# Eurobike 2008: LaPierre



## Jerk_Chicken (Oct 13, 2005)

And something of a rig targeted perhaps at the Nomad, RFX, et al. I wouldn't be surprised if it's really good at pedaling.


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

^^ unless they re-tuned the pivot point on that green bike (the Zesty), I think it might not be all that hot with a Hammerschmidt. My Enduro SL (which has the same suspension i.e. FSR, which Lapierre cannot sell in the US because of the Horst link Patent held by Spesh) definitely does not pedal as well in the granny ring as in the middle one. Just saying.

The DH bike looks awesome (although once again, they didn't exactly re-invent the wh....suspension....duh....)


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## Papa Midnight (Sep 4, 2008)

The DH 920 is 17,34 kilo. No problem to get it under 17 by removing the wheels and tires and replace it with maxxis and Hope stuff...Blingbling as f.....yeah!


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## kamikazee ideki (Jul 2, 2007)

those lapierres look sweet they r defineatly stepping it up


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

dh bike looks hot


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

Iceman2058 said:


> green bike (the Zesty)


That is not Zesty. Looks like a Froggy but not one of the models on the Lapierre site.


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## Papa Midnight (Sep 4, 2008)

This is the Froggy 718 limited. A run below 100 pieces including the Hammerschmidt and so on...Even the Lapierre staff in germany didn´t know that this one exists. released just on the demo days at Eurobike. Goes for € 4799,- in Germany but also includes VAT of 19%...


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## V.P. (Aug 26, 2007)

the froggy is nice.


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## norbar (Jun 5, 2007)

Iceman2058 said:


> The DH bike looks awesome (although once again, they didn't exactly re-invent the wh....suspension....duh....)


Actually if feels different to the suspension that supposedly blocks it's in us.

I still wait for them to sell frame only as I want to upgrade my dh-230 and the 920 is absolutely hot.


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## APEXiFirz (Jul 26, 2008)

That is a Mavic rims right? Didn't see it clearly & those fork are looking awesome! DH Bike is my dream bike.


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## Papa Midnight (Sep 4, 2008)

Yes, this is the new 2009 Mavic Deemax. The fork will only be available in this bike, coz it´s tuned by Nichola Vouilloz for Saab / Lapierre Team...


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## captain spaulding (May 7, 2006)

both are really dope looking.. def. diggint the dh bike, the all-mountain bike looks just like a new nomad(to me), not a bad thing really..


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## EGF168 (Aug 13, 2007)

Iceman2058 said:


> ^^ unless they re-tuned the pivot point on that green bike (the Zesty), I think it might not be all that hot with a Hammerschmidt. My Enduro SL (which has the same suspension i.e. FSR, which Lapierre cannot sell in the US because of the Horst link Patent held by Spesh) definitely does not pedal as well in the granny ring as in the middle one. Just saying.
> 
> The DH bike looks awesome (although once again, they didn't exactly re-invent the wh....suspension....duh....)


I've found that Lapierre's bikes, in particular the ones running OST (Horst Link) suspension are very hard to make bob, in fact if you set it up correctly it has very little pedal feedback and actually bobs a little less than my Maestro suspension Giant Trance so it's considerable better than anything by Spesh at the moment. Lapierre is known for attention to detail and considering the problems they had with last years rear shocks I'd be surprised if they didn't have the rear shock tuned specially for the HammerSchmidt. Although a similar design to VPP they did actually design the suspension themselves specially for it, the X-control XC bike is the one they did less suspension designing on&#8230;


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## Hesh to Steel (Oct 2, 2007)

LaPierre definitely makes a gorgeous dh bike. The frame looks stunning. To an uninformed observer (such as myself) the suspension design looks similar to Giant's Maestro. Is it?

Also, wanted to say thank you to Jerk Chicken. The pics from Eurobike have been awesome and I apreciate you putting them up.


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## EGF168 (Aug 13, 2007)

Hesh to Steel said:


> LaPierre definitely makes a gorgeous dh bike. The frame looks stunning. To an uninformed observer (such as myself) the suspension design looks similar to Giant's Maestro. Is it?
> 
> Also, wanted to say thank you to Jerk Chicken. The pics from Eurobike have been awesome and I apreciate you putting them up.


It's closer to Santa Cruz's VPP because the lower link moves down and backwards and not up like DW Link and Maestro bikes.:thumbsup:


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## venom600 (Jul 10, 2006)

EGF168 said:


> It's closer to Santa Cruz's VPP because the lower link moves down and backwards and not up like DW Link and Maestro bikes.:thumbsup:


Also looks like there might be some notable chain growth with that setup...


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## Prettym1k3 (Oct 11, 2005)

I thought that the Lapierre wasn't going to be able to be sold in the U.S. due to DW-Link patent infringement.

Am I wrong?


