Lapierre Xelius SL 8.0

About me as a reviewer

Writing this review I have done about 5000 km outdoors as well as a hundreds of more on the indoor trainer. So perhaps not enough for a long-term review but certainly more than a first feeling.

In order to make a useful bike review I think it can be helpful for the reader to know more about the reviewer. I have been road cycling intensively since 2021, first three years on a Giant Revolt Advanced 2. I made the switch primarily because of some knee and hip discomfort that I (after trying numerous of other things including multiple cleat- and saddle positions) thought might be helped by shortening the crank-arms. I soon learned that the second hand marked of crank-sets for my Praxis M24 BB86 standard was sparse… At the time, changing press-fit BB felt both too hard and ironically, too expensive. After a couple of month of searching I ended up buying a much more expensive bike instead…

I am 184 cm tall, 80 kg heavy and have disproportional long legs with an inseam of 90 cm. In addition to the Giant Revolt Advanced 2 I can also compare the Lapierre bike to a Ridley Kanzo A that I used as a gravel and commuter bike. The Ridley Kanzo A share more attributes with the Giant Revolt Advanced, altough with more of a cyclocross geometry. All three bikes has been ridden in size large, recommended by each company with regard to length.

About the bike and technical data

As far as I understand, all of Lapierres high end models are made in Europe. In addition, and in contrast to the likes of Canyon, Specialized e.t.c., all of their Lapierre Xelius models are made from the same high quality carbon material. In other words, even the cheapest Lapierre Xelius model (SL 5.0) share the exact same frame as their top tier models (SL 9.0).

In contrary to Specialized and Trek that have merged their aero and lightweight race bikes into one bike Lapierre is still offering an aero model (Aircode) and a marginally more lightweight option (Xelius). Altough, Lapierre is marketing the Xelius more of the “allrounder” than pure climb bike. To me the weight difference between their race bikes are negligable. I would argue the Aircode offers less drag and the Xelius offers more comfort (thanks to the seat-post having more room for movement).

I choose the SL 8.0 model. Mostly because it had a generous discount at the time. In addition to gain the Ultegra Di2 groupset the SL 8.0 also comes with a reasonably light (around 1500 gram per pair) carbon wheel-set, carbon seat-post and handlebar which sets it apart from the cheaper SL 7.0.

• Frame and fork: Xelius SL Disc thru axle UD Superlight carbon (Size Large)
• Wheel-set: Lapierre Road Disc 38 622×21 carbon Center Lock Tubeless Ready
• Tires: Continental GP5000S Tubeless ready 700×25
• Group-set: Shimano Ultegra Di2 (160 mm rotors front, 140 mm rear, 172,5 mm crank-arms, 36-52t chainrings, cassette 11-30t).
• Saddle: Fizik Argo Vento R5
• Cock-pit: Lapierre Carbon handlebar 420 mm wide (approximately 85mm reach and 135 mm drop) and aluminium stem of 110 mm (size Large).

Model	Lapierre Xelius SL 8.0 (2022)	Giant Revolt Advanced 2 (2021)	Ridley Kanzo A (2022)
Reach (mm)	403	391	392
Stack (mm)	557	602	611
Wheel-base (mm)	1005	1046	1056
Chainstay (mm)	405	425	430
Head angle (degrees)	73	71	71

Comparison

• Giant Revolt Advanced: Altough both being carbon frames the Lapierre feels much lighter, nimble and fun to ride. For me with long legs, the Giant left me almost having the seat post maximally exposed. Being carbon it flexed. A lot. So the power transfer feels much more direct on the Lapierre.

Changes I have done so far

• Cassette eas changed to a 11-34t (from 11-30t) from the bike shop.
  • Reason: Prioritized easier gearing for journey to the french alps rather than small gaps between the gears.
• Saddle, swapped to my personal favourite SQ Lab 612 (13 cm)
• Tires, from GP 5000S TR 25mm to GP 5000 All-season 28 mm
  • Reason: Cycling journey in france with road of mixed condition. Wanted firstly the extra comfort from 28s and secondly a bit more puncture protection.
• Handlebar: From Lapierre UD Carbon handlebar 420 mm to Deda Superzero RS 380 mm (below=
  • Reason: Shoulder ache, matched bar width to should width.

Overall the frame seem very weel-built. My only concern and minor gripe was the rather prominent gap between the fork and main frame. First I thought the head-set had not been properly tightened or installed but when it remained I actually asked the bike shop from whom I bought it. They thought it looked okey but asked Lapierre that confirmed it was nothing to worry about. However, the bigger gap lets in more dirt. I have searched the web in order to get a feeling for wether this is how the model looks or if is my particular frame. Seems as if some frames have a tighter gap and some have something similar to mine.

Riding experience

I love this bike. It is my first real road bike so take it for what it is. Coming from gravel bikes with a more upright position and slacker head angles I really love the quick steering and nimble feel of a race bike. Leaning more towards the front wheel also makes me feel more connected to the bike.

If you want to know how stiff the frame feels I can not really answer that question in a meaningful way. Same things go for the aerodynamic performance. According to Lapierre it is faster than the previous Xelius but slower than the Aircode. However, how it compares to the new Tarmac 8 I can not tell but I would guess it has more drag but that the difference is very small in comparison to your body position e.t.c. What I do know is that I can much easier reach a more aerodynamic position compared to the Giant Revolt and Ridley Kanzo A. And that is irrespective of handlebar width and stem length (of which I tested a couple different on both models).

