I’m wanting a new full susser and really like the zesty. Trouble is I’m not a fox fork fan and changing the fork will make it even more expensive. Now on one doing the codeine for £1499 and looks plenty good enough spec to me.any thoughts on 27.5 and 29er.fors and against for each.I’ve not had either,still on 26er.test rides are difficult
Thanks

Zestys are the most over rated shit heaps out there. Hope that helps.

The codeine is a great bike, I’ve got the x01 pike ccdb version and really rate it. There are lighter bikes out there (32lbs all in) but the way it demolishes terrain is something else. It descends like my old dh rig, but pedals as well. I think the sizing comes up a bit short in the top tube, but not everyone will agree. I’m 5’11” on the large. Best off sitting on one. If you’re in the Edinburgh area you’re welcome to have a play

wheel size depends on the bike, judge the whole package as one not just as components.

Oh and the whole 29ers don’t do tight and twisty is rubbish, you adapt your riding style fairly quickly. Tracy Mosely won the tweedlove ews on one…
they take a little more effort to get up to speed, but hold momentum better. Every wheelsize has both advantages and disadvantages

Have a look at Canyon / Rose bikes… Unbeatable value with the Euro : GBP exchange rate at the moment

jimjam
Zestys are the most over rated shit heaps out there. Hope that helps.

Wow, have you considered maybe becoming a full time bike journalist? With that^^ kind of insightful knowledge you’d do well i think……. 😉

I’ve a 427 it’s great, suits me well for what I ride, mixture of trail centre and borders hill. Rough and smooth, fast and flows, rough and technical. Only thing you MUST change are the tyres, the frame is capable enough to quickly take you to a place the nobby nics struggle to keep you off the deck.

maxtorque

Wow, have you considered maybe becoming a full time bike journalist? With that^^ kind of insightful knowledge you’d do well i think…….

Oh I could write you an essay on all the things wrong with them but a picture paints a thousands words as they say.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsfygg1N6BQ&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Bikes can break shocker!

Have you considered calling the Daily Mail jimjam ??? 😉

(and that is a 2012 zesty 514, not a 2015 327 btw, and yes, all those frames snapped if you used them hard, and all have been replaced FOC by Lapierre without quibble as far as i can tell)

maxtorque

Bikes can break shocker!

Have you considered calling the Daily Mail jimjam ???

(and that is a 2012 zesty 514, not a 2015 327 btw, and yes, all those frames snapped if you used them hard, and all have been replaced FOC by Lapierre without quibble as far as i can tell)

That (2013) Zesty was used for two weeks. Approximately six rides. Despite sending the above along with dozens of photos of the bike hotlines still insisted they saw the frame for themselves, despite my being a CRC employee at the time. Seven weeks later I finally managed to get a new frame out of them. And what did Lapierre or hotlines give me by way of upgrade or compensation for the hassle? Nothing. Diddly. I had to chase them to get a new bb.

And fwiw you might have a point if Lapierre had radically changed the design of the bikes or the production process, or the production plant, but they haven’t. Still the same fragile overpriced dung they were before, just with bigger wheels, still the same warranty nightmare. They make £5000 bikes that can’t last and don’t want to know when they break.

jimjam

That (2013) Zesty was used for two weeks. Approximately six rides. Despite sending the above along with dozens of photos of the bike hotlines still insisted they saw the frame for themselves, despite my being a CRC employee at the time. Seven weeks later I finally managed to get a new frame out of them. And what did Lapierre or hotlines give me by way of upgrade or compensation for the hassle? Nothing. Diddly. I had to chase them to get a new bb.

And fwiw you might have a point if Lapierre had radically changed the design of the bikes or the production process, or the production plant, but they haven’t. Still the same fragile overpriced dung they were before, just with bigger wheels, still the same warranty nightmare. They make £5000 bikes that can’t last and don’t want to know when they break.

Sorry, but i think you may be missing some rather obvious points:

1) 2012 carbon zestys/spicys had a flaw in the design, where the chain stay attachment point was not correctly bonded to the mainframe during manufacturer (they had changed the production factory for that year)

2) The failure times ranged from “the first time i got on it” for the really bad ones, to “not failed yet” for the good ones (i know 2 people with 2014 714’s that still show no issues, 3 years later (and they are ridden properly!)

