lapierre or giant

sfgsea

Hi,
I'm not familiar with bike technology and have never owned an expensive bike. That said I'm taking the plunge to purchase a bike on the cycle to work scheme. I'm restricted by my employer to "the cycle superstore". I've looked at two bikes Giant Rapid 2 and Lapierre Shaper 700.
The Giant is cheaper and comfortable but while the Lapierre is a firmer (rattles the wrists a little) ride it was a great buzz, with no drag. I never thought a bike could be as much fun as the Lapierre I tried.
I have a 20 mile round trip commute and looking for any advice on how to decide what to purchase.
I'm looking to get a bike I'll want to ride every day and not be put off by the commute distance. Up to now I was cheating with a pedal electric bike, which I eventually gave up on due to issues with batteries/motor and components.
Budget is about €1,200 with a little flexibility to get the best bike to keep me cycling. Fitness level is reasonable but no spring chicken.

Many thanks in advance for your views.

moesymoe

I don't claim to be an expert at all, but I was faced with the same decision 2 years ago. I went with the Giant and couldnt be happier.

fwiw, they seemed to be seriously pimping the lapierre when i was there and the cynical side of me thought that it was probably more down to the margin they were getting on a relatively small brand versus the actual quality of the bike.

Icyseanfitz

i have a lapierre pro race 200 mtb and its a great bike, beautifully built

LightningBolt

I've a Lapieere Francaise de Jeux and it's a pretty nice ride to be honest. Moves quite nicely.

Edit: You'll have a bit of bargaining to do on the Lapierre by the way if the shop gets a higher margin. Use it to your advantage!

07Lapierre

Get this instead...(You'll regret getting a hybrid eventually)

RacoonQueen

07Lapierre wrote: »

Get this instead...(You'll regret getting a hybrid eventually)

+1

Have an audacio 400 myself and love it. CSS do love their Lapierre's, I'm hoping to trade up by next summer and I'm highly likely to go with Lapierre again.

kenmc

personally I find LP to be fine, but underspec'd for the price compared to say Cube or even Giant i.e. for the same price range the components on the LP tend to be generally one group down than the others.

For 10 miles each way I'd seriously be looking at a road bike though.
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=35&idproduct=40665
would be in your budget and is 105 all round, much better than the mix of tiagra and sora on the others.

NeedMoreGears

For what its worth..... at 1200 quid you might do well to think about drops.

sfgsea

07Lapierre wrote: »

Get this instead...(You'll regret getting a hybrid eventually)

Can you elaborate why I don't want to get a hybrid?

doc1976

sfgsea wrote: »

Can you elaborate why I don't want to get a hybrid?

I've a rapid 3 and recently got a loan of a road bike (dropdown) and I'll probably end up selling the rapid and staying with the dropdown.

For me the drop down just feels better and a bit more natural. When I go back to the Rapid it feels like my body position is all wrong and way to high.

Id definately try a road bike before I purchase a hybrid.

Zen0

I had the same choice earlier this year when I went to buy a road bike. The Giant was equipped with Shimano Sora (or maybe even lower) components which are low end (but fine) while the Lapierrre (Audacio 400) was equipped with mid range Shimano Tiagra components which are better. Bought the Audacio 400 and I love it.

Apply for Cycle Superstore "membership" before you buy and you should get a discount whichever you buy - you may have to buy something small to qualify, but it made Cycle Superstore better value than other bike shops.

Not sure if I agree with the advice about going for drops though. While I love my road bike I like the more upright position for negotiating city obstacles and bad driving.

Coronal

Zen0 wrote: »

Not sure if I agree with the advice about going for drops though. While I love my road bike I like the more upright position for negotiating city obstacles and bad driving.

I've never found it to be an issue myself, tbh. A road bike will handle faster than a hybrid, and riding on the hoods is as high as you need to get. Completely upright doesn't give you that much more of a view than in the drops, but it's a lot more comfortable (and faster) over longer distances. You can always stand up to get a better view.

You don't want to get a hybrid 'cos you'll eventually grow too strong for the inefficient riding position and want to get there and back just a little faster It may take a year, maybe 18 months, but it will happen. And while you can put drop bars on a hybrid, it's still not a road bike, and it'll cost a lot of money. 1200 will get you a pretty damn good road bike.

kenmc

I'm another who bought a flat bar racer (Giant FCR2, in 2007) and swiftly turned it into a drop bar and haven't looked back since. Found myself wanting to go further and faster, and to join a cycling club you need to have drops. At the time of purchase I had no idea I'd want to do stupid (150km+) distances "for fun", but the bug bites very very hard.

07Lapierre

sfgsea wrote: »

Can you elaborate why I don't want to get a hybrid?

A road bike allows you to adopt a more "aerodynamic" position when cycling into a headwind. (we get a lot of wind in Ireland). You'll notice that you'll want to "put your head down" and push into the wind. Its easier and more "natural" to do this on a road bike, as you can move your hands from the top of the bars to either the brake hoods or the drops themselves. On a hybrid, there is only one hand position, which makes this more difficult as your hands are placed further apart. This also means that your body acts as an "air brake" which slows you down.

A hybrid is fine for short, slow cycling, but for a 20k commute, a road bike is the way to go.

Kintarō Hattori

07Lapierre wrote: »

... A hybrid is fine for short, slow cycling, but for a 20k commute, a road bike is the way to go.

Shut up, shut up, shut up!!!!


Bought a MTB when I was living in the city, now commuting 35km each way on it...... speed is a problem!

sfgsea

Guy’s man thanks for all the advice. Looks like I'm looking at a road bike. I've had problems previously with my wrists stuck in one position with flat bar and having to manipulate positions to relieve the wrists. Also I have a 4-5 mile stretch (in the coast road from Baldoyle) against the prevailing SW wind, Jan/Feb being hurricane season getting lower out of the wind will make it easier.
Once again thanks to all.

rat_race

I have to say, regarding the road bike > hybrid argument, I much prefer a hybrid for commuting/city...unless the road bike is basically a hybrid with dropouts.

I owned two top bikes, a Cube MTB and a Lapierre road bike. I used the Lapierre for training and for commuting for ages UNTIL I was on hols and rented a hybrid and loved it.

When I came home, I bought a Cube Nature hybrid for commuting. I much prefer the upright position for commuting, and never feel the need to put my head down...I also find it much easier to weave in-and-out and around traffic/obstacles if need be. This is something that is quite cumbersome with dropouts.

The other important things are the lockout suspension for not-so-great roads, small curbs, etc., and wider (by default) tyres for a variety of surfaces, including snow ("solar experts" say we're going to have c*ap winters for the next 50 years ). The disc brakes, which are pretty uncommon on road-bikes, are great for city commuting. Also, the chain guard is almost a standard on hybrids (no need to tuck jeans into socks). Hybrids are generally more suited to holding racks too. My Cube Nature is almost as fast as my road bike. I can easily do large distances on it.

I just prefer it for day-to-day use. I find it more comfortable and enjoyable. Before I bought the hybrid, commuting-by-bike was something I liked the idea of, but didn't actually enjoy all that much. That's changed now.

When I'm out training, I will of course use the road bike, cleats, etc.