Apart from around 3.5 lbs and 20mm travel whats the difference between the spicy and zesty, all reviews say both pedal perfectly up and down so is there much point in going for the shorter travel? I am toying with the idea of either one of the lapierre's a remedy or a nomad.... what would be best for an all day trail bike which can get up the hills but fly back down?
dare I say an Orange 5
no 🙂
Scott Genius?
As an 'all-day trail bike' surely get the Zesty. Get the Spicy if you want to take it to the Alps or do some 'DH-lite' 🙂
I too am grappling with this same dilemma and my shortlist is pretty much the same. Upgrading from my first full susser I seem to want to moon on a stick. Pedal all day and not overkill for UK trails/trail centres but strong enough for summer hols in the Alps/Spain. (I really don't want to be lusting after another bike/frame next summer plus only got room for one bike)
The dividing line between the Zesty and Spicy, Blur LT and Nomad etc seems quite fine and obviously depends how you build them. I'm currently erring on the shorter travel side but change my mind daily. And then there are people running 160mm forks on 5-spots, Orange Fives and Intense Tracers etc, which just confuses me more!
Has anyone bought a Nomad/Spicy/Remedy/Orange Alpine and found it too much bike?
I've got the Zesty. You won't be disappointed. My mate has ridden my Zesty and he has got a Scott Genius 20 and he says the Zesty climbs better than his Genius. My Zesty is the 314 and 3lb heavier than his Genius as well.
I really like the idea of the Orange Blood... short enough rear travel to ride all day, big enough for anything you find.
Not an only bike though.
One of the lads I go riding with has built one of these up, its mega light 6 inch travel and it climbs like a goat on crack.
[url] http://www.cube-bikes.de/xist4c/web/fritzz-cocoa_id_36128_.htm [/url]
Can't beat an '06 Enduro S-Works I'm afraid.......
I had an '07 Nomad, which I found to be way too much bike for the trails I normally ride, including quite a few of the Welsh trail centres.
Got rid and replaced it with a Yeti 575 that can be built up fairly light for all day rides, but will still take a Talas 36 fork if I ever get my arse in to gear and organise an alps trip.
Wheelz...When you say 'too much bike' do you mean too heavy to pedal all day, inefficient to pedal all day or did it just take the fun out of the trails, steamrollering them?
The Yeti does seem like a good middle ground and cheep... As does an enduro just don't trust their suspension components yet.
Well I have found a very well priced zesty, I like the idea of 28lbs in weight for hauling around, but I also like the idea of a bit of extra travel, I used to do DH lite but after a couple of accidents I am not sure how much I am going to get back into any form of DH... trypical riding is / should be, Cwm Carn xc, Mendips, FOD, any welsh trails etc
Sounds like definitely the Zesty imo.
I used to do DH lite
What's DH lite?
Having ridden my 5 for a week in the Alps i would say those 6 inch travel bike seem overkill for much of the UK IMO.
The appeal of those bikes is strong but i honestly think i would chose a Zesty over a Spicy for the UK. Saw a chap out on a Spicy on the Mendips the other week and TBH it looked kind of silly.
Be honest with yourself and the riding you do 🙂
Nomad 2 owner here and i'm very impressad with it.What surprised me with it is it's climbing ability compared to my old sub five,far better.And then theres the downhill,wow! 
zesty.
The riding I did needed it, I used to have a demo 8, a commencal furious etc... I used to love cwm carn DH but cannot watch my family panic every time I go out, after broken wrist 3 ops, broken ribs and not a nackered spine I am thinking I need to take things a bit easier, stop worying about hammering down hill and just ride for the fun of it again!... but I dont want to end up on too short travel and clatter through everything.
Bjj my mate has a nomad.... very very nice, tbh I do have a ransom carbon but just have a hankering for a Lapierre!
What's DH lite?
I used the term - partly as a joke but I guess I meant easier DH courses with reasonable jumps and drops but nothing silly and not at race speed.
