Hi im looking at buying a Commencal meta 5.5.2 merlincycles have just reduced these to £1350 which is about my max price i can afford and seems like a real bargain! im looking for some feedback from owners of this bike? is there any other bike worth considering at this price range? i ride mainly trail centres llandegla, penmachno, coed y brenin ect. any advice would be really appreciated.
many thanks

You can demo one at llandegla i think? I’ve got 2(missus nicked my 08 version) and love them, most fun I’ve had on a bike ever. the zesty is getting better reviews this year but its also £500 more expensive. just ignore the people moaning about weight and climbing and try one out 🙂

I have an 07 one and its awesome, I have raced offroad duathlons on it and used it to race on at the avalanche enduro at Ae forest. Still toying with a zesty tho………

I’ve just bought a Meta 5.5.3. Fantastic 5″ trail bike, really enjoying mine at the minute. I’m riding stuff I couldn’t and hitting things faster.

And at that price, the 5.5.2 is a great bargain IMO.

I’ve an 08 5 5 3 with pikes and a dhx air shock. Great bike i love it.
The only crap things were the overly aggressive default propedal setting on the rear shock and marshitty forks mine had. The 552 looks a lot better in those areas

I personally can’t stand them, I’ve test ridden an ’08 XT and a ’09 one @ Llandegla.

They just seem to sink into their travel and climb pretty badly, but then again that’s just me.

I’ll just quote my reply from BikeRadar 😉

It’s a total bargain for that price. Not got one but tested one and my mate has one and loves it.

Bit of a waste to just ride it at trail centres though!

I personally can’t stand them, I’ve test ridden an ’08 XT and a ’09 one @ Llandegla.

They just seem to sink into their travel and climb pretty badly, but then again that’s just me.

Just you, ( or badly setup shock ) 😉

Climb badly! Complete opposite for me – so much grip from the rear suspension.

08 5.5.2. here, most fun bike I’ve ever had, needs a reasonable amount of TLC though.
I find it climbs ok for a downhill orientated bike, but I’m 14 stone so the weight penalty is less obvious!
Taking it to Pila in Italy in two weeks…

i bought the 5 uk on monday and pick it up tomorrow from merlin. its £1499 at the mo. £2150 with liesure lakes.

Erm they do seem to crack frames frequently at the mo!

I’ve got a 5.5.1. It’s pretty good fun on descents, but it’s really tricky to get it set up to climb well. I’ve just replaced the RP2 with an RP23 and it makes a huge difference. If it was my money though, having tried a Trek Remedy, I’d be looking for a 2nd hand one of those.

Can someone explain to me, in simple terms, what it is about climbing with a Meta 5 that is so bad?

It has quite a steep seat tube angle, could be something to do with it.

I don’t think it’s that bad tbh. My shock is running quite firm at the minute, so that probably helps. There’s certainly no pedal bob of note.

my brother has a 5.5.1 and if its a bad climbing bike he must of turned into
robert millar lately! he is 6’3″ on a large and thinks it flys,

My Meta is no lightweight (it’s built up to c32lbs) but it still climbs like a goat, as Druidh says what exactly is bad about it with respect to climbing??

To the OP – get one, at that price it’s a total bargain.

I had an 08 5.5 vip build from Merlin last year (until some scroat nicked it). Best most fun bike I ever had. Climbs well (not necessarily the quickest to the top of the hill – not the slowest either) but slays the downhills. Whips round corners & berms like it’s on rails. You can really cant them over & launch them of bumps & rocks. Such fun. Mine was a full XT build with Air Pikes and came in at about 30lbs. They’re not a lightweight xc or race machine but for (and I hesitate to use the phrase) ‘All Mountain’, trail use & mucking about they’re great. A 5.5.2 for £1350 is too good to be true. Try one, then buy 🙂

I had an 07 until Monday when I got it nicked. I didn’t have any problems climbing on that and have ordered an 09 from Tredz who pretty much matched Merlin Cycles price for me.

Even with the Float R I noticed a considerable improvement in climbing coming from a Marin Alpine Trail.

I’m hoping that there will be even less bob on the climbs with the RP2.

The new Meta is 29lbs.

They aren’t light bikes but then again they are a lot of fun on the down hills. How about this :-

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/meta-552-09-19714

2008 model review

http://www.bikefix.net/2008/05/bikefix-exclusive-review-commencal-meta.html

http://www.commencalownersclub.com/index.php?topic=2332.0

I have the 09 meta 55.2, It is a great bike, when it comes to climbing I can’t fault it. I don’t bother with the pro pedal unless I’m going to be out of the saddle for a bit. When it comes to going down it is fantastic. If you don’t want to buy over internet print off the detail’s from merlin and go to Edinburgh cycles or Evans and ask them to do a price match.

Test ride one and double-check the sizing. A STW’er was selling his medium frame (he’d bought a large after making-do for ages)- the medium isnt big enough for 6ft+ riders? Is that fair to say?

Ps. Leisure lakes were selling the 09 frame only at £899- dont know if that gives you another option if the sizes available at for you etc?

Isn’t the 08 frame supposed to be better that the 09 (sure I read that in MBUK/WMB or MBR) due to frame angles etc..

I have an 09 5.5.2. For comparison, I also have a Rocky Mountain ETSX, which is renowned for climbing. And I love the 5.5.2, climbing included. Yes, it is short in frame length, but you know that when you buy it. As for these rumours about them cracking… I trust what I am told here totally… Llandegla have sold loads of this bike, and have had precisely one crack. That was a size large and it was where the shock mounts. It mounts differently on the medium and large. You ride very low in the suspension. Compared to the ETSX, I was initially convinced I would be catching the pedals every 2 minutes, but actually it happens about once a ride. I ride Llandegla loads inc the moors, also Coed y Brenin, also the Clwyds, also Penmachno. I kind of thought “hmm, I need more steep rocks now” and without suddenly moving to the alps, that ain’t gonna happen to a huge extent. All I know is that I love riding this bike.

I have a 2007 meta with Fox 36s,It gets hammered down some serious decents most weekends and Tuesday nights.

Its the best climbing bike I have owned, and everyone that trys it always comments how well it climbs as well.

weight is 31lbs with 2.3 tyres,hope wheels and carbon bars. 🙂

Pretty impressed with the 09, climbs incredibly better than the 07 but I think that’s more to do with the lockout and RP2 for the rear.

Same size as my last meta 5.2 and at present not seeing that much difference apart from assured climbing. Few tweaks needed, seat post looks poor in comparison to the 07 but all in all another great bike.

Thanks for all your replies. I went up to merlin and collected mine yesterday and took it for a ride today and absolutely love it! Climbs just as well as any other all mountain bike i have tried and flies downhill like no other bike i have ever ridden! my only complaints are the rear tyre (what were they thinking!), and the bar and stem combo but appart from that im chuffed! Would recommend it to anyone and for the price (£1349) i dont any bike can touch it for value for money!!