New bike purchase

Ken Perry has got his new bike choice down to either the Scott Addict R2 or the Lapierre Xelius 400 in Français de Jeux colours. He can’t make up his mind which he wants and want us to make (or help make) the decision.

Question:
I have narrowed my purchase to a new road bike to either the Scott Addict R2 or the Lapierre Xelius 400 FDJ for 20 to 60 miles rides, mountain riding, general all round speedster but comfortable enough, enough to enjoy a hard day ride. thanks for any tips.

Hi Ken.

Nice choice, but as usual it’s very difficult to split the two bikes as they are both top class. So we had better take a closer look at them.

Scott Addict R2

The Scott Addict R2 frame is light, it weighs in at 790 grams of the top class HMX carbon, it has a built in seat post for weight saving and stiffness, although I have seen some with the normal seat pin set-up. There is also an integrated bottom bracket, the drop outs are also carbon and the front gear hanger is alloy for strength. The forks are stylish, but maybe look a bit bulky. During Scott’s Integrated Moulding Process (IMP), the top/head/down-tube section is produced in a single step, which ensures the lightest weight by removing all unnecessary material. The front end is then joined to the rear triangle creating a frame that’s incredibly light and efficient. It comes in 6 sizes from 49cm to 61cm, the angles will be lively as they are quite upright, this will give you a very sporty frame and maybe a little twitchy, the tight angles could make a longer ride uncomfortable.

The equipment is Shimano, is see you can still get the 2009 version with Dura-Ace at a good price and the 2010 with Ultegra which has the choice of normal chain set or compact which if you intend to do a lot of climbing the compact is a great idea. Depending which model you go for there a few slight differences, they all use Ritchey bars and stem and Mavic Ksyrium Premiere wheels and either Hutchinson or Continental tires. All a choice of good equipment and can’t be faulted.

The Scott Addict R2 has everything you need, light, works perfectly and looks great.

Lapierre Xelius 400 FDJ

The Français de Jeux version of the Lapierre Xelius 400 has lots of style with a unique paint job. Again a stiff and light frame using Ritchey carbon taper forks that combined with a well proportioned frame should ride well under all conditions.

The complete bike weighs 7.4 kilograms with the Shimano Ultegra group set and the Ritchey handle bar, stem and seat post. The wheels are also Mavic Ksyrium, although on the Lapierre they are the Equipe version which is not as good as the Premiere on the Scott. The tires are Hutchinson and the saddle is from Fizik.

The geometry of the Lapierre is very similar to the Scott and should handle well.

The Conclusion

OK, both great bikes, if you were thinking of buying the Addict fitted with Shimano Dura-Ace then that would be the bike of choice over the Lapierre with Ultegra. Not such an easy choice is between the Addict built with Ultegra and the Lapierre with Ultegra. But the wheels on the Addict are the better Kyserium Premiere; this would throw it for me.

So it’s the Scott Addict we would go for, tough choice though!