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Lapierre Factory the Land of the Fait Main

FACTORY TOUR CYCLES LAPIERRE

WORDS & PHOTOS: COLIN MAEGHER

Far

from

World

in business for sixty five years. They

France.

are France’s largest premium bicycle

To the general public, Dijon is the

producer and they sponsor race teams

home of the famous Dijon mustard.

and individuals who participate in all

To the culinary elite, Dijon lies in the

forms of competitive cycling; from the

heart of the Burgundy wine region—

Tour de France, with the FDJ team, to

acclaimed globally for it’s rich red

the UCI Downhill World Cup with its

wine and classic French cuisine. But

Lapierre Factory Team featuring Sam

to bike enthusiasts around the globe,

Blenkinsop, 2012 Junior World Champ

Dijon is also the home of Cycles

Loic Bruni, and two-time World Champ

Lapierre. ‘Lapierre Bikes,’ as they are

Emmeline Ragot), as well as Enduro,

more commonly referred to, has been

with the indomitable Nicolas Vouilloz.

Headquarters,

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Pinkbike’s lies

Dijon,

Lapierre is located on the outskirts of Dijon, a ten-minute pedal from vineyards that produce some of the most expensive wine in the World.

These vineyards and the forests that surround them are laced with trails, the same trails where Gilles Lapierre first tried mountain biking.

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Lapierre

in

version, but today Lapierre is better

mountain biking is for their innovative

known for their OST+ suspension - a

full suspension mountain bike designs.

patented four-bar system utilized on

They

legendary

their longer-travel trail and freeride

X-Control - a single pivot design - in

bikes, and for their proprietary Pendbox

2001. Jerome Chiotti raced that bike to

linkage design that is found on both

a French National Championship title

their DH bike and the X-Flow trail

at a time when almost everyone else

bike). More recently, Lapierre created

was unwilling to race a full-suspension

waves with the advent of their e.i.shock

bike. X-Control still exists in a modern

concept.

first

is

made

best

the

known

My dad did with me what his dad did with him. He made me work in the factory, so as to experience all the stages of production. And I can only thank him for that... I did everything: built wheels, spoke lacing, and even welding, since at that time we were also manufacturing frames. So every time I was on holiday or around, I was given the opportunity to take part in all the stages of the production.

Gilles Lapierre

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Heritage. Gilles Lapierre and his father, Jacky, looking over DH frames in the Lapierre factory. Jacky may have handed the reins to his son in ‘96, but his influence is still visible on the production floor.

As Jacky strode through the facility with Gilles, he was greeted by name and a handshake by nearly every worker on the floor - never mind that it’s been over a decade and a half since Jacky’s been the managing director at Lapierre.

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It was Gilles who was responsible

Like most bicycle companies,

for Lapierre’s move into mountain bikes.

Lapierre’s manufacturing has been

On a trip to Taiwan in 1987, he had

in Taiwan since the early ‘90s when

his first exposure to mountain bikes.

aluminum became the predominant

Samples were ordered, the local trails

frame-building material, but unlike

in Dijon were explored, and Gilles was

many other bicycle manufacturers,

hooked. “When I tried [mountain biking]

Lapierre bucked economic trends by

for the first time, I was immediately

maintaining their bike assembly in

convinced that it was [going to be]

Dijon (they do maintain some full time

amazing and saw huge opportunities

engineers and QC personnel in Asia as

right away,” recalls Gilles. “I was used

well). This was done for two reasons: a

to riding enduro motorcycles in the

strong sense of tradition, backed up by

woods near Dijon with my friends

business sensibilities.

every Sunday morning. I already knew very nice trails and I asked my friends to test the three samples I brought back from Taiwan… We were all on the same page; that this was going to be the start of something amazing.”

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At Lapierre they do not use an assembly line. Rather, the components are preassembled and grouped (cockpits, wheels, etc), and the actual bicycle assembly is done by the most senior of the mechanics at Lapierre - many with over 30 years of experience.

Here we see Jose Moreira, a 19-year factory veteran, assembling cockpits that the senior mechanics will use on the current build cycle.

