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Lapierre Zesty Range Review

Lapierre Zesty Review

Price:

£1,999.00 - £4,899.00

Finance from:

£83.30/month (0% APR)

Average Customer Rating:
  • Available as 27.5 or 29er
  • Alloy and Carbon frame options
  • "Fit program" sizing
  • Limited colours
  • Eagle not on all models
  • Tyre choice not to everyone's taste

Discipline:

All-Mountain/Trail

Usage:

Trails, Endurance and long days

Weight:

13.5 Kg (29.7 lbs)*


The new Zesty is incredibly versatile with a fun and poppy feel on the trail

Updated: 17th April 2018

Overview

The Lapierre Zesty we review here has been completely redesigned for 2019 with help from 10 time DH world champ Nicolas Vouilloz, along with the longer travel sibling the Spicy. Gone is the familiar shape of the last few years to be replaced with this sleek and stylish new version. Available in both 27.5 and 29 wheeled options with the ability to run either. A well thought out design that works well in UK conditions available in both carbon and aluminium frames. 

The 27.5 bikes have 150mm travel front and rear, while the 29er have 140mm at both ends. It's an exciting and very modern all-mountain bike with many options to the rider, giving great value with a ride that wants to pop off every undulation and zip round the corners. The new Zesty is a true trail and all-mountain machine.

* Zesty AM 5.0 Ultimate Medium (43cm) tested without pedals

Lapierre Zesty

Frame

Same frame for 27.5/29er and Zesty/Spicy

The completely redesigned Lapierre Zesty  frame has a floating shock with a 4 bar linkage that gives a very plush feel in the initial stroke. There are both Aluminium and Carbon options available both with the same geometries. A thoroughly modern trail bike set up with 65.5° head angle on the 27.5 bikes and 66° on the 29ers. Reach is on par with current trends with 433mm on the medium 29er. Cable routing has internal guides to help with any changes and there is even a stash box inside the down tube near the bottom bracket that is big enough for a spare tube and small multi-tool.

Different wheel sizes are handled by a flip-chip, this changes the chainstay length to allow for each wheel size. Interestingly the longer travel Spicy enduro bikes use the same frame but run a shock with a longer stroke in the same eye-to-eye length to give the extra travel. If you were willing to change wheels, forks and shocks this frame can create 4 bikes in one.

The 2019 Spicy and Zesty now share the same frame. The Zesty remains as the mid-travel trail bike with 140-150mm of travel, while the Zesty stays as the big enduro bike with 160-170mm of travel. To alter the travel, Lapierre specs different forks and different shocks- Singletrackworld.com

Lapierre Zesty trunion shock

Suspension

Plush, active and thought-out

The lower end of the shock fixes to an extension on the chainstay, which means it is actually compressed from both ends, and doesn’t affix to the mainframe – it’s a full floating design
- singletrackworld.com

The shock and forks are well thought-out for the intentions and price of each model in the Zesty range, again 27.5 models have 150mm travel front and rear, while the 29er bikes have 140mm at both ends. The entry-level AM 3.0 gets RockShox Sektor RL forks and Lapierre's own rear shock, the second Alloy model the AM 4.0 and the first Carbon framed model the AM 5.0 Ultimate get the superb RockShox Revelation RC fork and RockShox Deluxe RT shock. The top line AM 8.0 Ultimate gets the Fox treatment with Factory 34 forks and the Fox DPX2 factory shock giving the ultimate in trail and all-mountain performance.

Lapierre have spec'd the suspension perfectly toward the intentions of the bike, keeping things lightweight but with great performance.

Lapierre Zesty SRAM eagle drive train

Groupset

SRAM drivetrains, and "fit program" size dependent components

An innovative programme which allows components to evolve depending on the size of the bike and therefore... the size of the rider. With this system, the bike can be adjusted to the rider’s morphology.
- Lapierrebikes.com

All Zesty bikes have drivetrain from SRAM. Only the entry-level AM 3.0 does not get Eagle, but still has a wide range 11-speed NX cassette. Brakes are from either Shimano or SRAM depending on the model with great feeling bars and stem. All models come with a dropper seatpost.

Lapierre has adopted a new program for sizing the components around rider size in an innovative move. Labelled as the "Fit Program" depending on frame and wheel size there are 2 different crank lengths, 2 different chainring sizes, 2 handlebar widths, 3 different lengths of dropper post, 2 disk sizes and even 2 different diameter grips. The frames are engineered in a way to maintain the same kinematics and flex with each size. This is a refreshing and committed move from Lapierre that shows the involvement of the master wizard Vouilloz and his engineering expertise.

Lapierre Zesty 29

Wheels

Strong, light and responsive

All bikes apart from the top line AM 8.0 get the same Lapierre All-Mountain rims, with a wider 30mm internal front matched to a 27mm rear, they set up easily tubeless and provide plenty of grip with just the right amount of feedback from the trail. The Entry level AM 3.0 has Shimano hubs while the 4.0 and 5.0 have fast rolling formula hubs. All bikes feature boost spacing front and rear. The top line AM 8.0 Ultimate has a new Carbon rim from Lapierre.

While the frames will be able to fun either 27.5 or 29-inch wheels using the flip-chip, from stock they are offered with frame size dependent wheel size. The small (40cm) is only available as 27.5, The Medium (43cm) is available with either 27.5 or 29-inch wheels, and the Large (46cm) and XL (50cm) are only available with 29-inch wheels from stock.

Tyres are from Maxxis on all bikes, with the well respected and all-weather Minion DHR and High Roller.

Depending on the frame size, Lapierre specs either 27.5 “(S and M) or 29” (M, L, XL) wheels
- enduro-mtb.com

Lapierre Zesty

Best for

Big smiles on the trails, and big miles off the beaten track

The new Lapierre Zesty is a lot of fun to ride. it has a poppy and engaging feel on the trail. The 29er version does not feel big or long in the very tight switchbacks, yet still eats up the long miles. It climbs with finesse and descends better than you might expect from a trail bike. Overall the new Zesty is a great package, light and up to modern standards. Thrash round your local trail centre, take it off exploring or even load it up for a bikepacking trip.

Lapierre Zesty dropper post Lapierre Zesty carbon frame top tube detail
Lapierre Zesty handlebars and stem Lapierre Zesty carbon frame detail
Lapierre Zesty fork adn fornt hub Lapierre Zesty storage box on downtube

Lapierre Zesty range models

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