Saw a chap out on a Spicy on the Mendips the other week and TBH it looked kind of silly.
Not everyone can afford to have 5 different bikes to suit every occasion though - at least with a Spicy you could ride some DH in the alps as well as do local rides, even if you were a bit overbiked.
If it's your only bike then I agree with nickegg. 6" bike 30lb bike is too much for most riding in the UK. 5" travel with Fox 32 forks is ideal.
Yeti 575 are very nice although I didn't find them that cheep!
Just get and Orange 5 Pro and be done with it!
i hate the [i]such & such bike is overkill for the uk[/i] cliche. yawn...
That was constructive Peachos...thanks for your input 🙄
do you think I would see much difference between a Zesty and a Ransom carbon? My ransom is around 30 lbs with some very nice DT E2200 wheels and Hope Ltd Edition M4's, x-9, 55 ata's, thomson stem and fsa carbon pro bars.
nickegg - Member
That was constructive Peachos...thanks for your input
far more constructive than spouting the same old crap.
why exactly do you think that a 6" bike is OTT for most uk riding? because we don't have any mountains or rocks or trail centres that can justify that whole extra inch... ❓
Zesty seems very popular, I've had one for six months now and love it.
Also know of a second hand Spicy thats for sale and has been used with out problem all day in the lakes and alps.
I do admit I find it funny, I have met people who think 100mm is enough for the UK, but tbh a 10, 20, 30 etc ft drop is the same height wherever you are...
Im kind of thinking would the zesty be better for general trail used vs the ransom or would I see little benefit? I can get a zesty 514 and have around £400 left over to upgrade a few bits, either that or a Spicy 516 with nout left over but a tad more travel in hand... my head hurts!
IamSam - Is is posted up anywhere?
Nope not to my knowledge, think its a 916 any how and its being sold though bike treks ambleside, not a cheap bike.
exactly CtD!
from you saying you have ridden a fair amount of DH in the past i would imagine you still like flying on the downs, hitting the occasional jump & drops therefore if i were you i'd opt for the spicy. i ride a 6" FS as my main bike and wouldn't swap it for something with less travel purely because it's more versatile. (that said i would love an additional shorter travel FS for enduro racing...!)
true.. im in a sticky decision..
I have a zesty and wouldn't change it. Admittedly I didn't test ride a Spicy, but just thought it would be over kill for the significant majority of UK riding.
Did test ride an orange 5 and the yeti 575 and preferred the zesty by a mile.
i'd get the spicy for the insignificant minority of UK riding 🙂
Well I should have around £1800 to spend, and would buy 2nd hand to get a decent spec, I have seen they have the spicy and zesty in new cheaper forms also which could be a possibility new!
I have an 07 Nomad with 36 talas - it's a great bike but yes I do think it is overkill for the uk, especially trail centres. I've used it for 2 trips to the alps now (swap wheels/tyres/shorter stem) and managed to keep up on most tracks with my mates on 223's etc...if you can only have one bike, like doing DH/lift days but need to pedal up I would say it is about perfect.
Friend who had an orange5 in the alps suffered quite badly on some of the steeper and techier courses. He said it was down to the head angle (he's a better rider than me and I was ok on the nomad...)
When I test rode a lapiera (zesty I think) it felt quite flexy compared to the nomad.
Cwm Carn xc, Mendips, FOD, any welsh trails
I have met people who think 100mm is enough for the UK, but tbh a 10, 20, 30 etc ft drop is the same height wherever you are...