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Wrenching at Lapierre is definitely

case with other pre-assembled brands,

not a standard blue collar gig. Many of

everything - literally every assembly

the lead mechanics have been here

step - is double-checked and torqued

for over three decades. Only the most

to spec. “Having bikes assembled here

deft of these mechanics are allowed to

is tradition,” Gilles states in a matter-

do the final assemblies. It’s a task that

of-fact tone. After some thought, he

requires speed, attention to detail, and

then clarifies with, “Very frequently, my

precision. These ‘ace’ Lapierre men are

father and I discussed that we must

capable of taking the exactingly pre-

always have a part of our production

assembled components, and building

close to our R&D department…it

a bike that is quite literally “good to go”

helps us to keep a constant control

in roughly twelve minutes. Nor is this

of the different processes, including

assembly something that needs to be

assembly.”

double checked, as is all to often the

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(Clockwise) The badge of honor - a Lapierre Work shirt. Victor Fernandes working over a bike in the assembly area. The factory, all things considered, is spotless. Roger Pascal sweeping up at the end of shift, Work orders stamped as ‘done’ at day’s end.

Senior mechanic Philippe Prandi working over a bike build - Prandi has been working in the factory for over 35 years, Roger Pascal checking shifting on a bike build.

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This theme of tradition, mixed

And the core is the skilled labor force

with business savvy, continues to be

who build the bikes in their 3400

the backbone of Lapierre. The Lapierre

square meter Dijon facility. While

factory employs roughly 60 people on

Lapierre is always quick to explore

a full-time basis to drive the front end of

new technology (like their cutting edge

the business, push the R&D, manage

e-shock system), Lapierre’s investment

customer service, and to assemble

in its workforce is a huge part of what

bikes and some components (wheels)

makes the brand what it is. Some of

in their Dijon factory. It is perhaps best

the Lapierre employees have been

to think of Lapierre as a body: Gilles

working there for over three decades.

is the head, and takes an active part

It may be ‘blue collar,’ but working at

in day-to-day affairs. The engineering

Lapierre is a widely respected career

department, composed of seven full-

job in Dijon. Factory workers are

time employees, drives the innovation

valued as a component, and not one

as well as the look of Lapierre’s bikes.

that is easily replaced.

We are a part of a big group, but still driven like a family company. That is the secret I think.

When you come here, you feel this company spirit, and we are talking about ONE team. I am used to saying that I pay much more attention to the quality rather than to the quantity.

Gilles Lapierre

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It all boils down to precision. Nearly every worker has a torque wrench close at hand. Nothing is done without being measured to an exacting standard of precision. And that attention to detail shows in every single frame that bears the name ‘Lapierre.’ (Clockwise) The torque wrenches that litter the factory work stations all bear a patina of age and regular use. Main image frames racked up, awaiting final assembly. Gilles

Lapierre beside a rack of frames. Pre-assembled cockpits. Matthieu Juaneda and another worker doing pre-assembly on a media bike. Matthieu Juaneda tightening a bolt on a crankset. Philippe Prandi using a drill to tighten a seatpost collar. Center image - Roger Pascal chasing the threads of a derailleur hanger before the final assembly.

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Building Wheels

Lapierre

uses

pre-made

wheelsets from the likes of Mavic for some models, but most of their wheels are made here in the factory, The build is divided into both hand and mechanical stages to speed the process along, but final tensioning and truing is done by hand. The process gives Lapierre more build options to customize its wheels for various models and a greater level of control over the quality of the finished product.

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Building wheels at Lapierre is accomplished by a mixture of hand and machine labor - spokes-tohub by hand, filled hubs and rims go to one of two wheel-building machines for lacing and pretensioning, and the final truing and spoke tension is completed by hand. As always, a torque wrench is at the ready.

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Sebastien Candat doing final wheel assembly in the factory: cassette, disc brake rotor, and tire mounting.

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contacts at PINKBIKE.COM

KARL BURKAT CEO/DIRECTOR OF SALES

778.858.6930 // skype: karlo_ubc // karl@pinkbike.com

RADEK BURKAT CTO

604.351.2581 // skype: radek.burkat // radek@pinkbike.com

Julian Coffey PUBLISHER

604.908.1413 // skype: julian.coffey // julian@pinkbike.com

Ian Hylands Photo Editor

360.296.4745 // skype: ian.hylands // ianhylands@pinkbike.com

MIKE Levy Technical Editor

604.799.5389 // skype: mikelevy. // mikelevy@pinkbike.com

Richard Cunningham TECHNICAL EDITOR

661.298.4453 // skype: rbarichard // rc@pinkbike.com

Tyler Maine CONTENT MANAGER

604.799.7465 // skype: tyler.maine // tyler@pinkbike.com

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MEDIA KIT // 2013 // Contacts

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