3) Of course Hotlines want to see the frame. The frames all go back to LP for inspection and failure analysis. They don’t care if you are the Queen of England, that is always the case. “working for CRC” means nothing, they will still want the old one back.

4) My 2012 714 failed after around 3 months, i had a replacement loaner bike in 5 days, and then an entire new frame (2013 spec) when they became available (and they supplied me with new wheel adaptors to suit the 135×12 rear axle FOC) Treat people as you would like to be treated yourself and you might find you get better service?

5) The design WAS changed for 2013 onwards. They beefed up the cross tube for the chainstay attachment, and re-layered/aligned the Carbon Fibre layup in that area to add strength. There was no need for a “radical” redesign.

6) I’m not aware of a single 2013 onwards CF frame failing in the same way.

7) Exactly what more compensation do you want? You brought a bike, it broke, the company gave you a new one without you having to pay anything? I think that’s pretty much within the normal liability of a warranty isn’t it?

8) Zestys get good reviews because they are good bikes. Lots of people ride them, and enjoy them. No, they are not as strong or maintenance free as say an Orange5, but the trade off is they weigh a lot less. Horses for Courses, pay your money, take your choice!

9) Every single bike manufacture has frames fail. They could easily design their bikes to NEVER fail, but they would weigh 10 tonnes and no one would buy them.

My 2012 carbon zesty frame cracked after a year. Sent photo’s off and had a replacement 2013 914 frame two weeks later, they didn’t even ask for the old frame back 🙂

maxtorque

Sorry, but i think you may be missing some rather obvious points:

1) 2012 carbon zestys/spicys had a flaw in the design, where the chain stay attachment point was not correctly bonded to the mainframe during manufacturer (they had changed the production factory for that year)

The design WAS changed for 2013 onwards. They beefed up the cross tube for the chainstay attachment, and re-layered/aligned the Carbon Fibre layup in that area to add strength. There was no need for a “radical” redesign.

Mine was a 2013. So I think you missed a rather obvious point, and undermined your argument.

I’m not aware of a single 2013 onwards CF frame failing in the same way.

I saw a cracked frames, several twisted and misalligned back ends on 2014 bikes along with the usual bushings eating through the swingarm before I left. Every 2013 bike I sold, or saw sold, carbon and alloy, came back broken. And I’d say about 90% of 2011/2012 bikes were the same.

Of course Hotlines want to see the frame. The frames all go back to LP for inspection and failure analysis. They don’t care if you are the Queen of England, that is always the case. “working for CRC” means nothing, they will still want the old one back.

Except that CRC own Hotlines, and the warranty and technical managers can make calls on bikes without involving Hotlines if they wish. The frame was clearly snapped in half. They did not need to pretend to need to see the frame before deciding to initiate a valid warranty claim. Best of all, mid way through the process when my frame was supposed to be on its way to France, it was lying in a bin in Killbride. This “Lapierre failure analysis” you speak of is generally a hack saw and a skip.

Treat people as you would like to be treated yourself and you might find you get better service?

How do you know how I treated them? FYI I had no involvement or contact with them, I let my line manager deal with it.

Exactly what more compensation do you want? You brought a bike, it broke, the company gave you a new one without you having to pay anything? I think that’s pretty much within the normal liability of a warranty isn’t it?

Second broken bike in rapid succession. Second protracted overly officious warranty. If they care for the reputation of their brand or had a desire show any contrition a simple upgrade, even on the shock, something, anything would have been better than nothing.

Zestys get good reviews because they are good bikes. Lots of people ride them, and enjoy them. No, they are not as strong or maintenance free as say an Orange5, but the trade off is they weigh a lot less. Horses for Courses, pay your money, take your choice!

No, they get good reviews because Hotlines CRC take out 30 pages of advertising in a magazine each month. They ride like crap and people who buy them can’t admit it or don’t know any better. Pure overpriced tat built on nothing but marketing.

Back on topic.

When I got my Zesty 427 last year first thing I did was remove the Fox fork and sell as ‘new – other’ on ebay. Got north of £200 for it I think which seemed fair seeing as there is not much demand for the Evo spec. I went x-fusion sweeps for around £400 (so a £200 upgrade), though you may find better value in 2nd hand now there are more 27.5 forks on the market, I’m keeping my eye out for some Pikes. I cannot claim to feel a huge difference in wheel size over 26 vs when I tried a 29er (HT) the difference was significant.

