Bike Check: Comparing Isabeau Courdurier and Adrien Dailly's Lapierre Spicys - EWS Zermatt 2020
After a much longer than anticipated "off season" we are finally ready to go racing in Zermatt for round one of the EWS. Over the winter one of the big moves was reigning champ Isabeau Courdurier joining forces with Lapierre to create the ultimate French superteam alongside the equally rapid Adrien Dailly. We've checked out both Isabeau's and Adrien's Lapierre Spicy Teams, but how do they compare when sat next to one another? Our man on the ground Matt DeLorme headed to the Lapierre pits in Zermatt to find out just that.
Details
Height 154cm / 5'1"
Weight 52kg / 115 lb
Model Lapierre Spicy Team
Frame Size Small
Wheel Size 29/27.5" Mullet
Suspension RockShox Zeb and Super Deluxe Coil
Drivetrain & Brakes SRAM Code
Cockpit Renthal
Wheels & Rubber Zipp & Hutchinson
Height 154cm / 5'1"
Weight 52kg / 115 lb
Model Lapierre Spicy Team
Frame Size Small
Wheel Size 29/27.5" Mullet
Suspension RockShox Zeb and Super Deluxe Coil
Drivetrain & Brakes SRAM Code
Cockpit Renthal
Wheels & Rubber Zipp & Hutchinson
Details
Height 172cm / 5'8"
Weight 65kg / 143 lb
Model Lapierre Spicy Team
Frame Size Large
Wheel Size 29/27.5" Mullet
Suspension RockShox Zeb and Super Deluxe Air
Drivetrain & Brakes SRAM Guide G2
Cockpit TAG Metals
Wheels & Rubber Zipp & Michelin
Height 172cm / 5'8"
Weight 65kg / 143 lb
Model Lapierre Spicy Team
Frame Size Large
Wheel Size 29/27.5" Mullet
Suspension RockShox Zeb and Super Deluxe Air
Drivetrain & Brakes SRAM Guide G2
Cockpit TAG Metals
Wheels & Rubber Zipp & Michelin
Isabeau runs a small size frame with a mullet configuration.
Adrien recently moved up to a large frame, he is also running a mullet setup.
 | We've kind of got 2 setups, the prototype link which we're working on which is still in development just now, just trying different progression. So this one is slightly more progressive than the stock link, but the stock link is considerably lighter and for a more pedally race it's his preferred choice. |
Lapierre are coming into 2020 with 2 of the sport's heavy hitters leading their chase for glory.
| Adrien is on a large frame now, he spent last year on a medium but over the winter he stepped it up to get a bigger wheelbase and a bit more stability to stop him moving around on the bike so much. It's more the front centre size that changed when we did that, it took a little while but he seems to be happier on it now than he was on the medium, it just gives him that extra stability and control at high speeds and a bit less fatiguing as you're not getting moved around by the bike as much. |
Both Isa and Adrien's Spicys are ran in "mullet" mode, something which is familiar to them - they both ran the mis-matched wheel sizes at some point last season.
The new RockShox Zeb leads the charge for both with 170mm of travel up front. Team mechanic Craig Miller says they have the option to switch between the Lyrik and the Zeb depending on whether they want the stiffer chassis of the Zeb or the slightly lighter Lyrik option.
| Shock wise we run both air and coil, he'll choose what he wants depending on the terrain. Here in Zermatt we are looking more at an air shock to try and deal with the flatter and more pedally sections so to carry a bit less weight. Isabeau is on the coil, we found a really nice setup for Isa on the coil, the spring is so light anyway because she weighs so little so there's not a massive weight penalty. |
Isabeau has opted for a coil shock and is fairly set on that platform...
... whilst Adrien has gone for air this weekend, he does chop and change though.
