Lapierre is coming to Canada - 2010 Line up!

Lapierre officially launched their 2010 bikes last month in Morzine, France located in the beautiful French Alps during the Pass' Portes Du Soleil. They invited Pinkbike to take the journey overseas to test ride and give feedback as to what Canada will think about their bikes on our terrain.

When I arrived Wednesday evening in Morzine I met a few of the Engineers and Team Members of Lapierre, my first impression of the group was they appeared more like family than co-workers, everybody was a rider and everybody worked great together. Their knowledge, patience and accommodating me to answer all my questions was outstanding, to many riders this is just as important as the quality of their bikes.

I found Lapierre had a strong attention to detail when it came to all the little things such as assembly hardware, cable routing, linkages and over all aesthetics of their bikes. Matching anodized hardware with components, CNC machined pieces, smooth contours with composites and hydro-formed tubing, the simple but effective graphics, there were no shortcuts in the design and production here.

My first test ride was the Froggie 718, this is a 180mm travel all mountain bike running the patented OST Virtual Pivot Point platform with a high end parts spec too. I met with the engineers and discussed bike set up with the new Fox suspension then off I went.


I started off putting the Froggie 718 on the chopping block and detoured straight to the Mt. Pleney DH course. The course was not difficult in its terrain, but catered to high speeds, hard packed corners, slippery wet rock sections, occasional booter jumps to flat landings with a lot of breaking bumps along the way. It only took a couple runs of minor tweaking with the rebound settings to feel completely comfortable on the bike. I managed to ride both the S/M (equal to a 17” frame) and M/L (Equal to a 19” frame) to compare the differences in top tube lengths and stand over heights. Standing 5'10” the larger frame did stretch me out as it should, while the S/M was a perfect fit. The frame design simply added length to the top tube and seat tube (above the top tube), while the stand over height remained the same for both sizes. The seat tube angle allows correct rider positioning over the pedals with a mere inch of difference in axle to axle lengths between the two sizes, this was consistent with their full suspension bikes. The Froggie runs a 66.5 degree head angle so it handled well in the tight tree sections and the bike felt very well balanced while jumping, the 180mm travel had no issues with the booter jumps to flat landings either. I did have minor handling issues at higher speeds through the rough breaking bumps, mainly because the bike felt too light and became hard to track, however I have to mention the psi in the tires were set more for XC, so even though the Froggie is not a DH bike it managed to get me through that rough stuff with minimal resistance. The weight was a plus going to the next phase of my testing, for a 7 inch travel bike the Froggie comes in at 34lbs, Equipped with the Fox DHX air 5.0 with two position pro-pedal. The headtube will support a 1.5 steer tube, but stock comes with a 1-1/8 reducer headset steering a Fox Float RC2 with 'Fit' Technology, Crank Bros adjustable seat post and the Truvativ Hammer Schmidt, the Froggie pedaled well with little to no bobbing on climbs while absorbing roots and rocks without hesitation. The Froggie is also equipped with a Sram X.O rear derailleur, X.O Triggers, Mavic Cross Max wheels with Continental Rubber Queen 2.4 tires, Avid Elixir brakes, Thompson Stem with Easton Carbon Monkey lite bar.


After my massive lunch of cheese and cold cuts, I moved onto the big bikes, Lapierre's DH920 and new for 2010 the DH720. There will also be a DH920 Frame kit available and it looks awesome.


First I sat and chatted with Nico Voullioz as to his input to the design. It was great to hear how a top racer explains geometry and design in a rider's perspective. Simply put, after hours of extensive testing and development, Nico and Lapierre using the patented FPS2 suspension platform, created a downhill race bike that will hold stable at very high speeds and not lose momentum in the corners. The engineers set up the DH920's suspension for me. I went up to the Mt. Pleney DH course for a couple laps with Nico and I did several more after.


I was impressed how fast the bike actually was and how smooth it rode. I did multiple sprints pedaling out of the saddle and the bike transferred my energy straight to the rear wheel. With a wheel base of 45.5 inches the bike was definitely stable in the high speed straights even with the deep braking bumps, I had no issues changing lines or moving the bike around on the course to set up for corners or the booter jumps.


I (briefly) followed Nico into the treed switch backs which contained a high line of off camber roots where hopping the bike up and over was necessary, weighing in at a stock 38lbs the bike was easy to get off the ground. With a head angle of 65 degrees and a 14.5 inch BB height it held the upcoming corners with ease. I found myself jumping the bike a lot further than I was anticipating too, the bike was also very well balanced and easy to take air, there were some step down sections along the course where you can really send it. The DH920 held nothing back, I even spooked myself a couple times coming up to sections too hot but had no issues negotiating. The DH920 comes spec'd with a DHX RC4 coil shock, for those of you conscious about your weight there is room to shave additional grams here by adding a Ti Spring, Mavic DeeMax wheel set, a complete Shimano Saint drive train, Thomson seat post, Syncros saddle, bar and direct mount stem attached to the Fox 40 RC2 with 'Fit' technology and Formula's THE ONE 203 brakes, these had incredible stopping power I must say.

The DH720 was built with a price point spec running the same frame, a DHX RC2 coil shock, Formula brakes, Alex FR wheels, Sram X.9 rear derailleur and shifter, RockShox Boxxer Team, Syncros Saddle, Handle bars and direct mount stem. The only difference is that the rear brake cable runs outside the frame where the DH920 houses both cables internally through the downtube.

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Lapierre also has a solid line of All Mountain Bikes that I feel should not go unnoticed. The 160mm travel Spicy series running the OST Virtual Pivot comes in a full price and parts range from riders that are breaking into the big mountain terrains to the veterans that will desire the Spicy 916 that comes with an aluminum front triangle and the HR carbon rear end weighing in only at 27 pounds. The Spicy is a great performing bike that bridges the gap to a large variety of off road disciplines and light weight too. I test rode the Spicy 516, it is a full aluminum frame and comes stock at 29lbs with a full Shimano XT drivetrain, XT wheelset, Shimano SLX shifters, Thomson Post with Fizik saddle, Thomson Stem with Syncros handlebar and Formula ORO 160 brakes. I ventured the bike into the valleys of the Alps as well as my favorite thing to do is always test a bike down a DH run. The Spicy lives up to its name and was never a dull moment.

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If 160mm is still too much travel LaPierre has you covered with the "The Zesty" series, running the Patented OST virtual Pivot and 140mm travel, The Zesty is available in a full range of specs and prices. Because the Zesty is one of Lapierre's most popular models, they did go a couple steps further and produced the Zesty 714 and the 914. These are complete full carbon bikes that take light weight All Mountain bikes to a new level, the Zesty 714 comes in at 25.8lbs and the 914 a low 24.5lbs.

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Lapierre's full suspension XC series using the patented FPS2 X-Control linkage system has two options that are available in both carbon or alloy, the 100mm which is the Race series with 3 different models to choose and 120mm which is the Marathon series with 6 models to choose from. Lapierre also has a complete XC hardtail series too.

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Now don't stop here, go check out all the bikes available at Lapierre and start getting pumped for Europe's finest bikes coming soon. In Canada, Lapierre will be distributed by Kempter Marketing.

Check out all of my Lapierre pics in my album.

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