Reader's Rides

Lapierre Audacio 400 Triple 2010

Though not a familiar name just yet on the high streets of Britain, Lapierre are an established French mountain bike and road brand with a strong professional pedigree in both disciplines.

Sponsors ofthe Francaise des Jeux professional road cycling team we've lusted over their higher end road bikes for ages so irrespective of its modest price in comparison, we nevertheless expected good things of the alloy Audacio.

Pitched at 'recreational riders' and 'beginners' the frame is directly inspired by their significantly pricier Sensium model and is available in either a triple or a double chainset version.

Our test bike was actually the triple, which offers a wider range of gears for those of us who need a little helping hand on hill climbs, which we did incidentally, as our 'test track' was peppered with inclines.

Considering t he price the aluminium frame performed well, with the slender and slightly curved seatstays in particular making it a comfortable and fairly responsive ride. Decked out with a complete Tiagra groupset while we had no major issues with shifting or braking, it does nonetheless occupy the lower end of Shimano's groupset pecking order.

The classic tube profile and subdued colour palette in our opinion make this a beautiful bike to look at. The frame is solid and dependable, sitting astride a decent quality Shimar R500 wheelset, good hardy Hutchinson tyres and there's even a quality mile-comforting San Marco saddle to plonk your backside on.

No amount of co-ordinated styling or quality finishing kit will make up for the distinctly budget feel of the groupset componentry, granted it's the cheapest bike we rode, but it's still only £100 shy of a grand.

The 7005 alloy frame is a good foundation, but this bike would definitely benefit from an upgraded  groupset. Even just  one notch up to the 105 series would make this a vastly more tempting prospect.

On ride feel yes, it's a solid workhorse of a bike which benefits from sophisticated styling and the trickle down of frame design technology from its more costly Lapierre 'stable mates. But when stacked up against some of the other higher spec bikes on offer at around £1,000 then we're not too sure we'd be saying bonjour to this.

FRAMESET
FRAME: Alloy 7005 08 FORK: Lapierre Carbone
SIZES: 46/49/52/55/58

DRIVETRAIN
SHIFTERS: Shimano Tiagra F
DERAILLEUR: Shimano Tiagra R
DERAILLEUR: Shimano Tiagra
CASSETTE: Shima no 9S 13-25 teeth
BOTTOM BRACKET: Shimano Tiagra

WHEELS
WHEELS: Shimano WHRsoo TYRES: Hutchinson Equinox Black TR 700x23C

COMPONENTS
CRANK SET: Shimano Tiagra
SADDLE: San Marco Pon:za SEATPQST: Ritchey Logic
HANDLEBARS: Ritchey Logic STEM: Ritchey Logic
HEADSET: Aluminium, integrated
BRAKES: Shimano Tiagra

OTHER
COLOURS: White
WEIGHT: 9.3KC