Review: Lapierre Zesty AM 427

2014 Lapierre 27.5 (650B) Zesty AM

At 5'5" and 135lbs the medium demo Zesty I grabbed from the shop today is technically a bit big for my frame but with a friend riding my trusty Norco Sight today I decided to take the plunge and see how all the hype surrounding this euro bike and E:i technology really fared on our terrain here with a loop in the Soquel Demonstration Forest followed by a fast fire-road descent into Aptos. Thanks Dave @ Shuttle Smith for the ride up!

First the bike:
As a demo bike for a shop with few demos to speak of we wanted to choose something that would compliment the bike designers and the technology they employ without breaking the proverbial bank ($4299). We opted for the Zesty AM 427 in a medium (options for s-xl) which is comprised of an alloy frame, 27.5 (650B) wheels, Lapierres own OST+ suspension design, RockShox Stealth Reverb, and sporting a 150mm travel Fox Float CTD Evolution fork with a Rockshox Monarch RT3 E:i shock. The kit on this bike is a mix of XT (shadow plus rear derailleur), SLX shifters, RaceFace Turbine 36/22 crank, and Avid Elixir 5 brakes... a bit of a mongrel from the parts perspective but everything measured solidly mid-level with an err towards stout rather than light. That being said the bike was a respectable 30.5lbs with pedals!

The Linkage:
Lapierre uses a proprietary suspension desgin called OST+. In short this is a virtual pivot design that  uses chain tension to deflect pedal bob without sacrificing the neutral suspension. In designing OST+ Lapierre assumes a shock will not have a climbing platform or "Pro Pedal". By developing the climbing traits into the virtual pivot placement and chain line each pedal stroke causes the chain to pull the rear triangle into the perfect force balance position and when in that position there is no negative pedal feedback and rear tire grip is optimized. OST+ isn't just tuned for climbing though, the ratio curve is progressive with a plush initial feel for better grip and more comfort ramping up at the end of travel for better control and bottom out prevention.

The Suspension Setup:
Admittedly this is a machine you will want to spend a few minutes getting to know before hitting the trail. There is a lot going on with this beyond just a simple setting of sag and rebound before you rip your local singletrack. The E:i needs an understanding rider or at least a well-mannered shop guy to interview you about your preferred trail and riding style and set up the auto mode properly before you blast outta there. The heart of the E:i and what makes it a great addition to this bike is the auto mode. The entire system works off three sensors: two accelerometers one on the fork leg, one in the handlebar mounted computer unit, and a cadence sensor build into the bottom bracket. The sensors detect the speed of the bike, size of the bump, and whether the rider is still pedaling before computing. Based on the sensor feedback the shock moves into one of three modes: "Open" = full plush, "Platform" = medium compression settings, or "Blocked" = lockout or a pedaling platform. The E:i auto mode is tunable and can be prioritized for a given riders style with 5 levels of engagement. Level 5 prioritizes pedaling efficiency only moving to platform or open when the fork is taking big hits and there little to no pedaling going on while level 1 prioritizes plushness and will move to open with smaller fork hits and some pedaling. Most of us will thrive somewhere in the middle but with the option to change levels on the trail the tune-ability is literally at your fingertips. With changes only taking .01 seconds to take reach the shock that translates to a possibility of more than 20 shock adjustments per minute. That would be damn hard to do even with a cable actuated remote for your shock (not to mention the focus it takes to make a remote adjustment even several times a minute, which inevitably leaves you less tuned in to whats coming up on the trail). A note about SAG - setting sag is an important part of initial suspension setup and Lapierre did us a solid by putting an indicator line that you can see while on the saddle.

If you're not one for brains built into your bike (no offense Spcz'd) then you can still get by on this demo as the Open, Platform, and Blocked settings are reachable on the fly through the remote, just bypass the auto mode in the menu and you're back in control.