Adrien switches between 2 links, the one in the picture is more progressive than the stock option but is also heavier.
| Fork wise both the Lyrik and the Zeb are good forks. The damper in them is the same, now they have the C1 air spring in the Lyrik it behaves very similar to the Zeb, then it's down to the overall stiffness. They're both good forks and he's got the option of both. Where it's really rough and the bike is getting pushed about, obviously the Zeb comes out on top just because it's stiffer whereas the Lyrik has a slight weight advantage. Again we're in a nice situation where there's not a downside. On the Zeb he's on 2 tokens and 55PSI, on the Lyrik he's on 1 token and 62PSI, both with 170mm of travel. The air shock he is running around 130-140PSI with 2 tokens, obviously you've got to balance that out with the shock heating up on the long stages. We'll find a nice point for that in practice and go from there. If he chooses a coil he'll be between 325 and 350 spring. Fork rebound is 10 clicks from fully closed, LSC is 6 clicks from fully closed and HSC is 3 clicks from fully closed, on Isabeau's it's 41PSI with 2 tokens, 9 clicks from fully closes on LSC and her rebound is 11 clicks and HSC is fully open. |
Both will be running a remote lockout this weekend with a lot of flat physical sections on the cards where pedalling efficiency will be put to the test.
| It's the first year I'm on a coil shock, I was always on an air before. It's the first season I've also chosen to run a lockout on the bar, I feel like it's quite useful when it gets really pedally. |
Isabeau runs a Renthal cockpit, her bars are cut at 760mm and are anchored to a 33 stem.
Adrien runs 780mm wide Tag Metals Carbon bars in 35mm diameter and a 20mm rise, they are clamped onto a 35mm T1 stem.
Both riders run Zipp carbon wheels and are big advocates for them. Carbon wheels are far from commonplace on EWS race machines, but the Lapierre team are more than sold on theirs by the sounds of it.
| It's been really good for me, it allows the tires to have a different shape than on other rims and I've really found that I have much more grip and much more contact with the ground, and also they work super well on little bumps and stuff like that. You really feel the wheel working. There's a bit of flex but it's also really dynamic with the carbon, it's just the perfect balance for me and I'm really super happy about that. |
Interestingly, they run different tires with Isa using Hutchinson rubber and Adrien on Michelin.
| He's running Michelin tires whereas Isabeau is on Hutchinson, Adrien has been on Michelin for a long time and we're really happy with the tires. He'll tend to go for the Wild Enduro tires instead of the DH22 that a few other boys run, he just likes the profile of the tire and we'll use the Wild Enduro rear just as a faster rolling tire to deal with the long flat sections that there are here. We won't be using any inserts, the Zipp wheels are a bit more puncture resistant than other wheels just with the way they're designed which is pretty good, you don't have to carry the weight of an insert. |
SRAM drivetrains are paired with HT pedals.
Isabeau mentioned that she'd recently gone to a 52T cassette which has allowed her to go from a 32T chainring to a 34T.
Brake choice is another area where Isabeau and Adrien's choice vary. Isabeau opts for Codes whilst Adrien prefers the lighters Guide G2s.
Different Fabric saddle choices. Isabeau chooses a Line (left) whilst Adrien runs a Scoop (right).
Isabeau near enough maximising her potential saddle drop.
| Specifically for this weekend we're going to look at a lockout shock with a remote for the flat sections, otherwise he runs quite short cranks at 165mm which just keeps the ground clearance nice, especially with the amount of rocks here which is quite good. The Spicy we've got set in mullet, Adrien has been on that since round 3 last year so we've been working on that for a wee while. There's a half degree angleset which comes stock in all the Spicys. He'll run a 180mm rotor on the back instead of a 200mm. |
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53 Comments
We haven’t even got proper mountains where I live and everyone thinks they need 200mm and 4-pistons.
Yeah locking up your back tire is really effective in MTB, nothing like breaking a tire loose to show that corner or steep descent whose boss.
Their DH bikes (Had the 722) ride insanely good.
I bet their other bikes do aswell
fantastic bike, crazy light & agile
Of course, my XC bike is the total opposite, with a remote lock on the fork, and no suspension in the back at all.
I can see how some of the spec choices may be personal, but I guess part of what I mean is that, in general, some women riders, at least to some degree, have a desire to be just "one of the boys". Not seen as different by the male riders. In that way, I feel like some of them make spec choices that are more similar to ones chosen by the male riders to have some similarity. That's what I mean by "prove a point".
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