FIRST RIDE REVIEW

THE NEW LAPIERRE SPICY CF

ADJUSTABLE AND AGGRESSIVE

Words by Robert Johnston | Action Photos by JB Liautard 

Following success on the Enduro World Cup series under Isabeau Courdurier and the Lapierre ZIPP Collective team, Lapierre has made their Spicy CF available for the public to purchase. With unique adjustability between a high pivot and low pivot suspension design, and geometry and kinematic design made with direction from mountain bike legend Nicolas Vouilloz, the Spicy CF was a bike we were excited to swing a leg over and put to the test.

ABOUT THE LAPIERRE SPICY CF

FRAME AND FEATURES | The biggest talking point of the new Lapierre Spicy CF is undoubtedly its unique adjustability. With the same basic frame, Lapierre has built in the adjustability to go between a high pivot and low pivot suspension design, with only a shock extender change and the addition or removal of the idler pulley. With this adjustability, Lapierre hopes that riders will be able to optimize the performance of their Spicy CF to the terrain on the menu of the day. Looking to ride jumps and berms in the park? Low pivot is likely to give you the desired dynamic ride. But if you’re looking to maximize grip and comfort in rougher and more natural terrain, then the High Pivot with idler setup should treat you well.

Up front there’s a consistent 180mm fork and 29” wheel combo to lead the charge. A 3-position flip chip on the lower shock mount allows for the wheel size in the rear to be changed between 29” or 27.5”, and for the geometry to be tweaked between high and low positions with each setup. The down tube features a removable window, under which there is a storage area suitable to store spares and tools if desired. The chainstays get generous protection, and the block lock headset is backed up by rubber bumpers on the down tube to prevent damage in case of failure.

SUSPENSION | The aforementioned high and low pivot suspension designs allow for some serious tuning potential. If a 29” wheel is used, the rear end delivers 170mm travel. With a 27.5” wheel, this is bumped up to 174mm.

The high pivot design produces around 8mm of rearward travel, whereas the low pivot has effectively none. With the idler wheel, anti squat is higher on the high pivot design to better preserve the geometry and keep things more efficient when pedaling. The low pivot design features slightly less anti squat, helping to add comfort to the design when pedaling.

GEOMETRY | The Spicy CF features an aggressive geometry package to handle some wild riding. Stand out figures are the raked out 63.5° head tube angle and relatively high 645mm Stack height. Reach numbers grow 20-25mm per size, with the Large coming in at 480mm. The chainstays are 440mm on the smallest three sizes, and grow to 445mm on Large and 450mm on XL.

BUILD SPECS | Lapierre is spec’ing all of the Spicy CF models with the High Pivot suspension and mullet wheel configuration as standard. The customer can purchase the low pivot link and a 29” rear wheel to modify the setup as they desire, or opt for the frame-only option at €3,699 to build it up as they desire. Build specs start with the €5,499 Spicy CF 6.9 and top out with the Spicy CF Team at €10k.

We tested the Spicy CF 8.9, which retails for €6,999 and is spec’d with a high quality build that avoids being overly flashy. A Fox Factory 38 and Float X2 suspension package offer high tunability and capabilities. Shimano provides the Deore XT 12spd drivetrain and M8100 4-piston brakes. The wheels are DT Swiss EX1700, which were wrapped in a Super Trail Schwalbe Magic Mary and Big Betty combo. Rounding out the specs are a Trans X RAD+ dropper post; Lapierre Thirty Five alloy cockpit, and WTB Volt saddle. The claimed weight is 16.0kg (35.2lbs).

THE DIRT

My time on the new Lapierre Spicy CF consisted of a single big day on the bike in and around Les Gets in the French Alps. During this day I made sure to test this new enduro machine on a wide variety of terrain, from groomed bike park jumps and berms to wet roots and tacky dirt during a couple of backcountry pedal laps. The new Spicy CF provided an impressively fun and capable bike for it all, and made sure there were no shortage of good times.

On the way up the hill, the Lapierre Spicy CF was a well sorted machine. The positioning of the idler pulley ensured there was minimal bob when pedaling, both seated and when standing up and laying down the watts. The idler pulley didn’t produce notable drag when the chain was clean and well lubricated, and there was only a small notion of noise by the end of the ride. Add in a well-centered seating position – even with my long legs – and the Spicy is not a bike that was nervous about covering ground.

Descending on the new Lapierre Spicy CF was pleasurable across the spectrum of its intended terrain. In the bike park, the fairly stiff frame and balanced geometry led to a great time pushing hard in the turns. The Super Trail casing on the Schwalbe tires left a lot to be desired in terms of their rigidity and support, but even so the result was a bike that loved to attack built turns. Since the high pivot is not the most extreme, the mid-length rear end combined with the 27.5” rear wheel was not overly cumbersome. The Spicy CF offered enough agility to navigate tighter turns and pop and play without too much difficulty.

When it came to the rough sections of trail, the idler-equipped High Pivot suspension ironed out the terrain well. That said, it avoided an overly muted feeling, instead providing enough feedback to feel the grip beneath the tires. In this way, it wasn’t necessarily the most comfortable bike out there, but it carried speed very well. It would be interesting to test out a coil shock or work further with the settings on the Fox Float X2 to see if more comfort could be introduced without a loss of support.

The Wolf’s First Impression

The initial impression on the Lapierre Spicy CF was extremely positive. It combined comfortable climbing performance with a versatile and capable descending character, to make attacking both bike park and natural terrain a pleasure. We’re excited to get this machine in for a long-term review in the coming months to see where its capabilities tap out and feel the effects of the high and low pivot adjustability.

Website: Lapierrebikes.com