The Ride:
Now that we've spent the time to dial in the suspension, set tire pressure, and adjusted the height on the Reverb we're ready to hit the trail. The 67 degree head tube angle, 434mm reach, and 150mm suspension set this bike solidly in the All-Mountain category. Descent and Ascent were considered equally when Lapierre designed this bike and it showed when we took this bike up to the Demonstration Forest in Nisene Marks. The climbs are fast and efficient but not so efficient that  technical rooty/rocky sections were compromised, the suspension got moving even under heavy chain tension to smooth out the terrain and keep the rear tire firmly in touch with the trail. The geometry suited climbing well and I found myself moving forward on the saddle less often than other recent demos in order to balance my weight for the steep sections. The front end stayed planted and fairly steady on the climbs with a very slight propensity to wander if I stopped paying attention. The short chainstays make this a lively and fun ride, very capable in tight sections, and paired with the slack head angle the steep sections and braking bumps are a breeze. The bike handled surprising well on the bigger trails soaking up mid-sized hits with the right amount of platform to leave you feeling stable, and certainly not feeling like you're blowing through the travel. Boost the Zesty, land hard and you'll feel the progressiveness of the suspension curve kick in but it still handled predictably and never felt harsh. One issue I found a bit annoying was heel strike on the over sized seat-stays which might be solved with a lower profile shoe or a clipless pedal (I used flats with Five Ten's), on the other hand the stiffness offered by these same bulky chainstays in berms and off cambered sections almost makes up for their inconvenience.  

In summary:
An all day rider that tames the tricky ascents, is lively and flickable, and still handles the big features of some of our finest trails with charm. This envy-enducing machine will make you want to get out and ride harder and longer than you already do.

Don't take my word for it though, come by and take out our demo bike and see for yourself!

NATIONAL CHAMPION....AGAIN!

12 Months FREE financing to all qualified buyers through Dec 31 2013. Just in time for the Holidays!

As the Holidays fast approach this is a great thing to keep in mind! You can make a difference!

Fred Clements: Improve the economy, buy local

Published October 28, 2013

by Fred Clements   

A blog by NBDA executive director Fred Clements

Editor's note: This blog post was written by Fred Clements, executive director of the National Bicycle Dealers Association. Clements' previous blogs can be read on bikedealerblog.wordpress.com.

Many believe that buying from local independent businesses is a good thing, but is there credible research to back that up?
Yes, and one of the latest is from research firm Civic Economics. The company’s researchers took an in-depth look at the Salt Lake City retail marketplace. They found that a group of locally-owned stores generated almost four times as much economic impact than the average chain store.
Civic Economics analyzed hard data from 22 independent retailers and restaurants, and compared their impact with four chain retail stores(Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, Office Max, and Target) and three national restaurant chains (Darden, McDonald’s, and P.F. Chang’s).
The local retailers returned an average of 52 percent of their revenue to the local economy, compared to 14 percent for the chain retailers. The local restaurants re-circulated an average of 79 percent of their revenue locally, compared to 30 percent for the chain restaurants.
The study methodology required independent businesses to open their books for review to measure the proportion of revenue expended five categories:

1. Profits paid out to local owners,
2. Wages paid to local workers,
3. Procurement of goods services for internal use,
4. Procurement of local goods for resale, and
5. Charitable giving within the community.

Civic Economics aggregated the value for chain stores from public records. The difference between these two numbers captured the enhanced impact of one or the other category of business.
The study suggests that buying local represents a huge opportunity for building healthier local economies. In Salt Lake City’s case, numbers can be extrapolated to illustrate the potential.
According to the 2007 Economic Census, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area produces annual retail store sales across all lines of goods (excluding motor vehicles and gas stations) of roughly $9.5 billion.
Assuming this survey provides a representative sample of area independent retailers, a market shift of just 10 percent from chains to independents would retain an additional $362 million in the regional economy every year.
Similarly, a market shift of 10 percent from chains to local restaurants would retain an additional $125 million in the regional economy.
Civic Economics has conducted numerous studies in the past with a similar conclusion: independents bring substantial benefits to their local economies when compared to chain stores.
The authors conclude, “independents are creating a virtuous cycle of local spending. The extra dollars in the local economy produce more jobs for residents, extra tax revenues for local governments, more investment in commercial and residential districts, and enhanced support for local nonprofits. In short, these businesses create better places.”
The message for the bicycle world? Support your local bike shop. It’s good for you as a cyclist, as well as for the community at-large.

Kona countdown

Feels like I just landed but already we're six days in and counting down the final week to Ironman which is this coming Saturday October 12th. The pressure cooker is definitely dialing its way up as racers arrive with a myriad of bikes each with its own unique configuration and consequently unique problems. We've seen many a seized, cross-threaded, or snapped bolt and performed too many bolt extractions to keep count of. We've soldered at least a few Di2 wiring harnesses. We've replaced a few drivetrains, tons of internal cable routing, and lots and lots of tubulars. Sadly we've had a few athletes arrive with broken frames however the shop is well stocked with tri bikes and every tri bike manufacturer worth their salt has a rep and a tent here in the village. Celebrity bikes have been built, stars of Kona Ironman have been through the shop and there's more to come. The days have been long but rewarding as the tech crew works like a well oiled machine cranking through repairs and tackling all of the aforementioned bike mishaps with the right mix of professionalism and humor.