I guess the steeper head-angle and shorter wheel-base is responsible for much of this nimble feel. In addition, weight certainly playes a role. I have always been on the opposite scale of the weightweenie thing. When skiing I have always prioritized downhill performance over lightweight equipment for easier ascending. Starting cycling my approach was the same. Robust over lightweight. Altough I still believe that weight does not make much difference to the average speed of cyclist (long climbs excluded) it certainly makes a lot of difference to the feel of a bike. There it is, never thought I would say that – I really enjoy a lightweight bike. In the current setup, with Favero Assioma pedals, garmin mount, two bottle cages and 2 cm lower steerer tube (half of the spacers left) it comes in at 8,2 kg.

Comparison

In comparison with the Giant Revolt Advanced and the Ridley Kanzo A for that matter, it both feels, and is, lighter. However, the Revolt Advanced being a nice carbon frame it is not a huge difference, perhaps 1 kg I would imagine (wheel-sets being rougly the same weight but slightly heavier drive-train).

Another difference is that I almost had to maximise the saddle length of the Giant Revolt Advanced in order to reach my proper saddle height (about 79 cm, BB to saddle top) due to the sloping top tube. Leaving that much exposed carbon seat post ment it flexed a lot. In my opinion it flexed more than I would have liked, felt as if I was swinging a bit when pushing harder. In that regard the Lapierre feels more efficient. In addition the bottom bracket area seem to be stiffer, and certainly looks more massive as well.

However I guess the biggest difference comes down to the geometry discussed before – steeper headangle that combined with a shorter chainstay leads to a shorter wheelbase.

Living with the bike

Most important thing, I love how it rides and it feels as a luxury every time a swing my leg over it for a ride. Estethically? Altough a bit odd, I think the frame is beautiful. Perhaps no the best looking, but still clean looking without too many bends and kinks. Paintjob? Not the most enticing. However, it looks smart to me. I really enjoy the matte finish i contrast to the glossy finish on the rest of the frame. Frame being the same, the 2024 models have a very nice paintjob indeed with a slightly marbeled metallic touch.

Fully integrated cock-pit, a blessing and a curse… Neat and clean looking but a pain both to work on as well as travel with. I have just switched handlebars and since the new one have a shorter reach I feel as if I want to replace the stem for a 1 cm longer identical one. However, cutting hoses, re-bleeding e.t.c. makes me hesistate a bit.

Travelling with the bike. We usually travel by car and having the bike on a rack is obvioulsy no different from other bikes. However, flying with the bike can be. I wanted to use a hard case and borrowed one for our journey to Mallorca (TRAVEL GUIDE COMING UP). Most hard case travel boxes require the handlebar to be taken off the steerer tube. To get enough slack in the brake hoses I had to remove the handlebar tape, slide the shifters back a couple of centimeters to be able to rise the stem enough to loosen the 2-piece spacers. Removing the spacers gave me just enough slack to loosen the stem from the steerer tube. I used a regular stem to make sure the fork was held in place during the flight and were (just) able to put the handlebar away enough to close the bike box. Arriving in Mallorca and heading out for the first ride I was a bit jealous of my friends external cable bike being mounted and ready to ride within minutes.

I was not sure about how I would feel about electronic shifting. However, except from the knowledge that they are more expensive to replace if damaged my experience has so far been very good. Best thing is that once they are set up properly they will remain so. Going back to Mallorca, my mate had to spend quite some time adjusting his mech that we thought had both lost cable tension and been pushed out of place during the flight. In my case it was just a matter of disconneting the rear mech and transport it separately from the rear triangle and then quickly re-install after the flight.

I do most, if not all, bike maintanence and repair myself. Therefore I love a bike that is easy to service and sports many standard parts. That is why I, altough being 2023, I chose a mtb with fully external cable (REVIEW of the VItus Mythique coming up soon). The Lapierre on the other hand has fully internal cable, press-fit bottom bracket and a pair of in-house wheel-set with unbranded hubs…. To be fair, the press-fit standard is considered one of the most reliable. And regarding the hubs I contacted Lapierre who quickly returned and informed me that the huvs where produced by Fastace and did not need any special tools (yet to be done…).

Summary

It feels racy. It is nimble, light and fun. Being formerly raced by Groupama FDJ (last year) and still by the FDJ Suez (femme) it should come by little surprise that it feels racy. However, the comfort is also really good. And that combination is what makes it such a stellar bike to me.

Curiosa

When I bought this bike and sold my Giant Revolt I thought that the tire clearance of 32 mm rubber (some say 34 mm) would make it possible to ride som fast gravel. Which, after all was the gravel I enjoyed the most. However, when I rode the bike and say the delicate seat stays I felt a bit hesistant going for gravel rides on it. Perhaps I would have been totally fine doing so. But I soon settled having it as a pure road bike.

I can motivate having three bikes to myself. A pure road bike (doing mostly road riding), a mountainbike as well as a combined gravel and commuter bike (currently doing 18 km a day back and forth to work). The latter has been served by the Ridley Kanzo A until just recently. That bike felt too big to me from day 1. Perhaps I have been spoiled by the feeling of my Lapierre? But the Ridley Kanzo A felt like a train. And altough being a more relaxed riding position I could do many more miles on the Lapierre Xelius without any discomfort. So when I started looking for a new commuter and gravel bike I searched for something that shared some attributes to the Lapierre. However, with the trend of gravel bikes getting longer, slacker and more stable there is not so much alternatives if you want a rapid, nimble and road-like gravel bike there are not som many alternatives. Since the Cervelo Aspero and steel-bikes like the Fairlight Secan was way above my budget I ended up buying an aluminium frame from Loca bikes. It had a comparable short chain-stay, steepi-ish head angle and shorter wheelbase than most other gravel bikes. Much more from that project coming up soon – for now, looking very promising.