Tested: Lapierre Passport
|
Lapierre isn’t very well known in the U.S., but across the pond they make everything from city and road bikes to a full range of mountain bikes. And if anyone doubts the credibility of the French bike company, they can take it up with Nicolas Vouillouz
, the 10-time downhill World Champ who pilots Lapierre DH bikes flying the Saab-Salomon team flag.
But most of Lapierre’s mountain bikes can’t be sold in the U.S. due to issues with Specialized’s Horst Link patent. So it’s fitting that one of the first Lapierres to sneak across the border doesn’t even exceed standard airline baggage allotments.
The Passport is a new take on the travel-ready, bona fide mountain bike—and it’s a good one. When assembled, the Passport looks and acts like a trail-ready 25-pound softtail. Its tiny rear air shock takes the edge off the harshest bumps with 25 millimeters of travel, but the real genius of the design is that the rear seatstays can unhinge from the top of the seat tube, fold like an accordion into the chainstays and, swinging around the bike's main pivot (concentric with the bottom bracket) it all tucks up under the frame itself. In effect, the traditional double-triangle frame turns into a single-triangle frame, which then folds easily into a custom-made, airline ready bag.
Lapierre teamed up with French bag maker Lafuma to co-design the Passport’s carrying case, which has wheel covers for both wheels and a smartly designed way of ensconcing the Passport. Once the bike is built, the whole shebang even rolls up into a backpack.
My only real qualm with the case, other than it was extremely top heavy and nearly impossible to wheel through an airport faster than a slow walk without tipping, is that it has “Bicycle Parts” printed right on the top of it.
My experience with ill-tempered airline attendants is that the mere mention of the world “bicycle” sets off alarm bells that can only be quelled by bending over and shelling out between $100 and $250. But knock-on-wood: I’ve yet to have an issue with the Passport. Another folding bike I tested, the Dahon Flo, measured just above standard baggage regulation, and I was able to sneak it through most of the time, but not every time. The Passport’s comparatively diminutive size never raised an issue, and because it only weighs 35 pounds when packed into its case, the alarm bells never went off.
Tearing down and building the Passport back up is a breeze, requires no tools, and once I’d figured out the puzzle it took less than 10 minutes to turn a bag into a bike or vice versa. Because the frame folds in on itself, the shifter cables don’t require couplers, and because it is equipped with V-brakes, the brake cables simply slide in and out of the brake levers with a simple fiddle of the barrel adjusters.
The secret to the fast, tools-free setup is locking quick release levers. Five of them. There are two at the stem, one connecting the seatstays to the frame, and one for each wheel. The stem operates on the same principle as an NVO stem/headset system, and it can be taken on and off the spacer-equipped steerer tube without affecting the bike’s headset adjustment. Once the handlebar is off the bike it fits into its own padded case, cables and all.
|
The sketchiest part of the bike was the stem/steerer tube connection. The locking aspect of the stem’s dual quick-release levers jettisoned springs and pins after just a few rounds of use, and thereafter just worked as regular quick-release levers. Nevertheless the levers were still long enough to generate some serious clamping force, and after multiple builds and a handful of trail rides, I have yet to have an issue.
The XL bike I tested rode like a champ and even with a 24-inch top tube and 22-inch seat tube, it crammed into its case without issue. A 71-degree headtube and 73-degree seat tube lend the bike a fast, neutral feel, and the 100-millimeter Fox Float RL fork smoothes out the front end.
My only other major qualm was the rapid-rise rear derailleur, which messed with my head so bad it had me mis-shifting my front derailleur, too.
While the words “French folding bike” may not set your heart aflutter, all told, this is a very cool concept. It’s a tad heavier than the Dahon Flo, but it also gives you the benefit of an inch of rear travel and less hassle making it through the airport. The only upgrade I might make is a cable-pull Avid BB7 disc brake up front, as the Mavic Crossride wheels come disc brake-ready.
With airlines incessant gouging at the ticket counter, if you travel often and are looking for a no-nonsense solution to bringing a bike along, then this bike is worth checking out.
The Passport is available in bike shops around the country, and is distributed in the U.S. by Seattle bicycle Supply. For more on the Passport, including a 16-step slideshow on how to tear it down, visit Lapierrebikes.us
RSS
TWITTER 
FACEBOOK
YOUTUBE
Add Comment