2011 Lapierre Zesty 214 vs Trek Fuel EX8 2012

dashfield

Hi,

I'm a beginner and was hoping for a bit of advice about bikes.

I bought a used 2011 Lapierre Zesty 214 about a month ago and so far it seems like a good bike (not that I have much to compare it to). The main problems I have is that there is no pro-pedal or lock for front or back suspension, so it's not great for climbing. I also think the brakes aren't great.

I've found a 2012 Trek Fuel EX8 for very similar money to what I paid for the Zesty and I'm just wondering if it's worth the change? I've read the other thread on here about the Remedy vs EX8 and picked up a few things from there, and I was especially worried that someone said the Trek frame is weak and can break.

At the moment I usually ride a route that involves climbing on the road, a bit of XC and then DH through a woods. But as the weather gets better I hope to concentrate more on XC and DH (although nothing extreme from a DH perspective, I won't be going off bigs jumps any time soon).

So basically, this bike:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/lap ... 7#features

vs

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tre ... 3#features

I need to decide in the next few days, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

rapid_donkey

I love the look of Lapierres, always wanted a Zesty, always checking ebay for a tidy one to replace my Trance...
However, I will probably never own one. I get scared by the stories of twice a year BB changes and snapping frames. How much do you weigh?

In your case, I would choose the Trek EX8. Having had only a quick browse over the spec sheets of those 2 bikes, the Trek is better equipped on the whole. The Treks fork has tapered steerer and 15mm thru-axle, the rear shock has a pro-pedal switch (Fox float R only has pro pedal built in), mixture of SLX and XT running gear, and better brakes.

Also, I dare say if something were to go wrong, you would have more points of contact and better service from Trek. Im not speaking from experience though so could be wrong.

However, as you already have the Lapierre, you could chuck some money at it, do some upgrades and end up with a stonking bike.

rockmonkeysc

Why not just change the shock and fork on the Zesty?

dashfield

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Why not just change the shock and fork on the Zesty?

I probably should have clarified that i can't afford to spend any more money on either bike at the moment and probably for the foreseeable future.

So upgrading any parts on the Lapierre isn't going to happen for at least a year or so.

If it helps, I'm 6ft and almost 16 stone, so a bit chunky (although will be loosing some weight over the next few months).

I spent about £800 on the Lapierre and the Trek is £850, which seemed like a good deal to me.

Stu Coops

I currently own a Zesty 514 and think it's superb but have also had a Fuel EX8 back in 2009 and apart from the crap wheels "Bontrager rythym comps" which were always getting twanged and not running true it was a really good bike, frame wise i would say it was better than my Zesty and seemed more beefy as for the ride pretty much the same just different geometry.
As others have said you do seem to change BB's a fair bit on the Lapierre's i tend to go through two a year easily and i only get out MTB at weekends as through the week it's road training so they don't get a lot of use but my Trek never needed a new BB in the two years i had it.

Regarding your weight i think there is a weight limit on the Zesty's of 100kgs but i may be wrong.

ddraver

I was mightily impressed by the Fuel EX I test rode - would have bought it if real life had nt got in the way! For your sort of riding it sounds much more suited...

dashfield

Thanks for your comments and advice guys.

I decided to buy the Trek, only to find that it had already been sold.

Gutted.