Which out of these would get the vote?? And why?? I have looked at both bikes and like them but cant make up my mind which would be better so I am looking the pros and cons of each and which use would go for?? Any help would greatly appreciated!!

Nicky

I imagine that spec wise they are similar
Youll know which bike you like the look of more
Specialized warranty and customer service will be better

Test Ride, them preferably on a local trail – that’s the most important thing.

I’ve had both, 1 stumpy and 2 zestys.

Both very good bikes, I preferred the zestys as we’re more stable and fun descending, climbing was about the same on both…. but no doubt these days would enjoy the stumpy evo!!

Test em out.

But supposedly the stumpy evo doesn’t climb so good?? Do u no if this is true as I want a bike that’s a good all rounder!!

Either of them will climb perfectly well I’m sure. You need to try them really though.

I have a 2011 Stumpy Evo and find it climbs perfectly well. Much better then my old Commie Meta and that had less travel.

Can’t say I have ridden the latest Zesty’s but I would imagine they climb slightly better but not as fun as the Evo’s going downhill.

You probably won’t go wrong with either, but test them if possible. Only that way will you know which is right for you.

I’ve had both and now ride a 2011 stumpy if that tells you anything.

The zesty to me felt quite fragile and I was always waiting for it to snap.

Also there were little bits that put me off it like the cable routing which looks as though it will wear through the chainstay quite quickly.

I also found it quite flexible along the top tube aswell.

The stumpy in the other hand is in my mind loads better, feels more solid and not as flimsy and generally better put together.

Can’t comment on the evo but the stumpjumpers I’ve had have always climbed better than I can!

No bias whatsoever (not) but i can answer with a resounding, It depends………..

Zesty is better looking, but slightly worse spec’d as std, but i recon the better handler and more “fun”. It can also from 2012 onwards be made into a Spicy (160mm travel) easily as the frames are the same

Stumpy is deffinately a bit more robust, probably likely to be built up a bit heavier. Almost certianly easier to get parts for etc too.

I’m not sure what flavour of Zesty the previous poster rode, but mine (carbon) has absolutely no flex whatsoever in the main frame (theres a small, small amount in the non-bolt through rear triangle, but i fixed that with a big axle conversion)

So, in summary, if you’re all about the DH bits, probably the Stumpy, as it’s slightly more robust build will give you piece of mind, and it’ll be easier to fix when you do break it. But for more AM stuff, where you want to pedal up stuff, and lightness counts, then the Zesty edges it for me.

Maxtorque have you rode a stumpy?

I had a 2011 zesty 314 in aluminum and it was deffo flexy from front to back. I also agree about the back end flex too.

I also believe that in the lapierre owners manual there is a rider weight limit of either 90 or 95 kgs.

My stumpy is also as light as the zesty I had to and is built similar.

Also the stumpy is the direct comparison to the zesty

For dh stuff I would look at the enduro over the stumpy

Ok, i can’t comment on the ally Zestys, however i’ve never heard of anyone complain of flex before, but it could be their.

I rode a 2012 Stumpy on a demoday (wow, that was 2 years ago nearly, how time flies) and really liked it, but it felt just a little “flat” after the Zesty. Stable, smooth, competent, but just a little less “fun” to ride. A guy i ride with has a 2011 stumpy, and we have swapped bikes ocasionally, and generally, we prefer our own ones (as you might expect 😉 For 2012, Lapierre really raised the bar with the zesty/spicy frameset and OST+ suspension imo.

For me, if i didn’t have my Zesty, i’d have a Mojo HD, and if not one of those, then i’d get a carbon Stumpy Evo. Happy days with any of those bikes i reckon!!

I rode a 2012 Stumpy on a demoday (wow, that was 2 years ago nearly, how time flies)

Time travel eh? how did you do that?!

Just buy the Stumpy. The Snapierre will undoubtedly fail at some point with a 6 month wait for something new. In my experience of course.

I cant really compare the two models but can give you my opinion on the zesty being as I ride one. I ride the womens version but theres hardly any difference between mens and womens. The cable routing is god awful and I spent 6 months fighting to get the front shifter to work right and finally paid a bike shop to do it. I think I would list only that as the downside as I love the bike. Rode a heckler before the zesty and find the zesty to be much preferable. It climbs brilliantly for the weight and I never find myself struggling to get up things and i personally love how it goes downhill. Im not an amazing rider but it gives you a lot of confidence to go faster and a few times I’ve cased a landing and the zesty has swallow it up and asked for more. My OH has also ridden the zesty and had to talk himself out of buying one when he bought a new bike recently. In the end he decided he didnt want to be bike twins with me!

The OH has just reminded me of two other weaknesses with my model. The headset and the bottom bracket. Both wont last very long, I’ve already replaced the BB and now have to regrease the headset every month or so to make it last as long as possible

Had a Zesty and can back up a couple of GolfChick’s points-headset and BB didn’t last very long at all (Though it was a 2010/11 model so maybe these problems have been fixed)

Have to say I really enjoyed the bike while I had it. Loads of fun. Very fast downhill, gives lots of confidence. I thought the rear end was flexy BUT I do find this a problem in more frames than usual due to some excess bulk I’m carrying! New ones have 12mm rear axle which probably would rectify that problem.