Liv ditches Maestro for Pique with a lighter look

Liv is elevating its Pique Advanced 29 cross country race bike with a new, lighter suspension design in preparation for the Paris Olympics. To do so, the women’s bike brand ditches its long-running Maestro suspension design for a new “Flexpoint Pro” suspension design.

Bye bye Maestro: Liv Pique Advanced 29 turns to Flexpoint

The biggest change to Liv’s cross country race bike is the move to a linkage-driven single-pivot design after more than a decade on the Maestro suspension layout. Here, Liv follow’s Giant’s move to flex-stays with the Anthem, but with a twist. The Pique bumps up to a full 115mm rear wheel travel, from 100mm, and adds a 120mm fork.

Lighter

Combined, this change to a sleeker suspension design with more travel allows Liv to make the Pique more capable on ever-tougher World Cup courses and reduce the bike’s overall weight. Liv says a raw, unpainted size small Pique is 297 grams lighter than the previous generation Pique. In the cuththroat world of cross country racing, that’s no small change. The ability to make such light frames with this style of flex-stay suspension is what makes it so popular on the World Cup circuit these days.

More capable

Adding to that capability is an update to the Pique’s geometry. Liv makes it slightly slacker, with a steeper seat tube, longer reach and shorter chain stays. These are pretty common changes to see on new bikes these days, but Liv doesn’t go too far to chase the trend. The numbers are modern without losing the quickness required for cross country racing.

Liv also adds a second water bottle mount to the Pique (all sizes but XS). While this isn’t something you’ll likely see Jenn Jackson or her Liv Factory Racing teammates using during races, it does add utility to the Pique for training rides and longer, marathon-style racing.

Stiffer

With significant changes to the Pique’s silhouette and tube shapes, including a much straighter top tube, Liv is claiming the new design is six per cent stiffer than the previous model. The down tube, top tube and chain stays now use a wider, more square profile to better balance torsional stiffness with overall weight. Liv also says it is using a new “proprietary carbon fibre material” that is stiffer than its predecessor.

Pique Advanced 29 1

Liv Pique Advanced 29 3

2024 Liv Pique Advanced 29: Pricing and availability

Liv is offering the Pique Advanced 29 in four sizes, from XS to L, and, in Canada, three models. All bikes should be available in March from Liv and from Liv retailers.

At the top of the line is the Pique Advanced 29 0, which rolls across the start line for a staggering $15,000. After year’s committed to Fox’s Live Valve electronic suspension, the extra wires are dropped completely for 2024. That leaves the Pique 0 with a mix of SRAM XX Transmission with powermeter, Shimano XTR brakes, Fox Factory suspension (Float SL shock and 34 Float fork with 120mm travel). Wheels are Zipp 1Zero HiTop SL 29 carbon fibre wheels.

At $9,000, the Pique Advanced 29 1 gets SRAM mix of XO (power meter) and GX AXS T-Type drivetrain, Shimano XT brakes, Fox Performance Elite-series suspension and Giant’s XCR 1 29 carbon fibre wheels.

For $5,500, Liv offers the Pique Advanced 3 with a Fox Float SL Performance shock, RockShox Sid (120mm) fork, Shimano Deore drivetrain and non-series brakes and Giant XCR 2 29 carbon fibre wheels.