Viva aloha!

For the second year in a row I have had the opportunity to work with an incredible team of  folks at Bike Works who support the Kona Ironman. A select crew of great shop employees, mechanics, and support crew led by Grant and Janet (the owners) come together to pull off this incredible feat of getting racers ready for this most monumental race. I'm both excited and trepidatious as I head out on the first leg of my journey. This is an intense learning experience and a true test of a mechanics ability to improvise, prioritize,  and just plain make things happen! With 12 hour days ahead I can't promise many updates bit I will try to impart some of the craziness we will get to be a part of so stay tuned!

Zach

Four Peaks in a Week

There is a point in every climb where you see the sky meet the road, and you know you are near the top. You see a tree silhouetted against the open sky, and you can feel the breeze come at your face from all sides. It won't be long. . . .
Let me preface this blog entry by stating for the record that I am NOT a climber. My body habitus does not resemble a jockey, and I have no fast-twitch muscle fibers. But I am stubborn and goal-oriented, so climbs appeal to me -- the challenge of them, the getting to the top, steadily and without question. Once you start, you can't stop until you get there.
So in the spring I decided to plan for the fall to do my first annual "Four Peaks in a Week" -- Fremont Peak, Mount Diablo, Mount Tamalpais, and Mount Hamilton.
The week in October did not arrive in an auspicious manner, as I came off about three weeks of not riding at all due to vacation and a terrible sinus infection. But I had set the days aside and set the goals for each day (refer to the "stubborn" comment above), so I was not about to entertain a change in plans. The goal was to get there, so fitness didn't matter.

Saturday was the first, Fremont Peak. There is an awesome little coffee shop in San Juan Bautista, just across the freeway from the approach up Fremont. All I had was my iPhone map app and the experience of having worked the Fremont Peak Hill Climb last year to know where to go. That would be. . .UP.

I rode my titanium Indy Fab with a compact crank and 27 in the back. It was hot and sunny. The climb is fairly gradual, 5-7% with short pitches in the double digits, and mostly in the trees. Unlike the other climbs, there is no tower at the top to dangle in front of you like a carrot. Other than looking at the mileage counter, you're not sure you're there until the road flattens out a little and you're there. My riding buddy, Joe Garmin, registered the climb of 2594 feet in 11 miles. I rode around and checked out the campsites at the top, then rode down and enjoyed a hot cup of Ethiopian coffee at the bottom.

The next day was Diablo. Never had I done this one, so I had no idea what to expect. It's an easy approach, right off 680 just shy of Walnut Creek, Diablo Road exit. I parked in a little shopping center, went over to the gas station for a pee and change into cycling clothes, and scoped out my post-ride snack: Taco Bell.
This was the only climb that I had a little warm-up for. Diablo Road is a flat, curvy, shoulder-less few miles until the turn-off to the climb, full of edgy large-SUV-driving folks that are surprisingly unwelcoming to the hordes of cyclists that one finds on the climb itself. (Note to self: no Diablo Road next time. I saw my life flash before my eyes a few times.)

Once you turn off to Diablo itself, it's a cyclist's paradise. A long, gradual climb out in the open, with oak-studded brown velour hills, Diablo quickly became my favorite of the Peaks. Even though it was 11 or so miles that climbed a whopping 3736 feet (according to Joe), which should have felt steeper, it felt easier somehow. With every curve in the road, the tower at the top would appear, beckoning to me. Bikes outnumbered cars at least 20 to one. Note to self: do this again.

