I know what you mean, they do flex a bit, but I've gotten used to them now.
Lovely bike by the way

jamescw

Difficult to tell as I haven't ridden the bike with any other wheels. I'll let you know if I have any problems though!

bennett_346

Quite understated compared to other zestys but i like it

thornback

Like the bike have been trying to decide whether to get a zesty or a cross flow ,I mainly ride single track nothing to extreme downhill ,just want a good all rounder

jamescw

I haven't ridden the X-Flow but I don't think you'd be disappointed by the Zesty - it climbs really well and should give you extra confidence on the downhills.

jamescw

Latest spec

Frame: Lapierre Zesty 514, full carbon
Forks: RockShox Revelation RL
Bars: Renthal FatBar, 10mm rise, cut down to 740mm
Stem: Lapierre AMR, 80mm
Headset: semi-integrated
Grips: Specialized Grappler
Bar Ends: N/A

Front Brake: Magura MT8, 180mm rotor
Rear Brake: Magura MT8, 160mm rotor

Shifters: Shimano SLX
Cables: Shimano
Front Mech: Shimano SLX
Rear Mech: Shimano XT
Chain Device: None

Seat: Selle San Marco Concor
Seat Post: Lapierre XC Pro, 31.6mm x 350mm
Seat Post Clamp: Lapierre

Cranks: Shimano SLX, 175mm arms
Chainring(s): 24/32/42t
Chain:
Cassette: Shimano Deore, 10-speed, 11-36t
Pedals: CrankBrothers Candy C (old style)
Bottom Bracket: Shimano BB7141A

Front Wheel: Mavic Crossride Disc, 15mm Maxle Lite
Tube: None (Stan's conversion)
Tire: Bontrager XR4 Team Issue

Back Wheel: Mavic Crossride Disc, quick-release
Tube: None (Stan's conversion)
Tire: Bontrager XR4 Team Issue

Weight:

Other info:

jamescw

Ah, plus a Mucky Nutz Bender Fender front mudguard. Pics coming soon.

cat_with_no_tail

Needs a droppy-post.

You should abuse your position as a member of the press to bag yourself one of those new Fox thingys.

You should also get one of the new mucky-nutz REAR guards using the technique outlined above and let us know if it's any good.

SGTMASON

Nice bike dude! Love the Lapierre's!
I was soooooo close to buying a Spicy 516 before I bought my Scott Ransom.... Sooooo close!

jamescw

I'm still not sure about the whole dropper post thing - extra cost, weight and maintenance, and I don't tend to adjust my saddle height much anyway. For the Alps, definitely. For my local trails in the South West and South Wales, not sure.

I'm remaining open minded though, and definitely up for a bit of Fox DOSS testing – unfortunately I'm probably about 20th in the queue here at Future!

We've got some of the Mucky-Nutz rear guards in but I'm not sure I can bring myself to spoil the Zesty's beautiful, flowing lines! Might have to be done though - I love the front one and have it on all my bikes.

jamescw

Ah, forgot to mention - next upgrades are a faster rolling rear tyre and maybe a slightly more comfortable saddle.

1mancity2

Good call on the bars, I would defo go with a dropper post, you just never know when your gonna need it.

Any problems with the cables being internally routed yet?

Nice bike love the colour scheme.

jamescw

Main problem with the internal cable routing is that you have to cut the hoses every time you want to swap the rear brake - admittedly not a problem for most riders but a pain if you do it regularly. It's also a bit of a fiddle feeding the hose through the channel in the head tube - it makes things a lot easier if you drop the fork out.

muddydunc

Regarding changing rear brakes; I have just bought a 514 and I think it comes with the Formula Speedlock on the rear brake hose. Looks like it anyway. I know this won't help you if you want to fit other brakes; but do you know how this Speedlock fitting works; as I can't see any instructions on the Formula web site?

I've only done 2 rides on mine so far; but WOW; what a ride!!

jamescw

Yeah, the Speedlock works great and makes it really easy to remove the rear RX but you still have to cut the hose of any replacement brake.

It's simple to use - you just pull off the little tethered plastic clip at the lever end of the hose and the line then just pulls out of the lever. Genius. Watch this vid from about 2:24:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVOb0TzFAd8

muddydunc

Ahem; cheers James. This is where I need an 'embarrased emoticon' thingy!

jamescw

Don't worry - I only know because someone at work told me. Lucky they did, because I was all set to cut the hose!

