Roc d’Azur – Lapierre unveil their first full suspension carbon 29er

Weighing under 10 kilos, this full suspension, full carbon 29er is an XC race rocket!

After the success of last year’s hardtail 29er, it wasn’t going to be long before Lapierre were building a full suspension version. Lapierre have been tweaking the design for months and finally presented the prototype bike on Saturday at the Roc d’Azur bike show. It’s a pure-bred XC machine, all carbon including the swing arm, that has at its core a simplicity of design and light weight. That’s why Lapierre have ditched the Pendbox suspension set up that the brand holds so dear and is of limited value on cross-country race bikes. Instead, the unusual rear shock anchor system is reminiscent of the famous X-Race. Team rider, Nicolas Vouilloz, worked with Lapierre engineers on the bike’s geometry and pushed through the suspension design, reducing the number of pivot points to increase the bike’s rigidity and reduce weight.

This prototype is likely to be tweaked further based on feedback from Lapierre rider Alexis Vuillermoz, who will take it for its maiden ride on Sunday at Roc d’Azur. Even he’s only discovered the bike since last Wednesday, which shows just what a hot new product this is. This bike, which is first being released to the team riders should be on the market in production form in April.