Zesty TR 329 for Enduro/All mountain

JJJJNR

Hi,

Thinking about buying the above bike (Lapierre Zesty TR 329) with my bike to work scheme, I've very little technical experience with specs, hence this post.

I do mainly enduro/AM type trails with some steep drops, berms and flowy rooty, rocky descents. Would this bike be suitable, I know the best travel for enduro is 140 to 160mm, but the 29er wheels should give some compensation.

I'm 6' 4'' using a Large giant XTC 29er 2, which is a bit too small for my frame, has 100mm for the same trails, and manage to get by fine, but I think the XL would be a far better size and the 120mm forks obviously an improvement. I wanted to buy Trek Remedy 9.8 but the budget wont go that far, so thought this would be a decent compromise.

TL:DR :

Would the Zesty TR 329 be suitable for enduro/AM type trail riding.

Tenzor07

Yes, would be a good choice for trail/mtb spins..

StevieGriff

Before you get your hopes up, unless you know of a shop that has one in stock the bike isn't available from Lapierre. All the Zestys are out of stock across the board by all accounts. 2016 models aren't far off though.

JJJJNR

is the 2016 catalogue out yet, presume the spec's wont change that much, anyone any thoughts on Lapierre build quality?

I've about 1400 to spend with the bike to work, any recommendations around that price. If I sell my current bike I might be able to add about 600 to that also.

Only issue with current specs is that I am looking for a 36mm fox fork, as I'm a fairly big guy..

Tenzor07

JJJJNR wrote: »

is the 2016 catalogue out yet, presume the spec's wont change that much, anyone any thoughts on Lapierre build quality?
I've about 1400 to spend with the bike to work, any recommendations around that price. If I sell my current bike I might be able to add about 600 to that also.
Only issue with current specs is that I am looking for a 36mm fox fork, as I'm a fairly big guy..

You'll be fairly hard pushed to get a bike specc'd with 36mm Fox forks seeing as they cost €1,100+ new

34mm will be fine for you unless you're racing and hitting some serious trails..

for your budget maybe try the Giant Trance range instead?

JBokeh

You'll probably have to be willing to travel to country if you want to pick up a bike that is out of stock in the distributors, but what you do have going is that it is an XL frame you're after, and those wouldn't really sell too well, so with a bit of ringing around you might have luck with finding one in a box or on display in a bike shop somewhere.

You wouldn't really need fox 36's they're a really beefy fork, aimed at people that ride enduro lines really hard, in reality if you're using it for moderate trail riding with the occasional bit of jumping you wouldn't notice it, I'm fairly light, but I struggle to feel the rigidity differences between 140mm RS pikes and RS revelations. I'm sure a heavier rider will make them flex, but not so much that they'll be an issue, just a characteristic of the fork. I've stopped lusting after the best equipment these days because I chop and change bikes so much I was losing money at an alarming rate, TBH it is marginal gains for large amounts of money when you start comparing things like SRAM X9 and X0 and fox 34 to 36, average joe wouldn't tell the difference if they had the same stickers put on them.

You'd manage the enduro on a 120mm 29er, due to their size they generally don't come specced in longer forks as it brings the height of the handlebars pretty high, and the frames end up looking odd to get the right stand over, but with an XL fame it won't look too strange , and it would probably be devilishly fast. The specialized enduro 29er came with 140mm forks I think, and it was a very popular machine.

Giant trance would be a good option too, but the trance 4 and 3 come with the kind of gear that I would personally find my self upgrading (despite what I said about not needing the best, there is no reason to have the worst either) . Worth noting that giant forks come with a bigger steerer diameter, and the stems are a bit long for enduro, so You might end up paying for the nose to go for a short stem and wide bar combo, which the giants come with the opposite of

MugMugs

The make up of that bike strikes me as a throw whatever is left in the warehouse onto the frame job.

Xt rear derailer with slx shifters and a sram front derailer?

crosswords

I have the 429. Best bike i have ever owned or ridden.

Fantastic. Get one new or second hand.

JJJJNR

yeah I know what you mean regarding spec, but its an entry level bike, I don't have much options, even though 2400 is a lot of money, XL frames second hand are simply too rare, and even then when they come available are stupidly expensive for a second hand bike..

muckwarrior

How's about something like this https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/mtb/spectral/spectral-al-7-0.html

I have no experience of it, but someone told me you can use the BTW scheme to purchase from them.

Btw, I wouldn't touch Elixir 1s. I had Elixir 3s on my bike and they were rubbish.

MugMugs

How's about this ?

http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1815417/?directtofirstphoto

If I had the readies !

JJJJNR

muckwarrior wrote: »

How's about something like this https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/mtb/spectral/spectral-al-7-0.html

I have no experience of it, but someone told me you can use the BTW scheme to purchase from them.

Btw, I wouldn't touch Elixir 1s. I had Elixir 3s on my bike and they were rubbish.

I know for the spec canyon can't be beaten but having to post my bike back to them if it fails or something happens is why i was going to go for the LBS.

But that is exactly what im looking for.

JJJJNR

MugMugs wrote: »

How's about this ?

http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1815417/?directtofirstphoto

If I had the readies !

Did a test on the intense large and its just too small for me, super bike though.

sconhome

Orbea are bringing out an Occam AM for 2016 which in the hydro / alloy frame might suit your budget. I've been looking at them myself and am sorely tempted.

https://twitter.com/TriHarderAR/status/617394711796543492

Front forks are Fox 140mm. There is also a TR version with shorter travel 120mm.

muckwarrior

JJJJNR wrote: »

I know for the spec canyon can't be beaten but having to post my bike back to them if it fails or something happens is why i was going to go for the LBS.

But that is exactly what im looking for.

You wouldn't necessarily have to send it back. A lot of the time if something goes wrong they tell you to get a LBS to fix it and they refund you the cost.

MugMugs

In fairness to Canyon, they are second to none in terms of what you get for your money. Little others would give you the reverb bleed kits, shock pumps and other bits and bobs with the bike.

Plus posting the bike back is a last resort for them

JJJJNR

That's interesting about Canyon, I guess its like getting tyres from eiretyres, still have to get them fitted at the local tyre shop, how does the B2W scheme work with them, if they only have a website. I just sold my 29er, and I'm injured so keep the bikeporn coming..