Lapierre DH720 Short ***Please Help***

MattCornes

Hi All,

I am looking at my options as I have purchased a Lapierre DH720 (which wasn't cheap) and am struggling to ride it... it is great downhill but is really quite terible across most other terrain... can anybody offer any good tips on how i can adjust the setup of my bike to help this problem.... I understand that this is a purpose built 'Downhill' bike but surely it can be made easier to ride up some hills as you need to go up to come down!

The main problem seems to lie in the fact that the suspension is too soft on the back so when your pedaling the suspension takes alot of the work instead of actually moving anywhere!

Somebody please help me!

Cheers Matt

MattCornes

Hi All,

I am looking at my options as I have purchased a Lapierre DH720 (which wasn't cheap) and am struggling to ride it... it is great downhill but is really quite terible across most other terrain... can anybody offer any good tips on how i can adjust the setup of my bike to help this problem.... I understand that this is a purpose built 'Downhill' bike but surely it can be made easier to ride up some hills as you need to go up to come down!

The main problem seems to lie in the fact that the suspension is too soft on the back so when your pedaling the suspension takes alot of the work instead of actually moving anywhere!

Somebody please help me!

Cheers Matt

MattCornes

Hi All,

I am looking at my options as I have purchased a Lapierre DH720 (which wasn't cheap) and am struggling to ride it... it is great downhill but is really quite terible across most other terrain... can anybody offer any good tips on how i can adjust the setup of my bike to help this problem.... I understand that this is a purpose built 'Downhill' bike but surely it can be made easier to ride up some hills as you need to go up to come down!

The main problem seems to lie in the fact that the suspension is too soft on the back so when your pedaling the suspension takes alot of the work instead of actually moving anywhere!

Somebody please help me!

Cheers Matt

rockmonkeysc

Forget it. Downhill bikes don't go up hill. The suspension, riding position and geometry are all wrong.
Downhill bikes are focused purely on going down the gnarliest tracks as fast as possible. There is nothing you can do to it to turn it in to a cross country bike.
If you want to do anything other than riding as fast as you possibly can down rocky, rooty super technical tracks you have got the wrong bike.

welshkev

MattCornes wrote:

Hi All,

I am looking at my options as I have purchased a Lapierre DH720 (which wasn't cheap) and am struggling to ride it... it is great downhill but is really quite terible across most other terrain... can anybody offer any good tips on how i can adjust the setup of my bike to help this problem.... I understand that this is a purpose built 'Downhill' bike but surely it can be made easier to ride up some hills as you need to go up to come down!

The main problem seems to lie in the fact that the suspension is too soft on the back so when your pedaling the suspension takes alot of the work instead of actually moving anywhere!

Somebody please help me!

Cheers Matt

are you for real? i mean the clue is in the name DH720. it's a bike for riding downhill. you should have bought a zesty or a spicy if you wanted something you could ride everywhere.

in answer to your question, there's nothing you can really change, sell it and buy the correct bike is my opinion...sorry

rockmonkeysc

Forget it. Downhill bikes don't go up hill. The suspension, riding position and geometry are all wrong.
Downhill bikes are focused purely on going down the gnarliest tracks as fast as possible. There is nothing you can do to it to turn it in to a cross country bike.
If you want to do anything other than riding as fast as you possibly can down rocky, rooty super technical tracks you have got the wrong bike.

mcnultycop

Haven't you just posted this question elsewhere on these boards?

It's a downhill bike. It is meant for downhilling. Sell it and buy something more suitable for pedalling up hills.

welshkev

mcnultycop wrote:

Haven't you just posted this question elsewhere on these boards?

.

yeah, i just answered it in MBUK part and then got all confused when my post wasn't here lol

The Northern Monkey

How many feckin threads do you need?

You bought the wrong bike.

.blitz

As above the angles are all wrong for anything other than DH everything about your Lapierre that makes it good at downhill makes it awful everywhere else.

I have a Voltage FR20 which is not a proppa DH bike but it is slack and quite a few people have tried to convert it into a trail bike with mixed results. Mostly shorter travel AM forks, different linkages and shocks as well as lighter wheels and components but at the end of the day it's a gravity bike.

lawman

Sounds like you bought the wrong bike. It will never be able to climb and trying to do so is pointless. It'll also snap after a few weeks too, the swingarms seem to be made of cheese, a mates snapped his twice in a year.

styxd

More money than sense?

Thewaylander

What Kev says,

did you really buy a purpose built DH bike to try and ride up? you must be completely new to the sport and have one of the following. received no advise, received no advise and ignored it, or been oturight lied to by a salesman.

nicklouse

MattCornes wrote:

Somebody please help me!

