The all-new Fezzari La Sal Peak is their first long travel 29er enduro bike, and it brings an interesting mix of geometry and features to the segment. That, and 150mm of travel, adjustable geometry to fit multiple wheel sizes, and the ability to climb almost as well as an XC bike.
The frame was rapid prototyped as a 3D-printed concept early in development, which let them speed up the fit, finish and design and get this bike to market in about one year. That’s fast, but it’s the bike they (and their customers) have been wanting, so they got busy. That urgency didn’t come at the expense of attention to detail or quality, though. It’s a full carbon frame that uses their CleanCatch cable routing and CleanCast carbon layup, and it comes with a lifetime warranty.
They’re offering the bike only in carbon fiber, because that’s what they (and the market) wanted. Over the past few years, they’ve improved their layup system with longer fiber sheets to reduce overlap, which means less weight. They say they’ve been able to pull about 300g out of a frame, apples to apples, from what they were making just a few years ago. For the La Sal Peak, that means about 2,300g without shock for a size Medium.
The Horst Link suspension is very progressive, about a 24% change, which let them rely on the suspension design to provide solid pedaling and bump performance rather than pushing the internal shock tuning to the limits.
This provides both small bump sensitivity and end stroke support through the kinematics, letting them keep a very light tune on the air shocks. Yet it pedals efficiently, even with the shock wide open, thanks to Anti-squat sitting right around 100%. Want to run a coil shock? No problem, the progressive curve is designed to work with a coil’s linear nature.
“Unique” Geometry That Works
It has their GA Flip Chip link at the lower shock mount, which will be set in the Low position as standard. The High position raises the BB by ~12mm and steepens the angles by half a degree. They don’t anticipate many people riding it in high with the 29er wheels and tires, it’s really there to bring things back to the normal position if you decide to run 27.5+ tires.
Now, about that geometry: The head angle is a properly slack 65º, but the seat angle sits at a true 75º. But the effective angle is a very tall 78º, which makes the reach feel extremely short when you’re on the saddle or looking at the numbers on paper. The goal was to keep the rider over the pedals on the steepest of climbs, with plenty of weight on the front end to keep it from wandering or skittering out. And thanks to a long-travel dropper seatpost, the saddle will get completely out of your way when it’s time to descend. If you just can’t wait for our first ride review, rest assured, as weird as it looks, it actually works quite well.
Up front is a 160mm travel fork with a short offset (44mm with Fox, 42mm with Rockshox). They tested it with a longer offset but said it would wander a bit on the climbs. The shorter offset helps reduce that. In the back, they kept the chainstays just a bit longer at 435mm to improve high speed stability.
Other Features You’ll Like
The bike uses a threaded BB, molded chainstay protection, ISCG mounts, and a water bottle cage mount on the underside. All frame sizes have two bottle cage mounts inside the front triangle, but only the large and XL frames can fit both bottles simultaneously. On small and medium bikes, you’ll need to pick which position you want to use…seat tube or down tube.
It’s also Fox Live Valve compatible, with mounting locations for a rear axle motion sensor on the chainstay and battery/control unit mounts and ports on the downtube.
The bike is designed as a 29er and comes with a 29×2.5 on the front and 2.3 on the rear. Clearance is rated for 29×2.6, or 27.5×2.8. Max chainring size is 36-tooth.
It uses the new cable management system from the Signal Peak, which clamps the cables firmly in place so they won’t rattle inside despite a lack of internal channeling.
They also routed them out through the top of the downtube, just in front of the seat tube, to keep the cables out of the way of trail shrapnel…no more dangling loops of cable under your bottom bracket. That has the added benefit of reduced cable growth as the suspension compresses, and there’s less housing length to create cable drag. And it looks a heck of a lot cleaner.
The seat tube is kept as short as possible above the top tube so you can run the longest possible dropper seatpost. For the Small frame size, that probably means a 150mm dropper because the shaft for anything longer probably won’t fit all the way into the seat tube…and shorter riders may have inseam limitations for anything longer than that. All other frame sizes should clear a 170mm dropper.
Fezzari’s Tyler Cloward says the La Sal Peak was tested to the Downhill bike standard, then to about 130% of the required testing in the lab, in addition to extensive real world testing. That, plus extreme attention to detail to fit and finish to keep tolerances as tight as possible, lets them offer a lifetime warranty on the frame.
Pricing & Options
As with all of Fezzari’s bikes, if there’s something you want that’s not on the menu, just ask. They’ll build it any way you want it. As a starting point, they’ll have four stock builds ready to ship on demand (because they’re a direct-to-consumer brand, which is why you won’t find them in bike shops). For 2018, the La Sal Peak will come in two colors: Matte Olive and Gloss Cement.
La Sal Peak Pro – $6,599
● SRAM X01 Eagle Drivetrain
● Rockshox Lyrik RC2 160mm Fork or Fox 36 Factory Grip2 160mm Fork
● Rockshox Super Deluxe RC3 or Fox Float X2 Shock
● SRAM Code RSC Brakes
● Reynolds TR 309 S Carbon Wheels
● Rockshox Reverb or Fox Transfer Dropper Post
● *Fox X2 and 36 Grip 2 fork available for $200 upgrade
● **Enve Wheel with Industry 9 hubs, Bar, Stem upgrade available for $1,300
La Sal Peak Elite Race – $5,599
● SRAM GX Eagle Drivetrain
● Rockshox Lyrik RC2 160 mm Fork
● Rockshox Super Deluxe RC3 Shock
● SRAM Code RSC Brakes
● Reynolds TR309s Carbon Wheels
● Fox Transfer Dropper Post
La Sal Peak Elite $4,599
● SRAM GX Eagle Drivetrain
● Rockshox Lyrik RC2 160 mm Fork
● Rockshox Super Deluxe RC3 Shock
● SRAM Code RSC Brakes
● Stans Flow MK3 Wheels
● Fox Transfer Dropper Post
La Sal Comp $3,599
● SRAM NX Eagle Drivetrain
● Rockshox Lyrik RCT3 160mm Fork
● Rockshox Super Deluxe RC3 Shock
● SRAM Guide T Brakes
● WTB i29 Rims
● X Fusion Manic Dropper Post
The Fezzari La Sal Peak is available now. Click here for our first rides impressions and video run through!