To be fair to Nick Egg, None of the places you ride are hardly 10, 20, 30 ft drop territory and you've not stated the need to do this as a requirement. In my experience a 6" bike would not be any faster or enjoyable than a 5" bike at those locations. In fact, at Afan and the Quantocks, the ST4 was a more suitable and enjoyable bike than the Five (and I'm saying that and own a Five)
And a Zesty is just fine down Cwmcarn DH course.
yes cwm carn would be the most DH I would hit, I basically ride anywhere within a 2 hour drive from bristol so quantocks etc I was just usinf 20ft drop as an example, my only concern is 15 QR on the zesty vs a 20mm on the spicy
15QR is great! Massive improvement (others argue not mind) over a normal QR fork... I've owned 9mm Floats and 15QR Vanillas and have tried 15QR Floats. I'm all for 15QR 🙂
My remedy is perhaps a little much to get the best out of flatter, singletrack riding. But having the pro-pedal shock & floodgate on the fork means you can lock it out for harder surfaces, making it much tighter, but still giving it some leeway if you hit harder stuff. Very adaptable.
A - Its better to be over-biked than under-biked. Plus whatever travel you have you'll find somewhere, somehow to use it all - by riding faster or just hitting bigger stuff.
B - A heavier bike will mean you'll just get fitter.
C - Don't underestimate the benefit of the slacker geometry of longer travel bikes.
I'd go for the Spicy: I test rode one for 6 hours in the North Downs and had a great time. I would say the Spicy is the more versatile of the two.
I've said it before and I'll say it again.... Roscoe. Rides like a short travel bike when there's no need for long travel, has all the suspension you'll need if you ask for it. What's not to like?
I have an 18 inch Medium Orange 5 AM 08 spec model For Sale
with a Fox Talas 160 adjustable fork up front.
Thompson finishing kit
and Hope Mono 4's brakes
all top spec
only weighs in at 29.5lbs
If intrested e-mail me
grantway01@hotmail.com
A - Its better to be over-biked than under-biked. Plus whatever travel you have you'll find somewhere, somehow to use it all - by riding faster or just hitting bigger stuff.
Depends on the rider. I've seen a lot of people mincing about on long travel bikes that would never be able to ride them to there full potential or travel.
B - A heavier bike will mean you'll just get fitter.
You'll only notice the benefits of getting fitter on a heavier bike if you switch to a lighter bike.
C - Don't underestimate the benefit of the slacker geometry of longer travel bikes.
Most all day bikes are adopting slacker geometry these days...
I have had a zesty for nearly 6 months now, I would heartily recommend it for fun riding and general stuff, I certainly couldnt imagine myself needing any more bike for what I do. Bear in mind though that most of the reviews I read before I got it said that it was "adequete and ok for riding up" and thats exactly how I'd describe it, It copes with the uphills rather than loves them. It certainly is no whippet up the climbs, It has quite slack angles and puts you way behind the bottom bracket, so you arent going to be able to fly up the hills with the guys on more race orientated bikes, unless you are super super fit. I never rode a Spicy but I guess that would be even slacker and therefore sluggish.
But the payoff is brilliant stability and out and out fun on the descents, so I wouldnt swap my Zesty for anything at the minute
I now only have 2 bikes (having recently sold my dh bike after years of racing). One is a kinesis maxlight xc whippet thing, and the other a spicy. Basically the spicy replaced the orange 5 and sunday i used to have. I kept the 5 after selling the sunday but kept getting urges to do proper dh. The 5 just isnt up to dh like the spicy is (which is why i got it, well that and it was cheap!). If i still had a dh bike i would have a 5 or a zesty.
Should add that the spicy is a bit more of a handful than the 5 on the flatter stuff. So much so i mostly run the forks at 130 to keep the head angle tighter.
I'd vote for a Zesty to (I have one) unless I had the money for a 916 Spicy, in which case I'd be tempted to go for that rather than a 914 Zesty.
I've seen quite a few guests on LaPierres out here this summer (including one guy who used to design bikes for them!). We've had someone come for a chairlift week and ride a Zesty, equally we've had a guy come for a backcountry week (good bit of pedalling) and ride a Froggy!