Cheers Matt

yep sell it and buy a suitable bike.

PS all your post merged.

rockmonkeysc

I did see someone use a Specialized Demo in a hill climb sprint race (Red Bull Cobble Wobble) and he did win his category but that was just 180 yards of sprinting and has been won by people on dirt jump bikes, road bikes, xc bikes, BMX's and a 4X bike.

MattCornes

Some interesting comments! As i said in my first post I know its a downhill bike........ was looking for advice as maybe there is an option to spend a few hundred on adjustments to help with uphills as we all know that to go downhill you have to do a little uphill.... and have had other downhill bikes in the past that arent anywhere near as bad as this.... obviously alot of know it alls on here that merely state the obvious! I have already ordered another bike (Mondraker Foxy) as I can use the 720 for Antur Stiniog and a couple of other lifts....... Thanks

lawman

For what its worth the DH720 a mate at uni has pedals reasonably well for a DH bike, not quite as good as an Intense M9 but not far off. It does have a tendancy to feeling like it wants to throw you over the bars though, and a fair few of us have thought this when we ride it. it's a decent bike, but its got a few issues like the swingarm.

Thewaylander

MattCornes wrote:

Some interesting comments! As i said in my first post I know its a downhill bike........ was looking for advice as maybe there is an option to spend a few hundred on adjustments to help with uphills as we all know that to go downhill you have to do a little uphill.... and have had other downhill bikes in the past that arent anywhere near as bad as this.... obviously alot of know it alls on here that merely state the obvious! I have already ordered another bike (Mondraker Foxy) as I can use the 720 for Antur Stiniog and a couple of other lifts....... Thanks

I don't know what you expect though it designed to be used purely for descent with uplift services? it's completely not meant to be pedaled up, no suitable gearing or geometry.

welshkev

MattCornes wrote:

Some interesting comments! As i said in my first post I know its a downhill bike........ was looking for advice as maybe there is an option to spend a few hundred on adjustments to help with uphills as we all know that to go downhill you have to do a little uphill.... and have had other downhill bikes in the past that arent anywhere near as bad as this.... obviously alot of know it alls on here that merely state the obvious! I have already ordered another bike (Mondraker Foxy) as I can use the 720 for Antur Stiniog and a couple of other lifts....... Thanks

we might seem like know it alls, but it's easy to be a know it all when such a stupid question is asked! and you definately must have too much money if you've ordered another bike aswell!

and yes, to do downhills you have to go up. but with a dh bike it's usually on a bus or you push the thing. i have a dh bike and a trail bike, as well as a jump bike. I wouldn't post on here saying:

"my 80mm travel hardtail jump bikes doesn't like the downhill track at cwmcarn, i keep getting punctures and i'm thrown off all the time, what can i do?" :roll:

welshkev

MattCornes wrote:

Some interesting comments! As i said in my first post I know its a downhill bike........ was looking for advice as maybe there is an option to spend a few hundred on adjustments to help with uphills as we all know that to go downhill you have to do a little uphill.... and have had other downhill bikes in the past that arent anywhere near as bad as this.... obviously alot of know it alls on here that merely state the obvious! I have already ordered another bike (Mondraker Foxy) as I can use the 720 for Antur Stiniog and a couple of other lifts....... Thanks

we might seem like know it alls, but it's easy to be a know it all when such a stupid question is asked! and you definately must have too much money if you've ordered another bike aswell!

and yes, to do downhills you have to go up. but with a dh bike it's usually on a bus or you push the thing. i have a dh bike and a trail bike, as well as a jump bike. I wouldn't post on here saying:

"my 80mm travel hardtail jump bikes doesn't like the downhill track at cwmcarn, i keep getting punctures and i'm thrown off all the time, what can i do?" :roll:

rockmonkeysc

welshkev wrote:

"my 80mm travel hardtail jump bikes doesn't like the downhill track at cwmcarn, i keep getting punctures and i'm thrown off all the time, what can i do?" :roll:

Learn to ride smoothly and pick better lines?

The DH720 pedals as well as any DH bike but everything (except the weak swingarm) that makes it a good downhill bike makes it useless for riding uphill. There is no pure downhill bike which is any good at all for riding uphill, that's why god created uplifts.
Some freeride bikes can be ridden uphill though they are still hard work.

welshkev

RockmonkeySC wrote:

welshkev wrote:

"my 80mm travel hardtail jump bikes doesn't like the downhill track at cwmcarn, i keep getting punctures and i'm thrown off all the time, what can i do?" :roll:

Learn to ride smoothly and pick better lines?

.

you do know that was a rehtorical question?

rockmonkeysc

Yes.

welshkev

just checking