The Zesty rides pretty light IMO, not sure of the Codine, but given the wheel size and a bit more weight in the bike riding both would be beneficial.

Oh yes – I also requested a set of the narrower stays (not that I have found I needed them, I now have them as spares). LP (via the dealer/Hotlines) were very quick to post (actually I have 2 new sets as they sent the wrong colour first time and never asked me to return).

My mate had a old alu zesty 214, he proper ragged that thing around, the lakes, scotland (inc fort bill WC track), warncliffe, some decent tracks and his didn’t break. He is light though, no doubt if i’d have hauled my 16st bulk around on it , it might not have lasted as long!!

Bloody good bike it was. I liked it when I had a go on it.

I once broke a Cove shocker, and that had to be one of the most indestructible bikes in the world. Crashed badly and awkwardly and put a hole in the down tube and bent the chainstay.

My point is just about every bike out there will have had some fail and showing a picture of it doesn’t mean it’s s bad bike. Personally I haven’t liked any of the Lapierre Zestys that I’ve tried but that’s just my opinion.

Sorry jimjam, but you come across as rather angry and blinkered imo……

Writing things like “They ride like crap and people who buy them can’t admit it or don’t know any better. Pure overpriced tat built on nothing but marketing.” just shout “troll” to me.

If you personally don’t like Lapierres (or any other particular make) of bike, that’s fine, it’s your right not to like something, but the way you sound makes you sound frankly, very childish.

The vast majority of lapierre riders are i suspect happy with their choice, and there are thousands of reviews of the bikes suggesting they ride very well indeed (as do all modern bikes tbh).

But back to the OP, i’d probably get the Codeine from between the two choices, as you will get a significantly better spec bike for your cash 😉

maxtorque – Member

Sorry jimjam, but you come across as rather angry and blinkered imo……

Writing things like “They ride like crap and people who buy them can’t admit it or don’t know any better. Pure overpriced tat built on nothing but marketing.” just shout “troll” to me.

If you personally don’t like Lapierres (or any other particular make) of bike, that’s fine, it’s your right not to like something, but the way you sound makes you sound frankly, very childish.

You’ve tried displaying your knowledge and I’ve corrected you twice. If I come across as angry, I can live with that. I wasn’t trying to be anything other than blunt in this instance.

Saying they are overpriced tat, is a summary. I could elaborate greatly but neither the brand nor the bike are worth my time, and it’s pretty pointless when people are suckered in by their marketing department and paid for reviews. I have told friends about the failings of these bikes, shown them my own broken one and they’ve still gone and bought one, and broken it. People believe what they want.

My personal dislike of the brand is based on years of experience, hundreds of sales, warranty claims and industry information that supercedes your own by a considerable margin. If that sounds childish to you fine. To me, you sound like someone who has lost an argument but is trying to reclaim some intellectual high ground with a personal attack. I’m happy to park it here if you like.

I like mine it’s 2009 and gets a beating. Yes 2009 bike frame.

back on topic I’ll second the codeine, but don’t test ride one cos you wont want to give it back 😀

Wow,Cheers guys for all the info.must admit the codeine for the price is very hard to refuse.Cheers for the offer of a test ride up Edinburgh,but I’m about 200 miles awayy
Once again cheers guys
Mick

I doubt you’ll find anyone with a Codeine that doesn’t love it. Just got back from a night ride and my mates are grumbling that it’s not fair – How fast I’m going. For me it’s just great fun! They are £200 less now which is awesome. Buy one! And look at the customisation options. FWIW I’m 6′ on a medium.

I’m near Bristol if that’s any good?

I’ve never owned a Lap but my LBS gave up there dealership because a large number of their customers managed to break them and the warranty turnaround took often months as they would always want to see the frames themselves rather than trust the opinion of the shop mechanics as other brands do. I was actually close to buying one but seeing a broken frame in the workshop nearly every week put me off.

FWIW I’m 6′ on a medium.

Either it’s a Large (with a Medium sticker), or you ain’t 6 foot 😉

i’ve dealt with lapierre warranty a number of times and they are pretty efficient, usually photo’s will do and they generally don’t ask for the frame for inspection just for the failed frame to be returned.

the 2013 carbon frames did have issues or more accurately the replacement articulation spacers did once the originals wore out, the replacements were too small causing them to rotate in the frame rather than the insert rotating in the spacers.

the 2014> frames have been bombproof, not seen a single failure of any kind on one yet including my own 527 which ha a harder life than most bikes.