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## EGF168 (Aug 13, 2007)

Prettym1k3 said:


> I thought that the Lapierre wasn't going to be able to be sold in the U.S. due to DW-Link patent infringement.
> 
> Am I wrong?


I was under the impression it was VPP, here's another pic, if anyone actually knows for sure please tell us&#8230;:thumbsup: 

This is what Pinkbike has to say on it but I've heard other people say it's DW and peoples accounts of how the suspension works don't seem to tally&#8230;

"LaPierre is calling theirs FPS2, which is their version of a VPP system. In fact, it is close enough that the DH230 won't be sold in the U.S. due to patents and so on and so forth."


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

EGF168 said:


> I've found that Lapierre's bikes, in particular the ones running OST (Horst Link) suspension are very hard to make bob, in fact if you set it up correctly it has very little pedal feedback and actually bobs a little less than my Maestro suspension Giant Trance so it's considerable better than anything by Spesh at the moment. Lapierre is known for attention to detail and considering the problems they had with last years rear shocks I'd be surprised if they didn't have the rear shock tuned specially for the HammerSchmidt. Although a similar design to VPP they did actually design the suspension themselves specially for it, the X-control XC bike is the one they did less suspension designing on&#8230;


Its not so much the bob I was talking about, more the slightly flexier feel of the rear when you pedal in the granny ring as oppsoed to the middle (because the chain force will not be completely aligned with the chain stay or the virtual line drawn from rear pivot point to front pivot point). The closer to the top of the chainring the pivot point is the better, I guess, certainly with regards to kickback and flex and whatever. So not really tunable with the shock in the same way the bob would be, more about geometry. I could be way off, wouldn't be the first time.  
Of course chain growth is a factor too (i.e. the path of the rear wheel in relation to the chainring).

Most reviews I've read give very high marks to Lapierre in general, so I'm pretty sure they make good bikes. Of course, most reviews I read about Lapierre bikes are in French MTB mags, so I guess they are not THAT impartial...(in fact, I think French could write the book on national pride or perhaps to be more precise on how to always seem to look slightly down on other nations...I should know I lived there for 14 years and mt wife is French :thumbsup: ). But yeah, great bikes, I'm sure.

PS. And EGF, almost everything would be better than "anything by Spesh", obviously.


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## EGF168 (Aug 13, 2007)

Well I can tell you the Zesty and Spicy have very stiff rear ends, the massive Horst pivot, asymmetrical chain stays and generally strong but reasonably light tubing make them both very stiff and the Froggy looks even more solid. The Zesty and Spicy have slack angles and a nicely confidence inspiring riding position that allows you to plough though a lot of stuff that other all mountain bikes just can't. I posted up a few non French reviews up here. You know me, anything Spesh automatically gets badmouthed  but they can sometimes have rear end waggle when you put the power down which is something the Lapierre's don't have. There's very little if any pedal feedback on the OST bikes and I didn't notice any on the FPS2 bikes, but now I come to look at the design it looks like there should be&#8230;:skep:


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## YoPawn (Mar 26, 2008)

Strange suspension design.

Not either DW or VPP.   

Kinda like an upside down VPP.


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## his dudeness (May 9, 2007)

I think that those bikes are pimptastic. Just one more reason to strongly consider moving to Europe.


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## DHidiot (Aug 5, 2004)

It looks like it would do very bad things to the suspension if you did a lot of manualing or came down really hard on your back wheel....


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## Djponee (Dec 20, 2006)

sick bikes.


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## Freerydejunky (Sep 21, 2006)

Wow... that DH bike is SUPER clean

Id beat


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## nuclear_powered (Apr 18, 2007)

Froggy (green one above) is on the International Website:
http://www.lapierrebikes.com/lapierre/en/VTT/product/specifications/FROGGY-518

Nice lineup of OST (Horst Link) Bikes now:
Zesty - 140mm
Spicy - 160mm
Froggy - 180mm
(names are a little off though)

If the Spicy came with ISCG mounts (to either run a chain guard or Hammerschmidt/B-Boxx) it'd be perfect.

The DH230 is a sweet looking rig too - wonder if they'll ever change it's suspension setup to the OST as that's what they're 3 newest rigs (above) are running?


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## danyiluska (Sep 20, 2006)

the DH bike is super sexy
both look high end and high $$$


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## Papa Midnight (Sep 4, 2008)

DH 920 gooes for € 5499,-......incl. VAT......


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## MTB_prodigy (Jun 16, 2007)

I Want It!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Papa Midnight (Sep 4, 2008)

send cash...


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## Jerk_Chicken (Oct 13, 2005)

I'm still drooling. I can't believe I didn't hear about them more than a couple months ago.


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## norbar (Jun 5, 2007)

Papa Midnight said:


> DH 920 gooes for € 5499,-......incl. VAT......


