Lapierre Audacio 400 road bike

The Audacio 400 sits at the top of Lapierre's Sport range of bikes which are perfect for the non-racers who still want a fast ride. It's yet another example of performance on a budget from an aluminium frame as long as you don't mind the Team Sky-a-like paintjob.

All day comfort

Lapierre say that the Audacio is the entry level to their road range and that "this light, efficient and accessible bike will enable you to ride more often and progress faster than you ever imagined." From this I think we can take that they're targeting those new to cycling and for your £899.99 it's certainly a great starting point with a frame that is ripe for upgrades.

The geometry, like a lot of sportive or endurance bikes means a high front end. Our 52cm medium has a top tube length of 547mm and a head tube that's 160mm long which is pretty tall for a bike of this size.

This along with a 72.5° head angle and seat tube angle of 73° gives you mild mannered ride that is comfortable and easy to live with for long hours in the saddle. You don't feel perched up though as you can still get into an aggressive enough position without putting too much load on your neck or back muscles.

Thanks to being able to butt and form the tubes alloy bikes aren't harsh anymore and that's exactly the case here with the curved top tube and double butted wall thickness of the tubes providing a very comfortable ride. The seat tube is triple butted for more flex and improved weight loss.

In the 12-20mph speed range where most of us do the bulk of our riding the Audacio 400 is very relaxing to ride with neutral steering. It's an easy bike to control whether in a group or riding on your own.

Push things a little faster and the Audacio responds especially in the bends as it holds the line and tracks smoothly. Although high at the front you can get into a crouch on the compact bars and really take any twisty descents flat out providing the corners aren't too tight.

If things get properly twisty you do notice the slightest of delays in the steering as you bank from side to side which can cause you to run wide. To be fair to the Audacio it's not a full on race steed and the handling is easily up to the standard I would expect on this type of bike.

If you like hills the Audacio 400 comes with various gear options. You can have a 50/34 compact or 50/39/30 triple chainset up front and a choice of 11-25 or a 12-28 cassette. Ours came with the compact and 12-28 sprockets which made for comfortable climbing in the saddle, especially on those long steep drags sportive organisers like to chuck in to their routes. It's not the stiffest frameset on the market and you'll find a bit of flex around the bottom bracket under hard efforts.

Frame & Fork

Lapierre use the 6061 grade of aluminium alloy for the Audacio frameset with varying tube profiles and wall thicknesses for stiffness and comfort. A claimed frame weight of 1365g is pretty impressive for the price range and when paired with the 530g (claimed) alloy/carbon fork it compares favourably to the opposition.

The down tube is oversized as are the chainstays for power transfer though Lapierre have resisted the urge to taper the head tube. The bottom bracket area stays traditional too with the use of threaded cups rather than the latest push-fit options.

The sizing of the frames is based around the seat tube length which is why our 52cm medium comes with stack and reach figures more like those of a 55cm frame. What this does allow is the running of a lot of seatpost to introduce flex into the ride. I was running 240mm of exposed post during testing and while the benefit is minimal you can feel the post flexing a bit on rough surfaces.

The overall quality of the frameset is high, as it always is from Lapierre. The welds are smooth and uniform before being coated in a thick layer of paint which is very hardwearing and difficult to mark.

Six size options are available with top tube lengths of 520mm through to 600mm so there should be something to fit most of the population without too much tweaking.

Tyre clearance is a common question these days thanks to the growth in using wider profile tyres and it certainly isn't an issue here. Coming as standard with a 25mm width the chainstays and brakes happily took 27mm tyres during testing with no issues whatsoever.

Finishing Kit

For the money the Auadcio is well specced. You get a full ten speed Shimano Tiagra groupset. A lot of bikes at this price use Shimano's cheaper Sora or even Claris parts, so this is really good to see.

The shifting on Tiagra is good, not quite delivering the really crisp feeling of the new 11-speed groups but it's not far off. Taking the price and weight into consideration though it is a very good groupset which also looks smart. The choice of gearing options mentioned earlier is a pleasant touch too.

Tiagra's brakes have always been on the weak side though and that doesn't change here. An upgrade from the stock pads is always a must especially if you ride a lot in the wet; the Tiagra ones are too hard to offer any decent modulation.

Ritchey provide the aluminium finshing kit with their Comp Curve bars, 4Axis stem and 2 Bolt seatpost. It always looks classy when a bike's collar matches its cuffs and the Ritchey stuff is top quality for a bike at this price point. The shallow drop of the bars means all positions are available to anyone with the minimum of flexibility and the narrow 42cm width gives a direct feel to the steering.

The seatpost gives plenty of easy adjustment and was a good tight fit in the seat tube. Perched atop is the Selle Italia X1 saddle which was pretty unnoticeable, a good thing in terms of saddles. If you notice it it'll be due to discomfort.

Shimano's WHR 501 wheels are cheapies but bombproof while rolling pretty well too considering their weight. I've ran plenty of pairs of these through the winter and the hubs stand up to quite a lot of abuse. They stayed true during the test period as well.

The Michelin Dynamic Sport tyres are basic training jobbies that roll okay and offer a decent amount of grip in all conditions. Once the weather turns better a switch to some lighter rubber makes a massive difference to the performance of the Audacio.

Conclusion

I liked riding the Audacio a lot. It's really easy to live with and on technical sections of road or poor surfaces the neutrality of the handling makes it very safe and controllable for experienced or novice riders alike.

It sprints, descends and climbs well if not exceptionally but as far as comfort and stability goes its right up there with some of the best endurance based bikes on the market.

The full groupset and matching finishing kit is rare at this £899.99 price point but gives the bike a much more finished look without compromise and it all works well to boot.

The overall weight of 9.3kg might sound heavy but in reality the Auadacio never feels that portly; it gets up to speed easily enough and climbing isn't an issue either. Putting a lighter set of wheels on transforms the 400 though so that's always an upgrade to keep in mind.

Verdict

Brilliant sub-£1000 endurance machine; very well-priced and specced