I’m about 6’2 on a medium and I’m a happy bunny 🙂

I was thinking the same as Msb1 that I haven’t heard of anyone with a codeine who doesn’t love it 🙂

I think my codeine’s great too, im 6 foot on a large (used to spesh 19″ bikes) and it fits great, wouldnt want medium for myself as TT would be too short.

Im in Derby if that helps for s sizing test.

What’s the Codeine like for general XC type rides? I don’t get to shred the gnarr all the time, half of my rides are un-challenging XC type rides where descending oriented type bikes are sluggish

Cheers for the offers,but my thoughts were to go on one and see it in the flesh.I rang them and they’ve one in.I’m 5’10 and they have told me I will need the medium???

PaulG, It’s certainly not an XC race bike, but it’s quick on the flat. It’s good on tight twisty stuff, too. It’s 1x only so that might be an issue if you wanted to do long distances on the road, but I was already a convert to that.

Pitchman, Medium sounds right.

i have a 2014 spicy 327, picked it up cheap. The bottom end fox shock and fork were gash, but they say fox on so fetched a pretty penny on ebay. the higher end models have better suspension to be fair. There cheap now as I assume there is a new one due this year.

Cane creek DB inline on the back, pikes on the front and I had myself a lovely bike for not a great deal. put some lighter wheels on and it rips, nothing wrong with the frames at all, my Ally one is lovely and not too heavy, I can see how the carbon ones could be even better (bit stiffer, bit lighter).

They were redesigned in a pretty big way for 2014 when they changed to 650b (the bike the OP is actually talking about), the rear triangle and shock mount are totally different), longer, lower, ally ones using a different alloy all together. I cant see why they wouldn’t have also addressed any weak points in the design at the same time! Only complaints I found in my research were wide chainstays, which haven’t been an issue for me, I didn’t find any broken ones, they were all 2010-2013. The spicy and Zest frames 2014 on are the same, just different forks/tyres etc.. to gnar them up.

My last 2 bikes were a nicolai helius AM and before that titus el guapo, both with nice builds, I like this better, more stable without being slow witted, rear end nearly as plush as the Nicolai with 20mm less travel, and climbs much better, more modern geo, loads lighter, whats not to like?

I’m no Josh Bryceland but don’t hang about, gets used for uplifts, big mountains and trail centres alike.

I’d take one over a codeine every day of the week and twice on Sunday, I’d get a spicy over a zesty though, you’ll only end up changing the forks and pretty much making it a spicy anyway if you want to get a move on regularly.

I’d take one over a codeine every day of the week and twice on Sunday

have you actually ridden a codeine, though? That’s also a lot of changes from the stock bike, which not everyone will be inclined to do

If you’ve got money to spend (ie upgrade), then ultimately the Zesty/Spicy IS a better frame.

But, for an out of the box bike, i think the codine is significantly better Value For Money, you in effect get a better bike of a given spend.

I have a 2013 zesty – upgraded forks and wheels, aluminium 314 version. Bought used and sadly was not told/didn’t spot that it had a tiny bit of play in the rear swing arm/bushing junction.

Riding: Goes a treat (26″ wheels) very subtle ride and as good climbing as descending. A great feel.

Living with it: When I spotted the play, I thought hey no worries I’ll get a spare seat stay for it. To my disbelief, you cannot get any frame spares…UNLESS you crash it, or it breaks. So I am being incentivised to ride it like a nutter. Berserk policy IMHO.

So basically if you miss something in the maintenance schedule you could have issues.

I’d get a bike in which the manufacturer looks to the lifecycle of the bike. They get a lot of use. They wear. They need support from the dealer and manufacturer. Look at liteville, 10 year transferable warranty. You shouldn’t be ‘punished’ by the company for maintenance schedule.

Anyone got a spare aluminium 2013 spicy/zesty chainstay ?!

I love my 314.

I’ve never yet felt it might let me down, although it’s a Trigger’s Broom by now and has no original parts apart from frame.

One day I’ll need to replace it, but if I was looking for alternatives now Nuke TRs would be on the list along with *27’s.