From what I've seen, the Spicy would be a fantastic all-rounder, but the Zesty is amazingly capable. Seen it used on DH courses and some proper gnarly rocky stuff. A wee bit light for the really big stuff, but very, very capable. If you're not going to be hucking drops, get a Zesty. If you do want to do a bit of that kind of riding, trips to the Alps, whatever, then get a Spicy.
whatever travel you decide on, you wont regret a giant.
bwarp!
trance: 4"
trance X: 5"
Reign: 6"
reign X: 7"
other than variation in the travel, and as the travel goes up, the bike gets slacker, they are all the same.
Blur LT?
Not really interested in anything other than a zesty, spicy or a nomad. I think I have owned most other bikes 🙂 really want to get something that I wont change again, I am leaning towards the zesty as I dont think I would get the most out of a Spicy or a nomad. I was looking at a remedy 9 but again perhaps a bit much, im trying to weigh up which one would fit my bill the most.... as long as the zesty can handle small jumps, rock gardens, all day rides and still fly down a hill then it probably is at the top of the pile
Don't discount the Alpine as being too much bike. I was in the same situation and tested the Spicy. It was a fun ride but I prefer the extra chunkyness of the Alpine. It climbs as well as any other bike I've ridden but you do have to be prepared to move your weight about on the really steep climbs/six inch plus rocks and roots. I wouldn't describe myself as especially fast but I've never been passed on a climb, and that's even fully loaded with sticky downhill tyres. The downhill more than makes up for the tweak in technique and I get the same kick out of the Alpine as I did with my Patriot.
Although I keep a hardtail for pootle days in the hills with the better half, I haven't taken it out since acquiring the Alpine - there's no point and it's too sweet to ride!
I've been running a Nomad as my only MTB for the last 3 and a half years. It goes up, it goes down and it goes along with no fuss! Its even, shock horror, quite good fun at trail centres (and no slower than my mates on their 4" travel XC bikes/5" travel bikes/long travel, pig heavy hardtails!)!!!
nico vou whasit came 3rd in this years mega on a zesty
you can't go wrong with a zesty
nico vou whasit came 3rd in this years mega on a zesty
Sure it wasn't the Froggy or the Spicy he was riding? As far as I am aware, and I am happy to be proven wrong, Nico has never ridden a comp on a Zesty.
nico vou whasit came 3rd in this years mega on a zesty
pretty sure it was a Zesty with Fox 32's - read that somewhere
Not sure if you picked up on my comment about the zesty feeling flexy out back compared to the nomad. Would be worth trying them back to back. The nomad is significantly better (imo) on stuff like afan's skyline descent (I rode them back to back on it), and I didn't feel like I climbed any better or faster on the zesty than on the nomad with the travel wound down to 100.
Could have been a shagged test bike though.
as long as the zesty can handle small jumps, rock gardens, all day rides and still fly down a hill then it probably is at the top of the pile
It can, will, very comfortably and the best of my ability do all of the above. Plus has made me a more confident rider and grin more hammering about the lakes than my other bike...............................which is a 100mm ali hard tail but still
GET ONE THERE ACE!!
Nico did ride a Zesty at this years Mega, but as with all pros it was highly modified. It has the rear linkage off the spicy to give it 160mm, and a shorter i2i length shock with a custom front shock mount. he was also on fox 32's.
I was very breifly behind him. he was rather fast!
Ahhh I stand corrected. Perhaps he's hit on something there: A 160mm travel Zesty
so that will be a spicy then 🙂
kind of like getting the back end off a nomad and putting it on a superlight front end..... to get ... yes a nomad....
kind of like getting the back end off a nomad and putting it on a superlight front end..... to get ... yes a nomad....
erm...think you've got your sums a bit wrong there
Go inbetween - 150mm, and light as a Zesty if not more so - Pronghorn Trail
Hi!
Sorry for hijacking thread, but my Spicy is up for Sale at the mo! Just sent you a mail in case you are interested!