Introducing our latest long-term test ride – Ben’s 2015 Lapierre Spicy 527

Introducing the latest long-term demo bike that we’ll be hammering in 2015! It’s the Lapierre Spicy 527.

The Spicy is up for a pretty special test. Ben from MTBStrengthFactory will be racing the full UK Gravity Enduro Series on the bike and aiming to go hard all season. Nothing tests a bike better than a full season of gnarly British racing. We’ll bring you a warts-and-all long term review of how the bike laps up a full year of race abuse.

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  • 150mm rear travel / Fox Float CTD
  • 160mm front travel / RS Pike RC Fast Solo air
  • Mavic EN423 27.5″ wheels
  • Michelin Magi-X and Wildrock’R tires
  • £3,100

This test did not start well! I received the bike a week before Christmas and my wife was somewhat annoyed that her (very thoughtful and generous) presents were about to be severely out-done by the folks at Lapierre!

Once marital harmony was restored I decided to do things properly and swiftly whisked it up the hill to Ross The Mechanic at Bristol-based shop, Pedal Progression. Obviously I can put a bike together, however I wanted to get a feel for just how well it had been assembled and have a really good tinker with it. As well as torquing everything up, Ross was going to have a look at the wheel build and just give it a once over.

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“This issue was compounded by the fact that two of the bolts seem to have been made of cheese”

Pleasingly, the entry level offerings from Mavic had been built really well, with good spoke tension all round and running straight and true. The rest of the bike had been similarly assembled and there was only one small niggle on day one; the stem bolts. For delivery the face plate is bolted onto the stem as the bars are cable tied to the top tube in the box. The Frenchie in the factory who did it up and thread-locked it in place did a bloody good job as it was totally solid. Way more than the 4-5 Nm stated. This issue was compounded by the fact that two of the bolts seem to have been made of cheese and despite good quality tools are now a bit on the round side. All sorted now, but those soft bolts very nearly rendered the bike un-rideable on day one. Bum.

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In general though it is a well thought out spec and the bike as a whole has a feeling of quality about it. I think it is a good build considering the £3100 price tag and the fact that this is not a direct-sales brand. Nice touches include the Lapierre signature rear-mech guard, getting the more expensive XT ice-tech pads for the XT brakes, Stealth Reverb, Race Face cranks and the brand new Michelin tyres. The frame looks good, with nice clean lines and room for a bottle cage under the shock which is a result. I am not a fan of the cable routing, bulging out underneath the bottom bracket, but there are a lot of bikes out there doing this without issues so it is probably just me being picky.

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“It feels solid, planted and stable. That means fun.”

As I write this I have ridden the bike about 6 times for a total of about 14 hours on a mixture of natural and trail centre type stuff, and it feels solid, planted and stable. That means fun and once you get to grips with the long wheelbase and top tube it is surprisingly easy to pop off of little features and move around on the trail. I am finding the extra length tricky to manual, but then I am coming from a 2012 size medium Transition Covert and onto a 2015, size large so things are a lot more roomy and long. On that note, I am a shade under 5’10” and I can only just ride the large with the Reverb pretty much slammed into the frame.

Pedalling, the Spicy feels a lot more efficient and easy rolling than its weight and travel would suggest and this is down to the suspension design and tune. It pedals remarkably well, especially when standing and even with the shock in ‘Trail’ mode rather then ‘Climb’. The subject of pedalling leads me to my main gripe. My heels rub on the chainstays. Not enough for me to notice whilst I am riding, but enough that both have now had the paint rubbed off of them, exposing the bare metal. I do ride flat pedals with 5.10’s that are a bit on the chunky side but still, this should not be happening. I am going to have to get some frame protection going to prevent further wear or damage.

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“It feels easy and forgiving to go fast and the Pikes support the front nicely with all the suppleness you could ever need.”

On the way back down the hills you can really feel the benefits of contemporary bike design, especially the increased length of the bike. It feels easy and forgiving to go fast and the Pikes (once spacers added) support the front nicely with all the suppleness you could ever need. The tyres have been pretty awesome as well, rolling quickly around the trail centres whilst hooking up and clearing surprisingly well in the muddy natural trails by my house. Running 2 chainrings up front has been a nice little luxury in the winter gloop, but when the spring comes round the bike will have to go on a pre-race season diet and that will include switching to a single ring setup.

Overall it has been a good start to our relationship together, and I think that the Spicy and I will get on just fine.

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Look out for updates as Ben charges on into race season.

For now, go check out the Lapierre website here or Ben’s website here.


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