The very last hundred or so yards, however, was a beast. Right about the time my legs were tiring, the final pitch of 18% to the tower loomed. . . . At the top was an astounding view, well worth the pain to achieve it, and a good excuse to stop and let my heart rate return to something approaching normal.
The descent was as nice as the climb -- until Diablo Road, that is. After several more brushes with death, I rewarded myself with a bean and cheese with extra cheese burrito from Taco Bell. Excellent junk food, not Mexican at all.
The next day, I rode to work and worked all day. As my "Peaks" escapade evolves over the years to Seven Peaks in a week, I may have to take some time off.
Tuesday dawned. Mount Tam. I had done Mount Tam once many moons ago on dirt trails on a cross bike -- wondering why everyone I rode with was so impressed, until I got a mountain bike and realized how much I suffered needlessly. Anyway, I had never done it on the road. I was worried about the traffic. Joe Garmin would not be my only buddy that day for sure -- I collared my friend Davy into doing it with me. He seemed to be okay with my fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach to these climbs -- in other words, not researching a starting or ending point too terribly much and just figuring it out once I got there. At one point, Davy said, "I'm worried we won't finish this by nightfall." And that was at noon.
True to expectation, there is a fair amount of traffic going up Tam. It turns out that half of the climb is on Panoramic Highway, which, as the word "highway" might imply, most folks are used to traveling by car. Again, no shoulder. Oh, and since it's Marin County, let's add a healthy dose of fog and slick pavement, overhanging redwoods, and lots and lots of curves.
The blessing is that Tam is the shortest and lowest climb -- 8 miles and 2356 feet by Joe's calculations. The top is actually only accessible by footpath. You climb to some radar tower that looks like a soccer ball, then descend a fair way to traverse the mountain, which is rather wide at the top, to the parking lot and a footpath that climbs higher. Note to self: bring regular shoes and go all the way next time.
Views of San Francisco tease you through the fog. The descent is treacherous but forgivingly short. Back in Stinson Beach, we changed into regular clothes and hit a real pub, right out of "Local Hero," in Muir Beach, the Pelican Inn. There we enjoyed a Black and Tan and steaming bowl of beef stew with lots of hot bread and butter. Mmmmm. . . . (As you can tell, the "Four Peaks" may refer to the food that accompanies the journey!)
Wednesday, rode to work and worked all day. Normally I work on Thursdays, so I would have done that and done my last climb on Friday. However, I was planning to drive to Napa Friday for a century on Saturday in Sonoma, so I took the day off on Thursday to do the final climb: Mount Hamilton.
I have climbed Mount Hamilton before, so I knew what to expect from her. (As an aside, I wonder what you think about the gender of mountains. In gynecology, we have a general rule: things that are bad are male and things that are good are female. For example, you don't want to make a hole in Mr. Bladder. But you do want to protect Mrs. Ovary. So I refer to mountains as female in gender. My bias. Please share your own opinions.) Anyway, Joanne accompanied me on Hamilton, as we had some other business with her Mrs. Uterus to do over the hill. Again, no warm up. Who needs it really, when the goal is summit not speed?
We parked at a dirt pull-off on Alma, where I mooned several golfers as I peed and changed at the car. No Taco Bell here. For those who have never climbed Hamilton, she is certainly the Grand Madame of them all, 19 miles and 4104 feet. Interesting factoid: nowhere is the road over 7% grade, because they had to drag those huge telescopes up to the top at one point. Talk about a long, gradual climb! Truly Hamilton is a battle of wills. Find your pace and stick to it. Oh, and then remember that there are two -- not one but TWO -- little descents on the way up that totally suck on the way back down to have to climb.
The observatory at the top comes into view and though it seems to get ever closer at one point, appears tantalizingly out of reach for the last 5 miles up. Mount Hamilton is actually a thoroughfare as well, California Highway 130, I believe, and you can descend to Livermore down the other side. At the intersection, still shy of the observatory, Joanne waited and said "Shall we call it good here?" To which (you know this, Gentle Reader) I said, "Hell no! To the top!" and we turned the corner up to the observatory. The view is incredible, and I couldn't tell if the buzzing in my ears was the extreme silence, the radiation in the air, or dehydration and effort. Carrion birds circled overhead the last few miles, as if to say, "shall we call it good here?"
There is civilization at the top of Hamilton -- a public restroom, complete with sink faucets that I swear they knew would serve as perfect water bottle fillers, flushing toilets, cool marble floors, and a pop machine.
The descent is only technical in parts, mostly due to little piles of gravel at curves. The way home was full of much rejoicing after my favorite post-climb treat: frozen yogurt at Sweet Retreat.
The four peaks in a week were done, and all I felt was exhilarated and energetic. (I'm a little nutty that way.) I drove to Napa the next day to do the Asti Tour de Vine north of Healdsburg, in the shadows of Mount St. Helena. . . . Yes, you know what Peak #5 will be next year!