2013 Lapierre Spicy 316 question

lochussie

My brother is looking at buying one of these. My only concern is that the RockShox Domian R 160 Coil fork has no compression damping. Will this make the fork really crap, or just not brilliant? Will the main symptom be blowing through travel too easily on big hits? Is £2k too much to pay for a bike with such a basic fork?

I gather that if the fork is not too OEM then a Motion Control damper can be fitted to make the for pretty good. Anyone have experience of this?

supersonic

Yes, they tend to dive and blow thropugh the travel easily. Can't see why the MC damper would not fit.

rockmonkeysc

Moco damper can be fitted but the fork weighs a ton and still isnt great. It takes big hits to get it moving. Very crude compared to a Lyrik which is the fork I would expect on a £2k bike.

spacemonkey

hi

i just bought one of these on saturday and mine came with a fox set-up. it also appears that the spec on the website details this too: http://www.lapierre-bikes.co.uk/mtb/tra ... 14#onglets

rockmonkeysc

Thats a Zesty, the question was about the Spicy

spacemonkey

i realise my mistake, sorry.

Tom Barton

I guess long travel trail forks are by their nature very expensive to make well. Even a lyric is at least £700 aftermarket so its one hell of a part to try jam onto a 2k bike. Its a great frame to build up from so long as you recognise that some parts on this bike will hold it back a bit and will benefit from upgrades over time. The only other options are to buy a second hand alternative fork (cheapest), buy a good new fork (pricey) or go for the 516 (even pricier - but the kit is all much better across the board).

I guess the other question is - how experienced a rider is your brother? and will he notice if perhaps its his first big full suss ride? I bought bikes that had less than spectacular parts on them and upgraded as I learned and developed my skills...

lochussie

Cheers for the info guys, possibly I am worrying too much as this is his first bike since a teenager. Just find it hard to accept that you have to accept poor bits on a £2k bike.

rockmonkeysc

Just remember that a long travel fork with poor or no dampi is a lot worse to ride than the equivilent short travel fork. The dive as it blows through its travel is pretty nasty.
Other manufacturers manage to get a Lyrik on £2k bikes.
Dont forget that its getting close to the end of the model year and whatever you buy will be heavily discounted in a month or two so you could wait and get a better bike for the money.

lochussie

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Just remember that a long travel fork with poor or no dampi is a lot worse to ride than the equivilent short travel fork. The dive as it blows through its travel is pretty nasty.
Other manufacturers manage to get a Lyrik on £2k bikes.
Dont forget that its getting close to the end of the model year and whatever you buy will be heavily discounted in a month or two so you could wait and get a better bike for the money.

Hmm, sounds pretty bad. Can you point me to the brands that get a Lyric or similar fork on a £2k bike? Am stuggling to find stuff in stock in large size in the local shops. Waiting for the sales seems a good idea, but he is keen to get out riding, plus I'm assuming genuinely good bikes in common sizes will be scarce.

rockmonkeysc

Look at YT Industries and Rose bikes. The Rose Uncle Jimbo is a really great bike. Or wait another month and you will be able to get a Specialized Enduro or something else similar.

lochussie

Thanks, that Rose bike is great value, does it ride well?

rockmonkeysc

Yes very. A mate has one. It climbs well, descends very well and is a quality bike.
Rose have a UK agent as well which the other German companies dont have.