There's nothing wrong with the RXs anyway - I've only swapped them for MT8s because I had a set lying around waiting to be tested and they saved a bit of weight.

je55a

Hey James, I have just got the same Zesty (love it) and am thinking of fitting a dropper. I know this thread is a bit old but...... I hate the thought of draping a scratchy cable over the carbon and I notice that the 2013 714 and 914 come with a RS Stealth. The frames look pretty much the same. Have you ever seen either of these. How do they route them?? I have seen a video of fitting a stealth to one of the new Treks (with internal routing) and you have to take out the bottom bracket to feed the hose back from the downtube and up the 'uptube' to the headset. Do you think it would be the same? Its a lot of money to commit without knowing how to fit!!

jamescw

Hi je55a, sorry - this answer is probably a bit late now (I've changed jobs, and emails, a couple of times over the past year so I didn't get an alert to let me know that you'd posted in this thread) but, according to Lapierre's UK distributor Hotlines, you can't fit a Stealth post to 2012 Zestys. I ended up going for a KS Lev to avoid too much flappy cable.

Antm81

Sorry to dig up an old thread but which stans kit did you use? I'm currently looking at converting my crossrides to tubeless and not sure what the best route is. Did you use UST specific tyres or would I be ok using my current Maxxis Advatages?

Thanks

Paul 8v

Liking the bike, I'd be interested to know what sort of a difference the carbon frame made (I have an alloy zesty)

jamescw

Hi Antm81, I used this kit: http://www.notubes.com/Standard-Kit-P49.aspx

Standard Maxxis tyres are a bit hit-and-miss for running tubeless. I've found that the wire bead generally ones work okay but the kevlar (folding) ones are too floppy to get a decent seal. Maxxis are bringing out a load of tubeless-ready tyres this year so it might be worth waiting for those, as the full-on LUST tubeless ones are pretty heavy.

jamescw

Hi Paul 8v, the carbon frame is stiffer and a fair bit lighter, and it feels brilliant on the climbs and on swoopy singletrack. On the downhills, the ride feel is slightly different, the frame seems to amplify cable rattle, etc a bit more and it can get a bit twitchy because it's just so damn light, but it's handled everything I've thrown it at.

There's a lot of nonsense talked about carbon frames being fragile but I've ridden mine on the downhill tracks at the Forest of Dean and the red routes at BikePark Wales without any problems. I've managed to take a gouge out of one of the chainstays and dent the top of the head tube but there are no cracks or anything like that and an alloy bike would have suffered just the same damage.

jamescw

I've made quite a few changes over the past year so I'll try to post an updated pic and spec soon.

Antm81

jamescw wrote:

Hi Antm81, I used this kit: http://www.notubes.com/Standard-Kit-P49.aspx

Standard Maxxis tyres are a bit hit-and-miss for running tubeless. I've found that the wire bead generally ones work okay but the kevlar (folding) ones are too floppy to get a decent seal. Maxxis are bringing out a load of tubeless-ready tyres this year so it might be worth waiting for those, as the full-on LUST tubeless ones are pretty heavy.

Thanks for the advice, should hopefully get this done soon, may swap to a different tyre and put the advantages on the other half's bike

jamescw

Sounds like a good plan - if it's your first time trying tubeless, it's definitely a lot easier with proper tubeless-ready tyres.

jamescw

So, here's how my Zesty's looking these days.



And here's the latest spec:

Frame: Lapierre Zesty 514 2012, full carbon
Shock: Fox Float RP2 w/ medium volume spacer
Fork: RockShox Revelation RL (extended to 150mm)

Bar: Renthal FatBar Lite, 10mm rise, 740mm
Stem: Thomson X4, 70mm(?)
Headset: semi-integrated
Grips: Pro Atherton Star Series mk2

Seat: Selle San Marco Concor
Seatpost: KS Lev
Seatpost clamp: Thomson

Front brake: Magura MT8, 180mm rotor w/ Superstar kevlar pads
Rear brake: Magura MT8, 160mm rotor w/ Superstar kevlar pads

Cranks: Shimano SLX, 175mm arms
Chainring(s): Renthal SR4, 32t
Bottom bracket: Shimano BB7141A
Chain device: e*thirteen XCX
Shifters: Shimano SLX (right-hand only)
Rear mech: Shimano XT Shadow+
Cassette: Shimano Deore, 10-speed, 11-36t

Front Wheel: DT Swiss Tricon XM 1550 w/ 15mm Maxle Lite
Tube: None (Stan's conversion)
Tire: WTB Bronson AM TCS 2.3in

Back Wheel: DT Swiss Tricon XM 1550 w/ 9mm RWS Thru Bolt
Tube: None (Stan's conversion)
Tire: WTB Weirwolf AM TCS 2.3in

Pedals: CrankBrothers Candy C mk1
Accessories: Mucky Nutz Bender Fender front mudguard


I've gotta say, I love how it rides, especially with the volume spacer in the shock and the 10mm longer fork. Just wish I could get the Revs feeling as nice as the rear end!