Wow. The prices go up fast. The 07 dh-230 was 4500Euro.


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

Papa Midnight said:


> DH 920 gooes for € 5499,-......incl. VAT......


This has got to stop. That is about $7400 - which is also approximately the list price for a Yamaha YZ450F. I mean really, we all need to go on strike and stop buying mountainbikes or something until these guys get a little less greedy. :madman:

OK I know production runs are much bigger on MX bikes, but still.....look at all 'dem 'dere parts in there!!!!!


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## norbar (Jun 5, 2007)

Iceman2058 said:


> This has got to stop. That is about $7400 - which is also approximately the list price for a Yamaha YZ450F. I mean really, we all need to go on strike and stop buying mountainbikes or something until these guys get a little less greedy. :madman:
> 
> OK I know production runs are much bigger on MX bikes, but still.....look at all 'dem 'dere parts in there!!!!!


Its not that expensive becuase lapierre is gready but only because the dolar is so damn weak. Think about the fact that 75% of the bikes on the market are us made and are much cheaper in us so actualy you guys have much less to worry about.


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## venom600 (Jul 10, 2006)

norbar said:


> Its not that expensive becuase lapierre is gready but only because the dolar is so damn weak. Think about the fact that 75% of the bikes on the market are us made and are much cheaper in us so actualy you guys have much less to worry about.


Uuuuhhhhh, it's still freakin' expensive. Even if the dollar were 1:1 with the euro, that's an expensive damn frame. There aren't many US frames that cost $5500......


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

venom600 said:


> There aren't many US frames that cost $5500......


That's for a complete DH 920 bike, not just a frame.


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## Wizard4620383 (May 12, 2007)

Ah the new lapierre dh 920.. its a great bike... for us in Canada its gonna be the same price as the DH 230.. around 6800-7200 for the customers... its realy a great bike, ive been on this new version of the bike 3 times this summer, and its a realy nice bike, feel like a sunday, but it runs more sag so its like a little mix of a V10 and a Sunday, so its very agile and light, a realy great bike..


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## Papa Midnight (Sep 4, 2008)

Did you see the cnc´d chainguide? I love details........


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

norbar said:


> Its not that expensive becuase lapierre is gready but only because the dolar is so damn weak. Think about the fact that 75% of the bikes on the market are us made and are much cheaper in us so actualy you guys have much less to worry about.


OK, you are right (although it is a Japaneese bike so the weak dollar should have a similar impact) - but that EUR 5,500 will still get you a brand new YZF 125 and still have soom for accessories. Seems a little bit exagerated to me, that's all.


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## Papa Midnight (Sep 4, 2008)

see it this way: You get a brand new high end DH bike. Could you get a brand new high end motorbike for this? And remember: It´s not only the weak US$, the list price i wrote i few days does also include the germany salex tax of 19%!!!
You guys wouldn´t believe, how much we have to pay for a Yeti 303...


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

Iceman2058 said:


> EUR 5,500 will still get you a brand new YZF 125


But you cannot pedal the YZF 125, it is noisy, and it might not be allowed in places where a mountain bike is OK.

Get yourself the YZF 125 if you feel that is what you really want.


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

perttime said:


> But you cannot pedal the YZF 125, it is noisy, and it might not be allowed in places where a mountain bike is OK.
> 
> Get yourself the YZF 125 if you feel that is what you really want.


I don't want a YZF 125. I want a high-end DH bike....


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## Karve (Mar 31, 2006)

Lapierre’s seem to be getting a good write up in the uk press too


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## Jerk_Chicken (Oct 13, 2005)

Let's say I'm a sadist...is that 920 pedalable?


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## norbar (Jun 5, 2007)

Jerk_Chicken said:


> Let's say I'm a sadist...is that 920 pedalable?


In what way? Uphills? That's what froggy for. The dh-230 (same susp system) pedals quite good for a dh rig.


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## waynep (Jul 13, 2006)

anyone got the specs on that DH rig?


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

Iceman2058 said:


> I don't want a YZF 125. I want a high-end DH bike....


Surprise, surprise. Hight-end DH bikes cost real money. Go see how much $$$$ it takes to put together a Yeti, Knolly, Intense, Brooklyn Machine Works, ....


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

perttime said:


> Surprise, surprise. Hight-end DH bikes cost real money. Go see how much $$$$ it takes to put together a Yeti, Knolly, Intense, Brooklyn Machine Works, ....


In the immortal words of the Stones: "You can't always get what you want...."


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## norbar (Jun 5, 2007)

waynep said:


> anyone got the specs on that DH rig?


http://www.cycles-lapierre.fr/lapierre/ < It's not that hard


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## Jerk_Chicken (Oct 13, 2005)

I'm amazed to see the number of fans this company has. I was just attracted to their designs and being across from Turner at EB, it wasn't too hard to get some glimpses that hit me.


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