Commençal Super 4 Carbon Factory Frameset
Price: £2,599 (Frame, fork, bars, stem, seatpost, headset)
From: Madison www.madison.co.uk
‘Could try harder’ is a phrase usually found on errant schoolboys report cards and in text messages from past lovers, and last year it was the feeling I was left with after riding the Commençal Super 4. It wasn’t that it was a bad bike, it certainly wasn’t, it was fast, nimble and a fantastic neon green, but it didn’t have that Commençal up-for-a-laugh attitude that the rest of the range has. It felt like it was holding something back, being a bit more reserved because that’s what 100mm XC bikes should be like.
I’m a fan of what Commençal have done with their bikes, they are engaging, have a bottomless travel feel that encourage bravado, have phenomenal grip when climbing thanks to the Contact System, and they have the appearance of being thought out from beginning to end by people who care about aesthetics. The ’09 Super 4 ticked most of those boxes, but I felt, could try harder. For 2010 Commençal have made a few tweaks that, hopefully, will unleash the full fun-loving potential of the Super 4.
Before we get to the whole carbon thing let’s look at the things that matter the most, numbers. In terms of geometry things are the same as last year, but last year the Super 4 came with a 100mm fork, this year it comes with a 120mm fork. After last year’s review, where the Super 4 was pitched against the Orange ST4 head to head, I asked Commençal designer Nico Menard if a 120mm fork, similar to the one on the Orange, would work well on the Super 4 and if it was something they’d look into in the future:
“Yes it’ll come with 120mm, it will slacken the head angle by roughly 1° so we should have something close to the Orange.
Also from what we tested, the rear shock works in a different way, the bike is more plush and will destroy the Orange 😉
But I have to say that this magazine is pretty extreme (and I like it!) for XC bikes.
Nico”
Looks like Nico had a hunch about what the Super 4 needed to get that Commençal feel back, and he seems to like the mag. We like Nico.
What is all new for 2010 is the fact that the Super 4 is now available in carbon. Commençal say this makes it lighter and nimbler. We shall see…
The other new for ’10 is the availability of the frame as part of a Factory Frameset deal. This means you get a fork, stem, bars, seatpost and headset in the same box as the frame, and they are all components you’d probably pick for the build anyway, Fox, Easton, RaceFace. No complaints, especially when you end up saving money over buying all the components individually.
The rest of the build was carried over from my previous long term build, the Gary Fisher Roscoe as it’s all stuff I trust and feel comfortable with.
Bike Geekout!
Frame: Commencal Super 4 Carbon
Fork: Fox 32 RLC
Headset: Tange Integrated
Stem: RaceFace Deus XC
Bars: Easton Monkeylite SL CNT
Grips: ODI Ruffian
Brakes: Magura Marta
Shifters: Shimano XTR
Seatpost: Easton EC90
Saddle: Charge
Crankset: Shimano XTR
Front Mech: Shimano XTR
Rear Mech: Shimano XTR
Cassette: Shimano XTR
Wheels: Mavic Crossmax ST Disc
Tyres: Continental Rubber Queen 2.2
So, fully built the only immediate problem was the bars were a bit narrow for my tastes at 635mm so I swapped to some wider 685mm Easton EC70s. Oh, and the fact that the frame is a lovely glossy black and the forks are a matte dark grey. This may seem like nothing, but Commençal are the masters of making a bike that looks ‘just right’, and not having your collar and cuffs matching seems a bit of a let down. Us designers are fussy buggers.
Sim
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First DaveA’s Rush and now this. Who will win this game of oneupmanjeyship?
In the words of Harry Hill… “there’s only one way to settle this –
FIGHT!” 🙂
There is no competition, my bike wins on aesthetics :o)
Gas meter shelf not painted to match workshop wall fail.
Some designer 😉
Sim’s ‘colouring-in’ is only limited to computer use 😉
My bike is better. Cos it’s mine.
House is rented so colour scheme not my own 🙂
I can colour-in without a computer but do go over the lines more.
The only bike in the world that the limited edition Charge saddle actually looks good on. Nice work.
I thank you for noticing that detail, I do sweat the little things. 🙂
“The bike is more plush and will destroy the Orange…”
Race ya 😉
Good to see the commitment to flats carrying on.
AS long termers i hope to see you and Dave swap the XTR and XX over to see how it goes – for both bikes and how the two of you get on with the options and as a XTR vs. XX shoot out…
I’m intrigued; very interested to see how you get on as I’m super tempted to upgrde my Meta4 to one of these… Not sure the wife is as excited, but what she don’t know, won’t hurt!!
And the Commie surely wins; Euro Cool vs US bling? no contest!
Isnt the bigger fork putting it closer to the 5.5 ?
I had the 09 super 4 in my demo ‘fleet’ . I really liked it . I’d been riding (mostly ) 5″ers ,inc’ the previous year a meta 5.5.1, and was feeling a little jaded by the ease of it all . I’m an intolerable luddite , but hey .
So , when I got the super 4 it felt really lively , and when worked hard was a blast. I dunno , possibly the perfect UK dayride trailcentre muncher . ? . Clipped the pedals a bit dropping off stuff , but corrected this by simply going much faster.
It was definitely a step in the right direction away from soulless sofa-bikes , so much so that now I are mostly riding my Muddyfox Courier , and wearing dayglo legwarmers.
incidentally , for comparison , in the fleet at the time we had a carbon Rize , a Rush , and for a while ,a cross section of blingy Scotts.
Anyway , In summary . I liked it .
Needs a white fork for sure.
“The bike is more plush and will destroy the Orange…”
Love the spirit! Also, if it destroys the Orange that really will be something! The ST4 is the best high-speed singletrack bike I’ve ridden for sure…
Mmm. Colouring in…
If it can climb like the 09 Met 5.5 with Fox Float 36’s on then it will be an awesome ride. That set up got me up some fookin stiff climbs in the Himalayas, felt like it had an engine on it. Now thrashing it in the hills around Queenstown New Zealand. So for all you weight weenies out there get a fookin grip, get fit and leave the scales at home and enjoy the ride of a full suss bike.
Wicked nice dude I want one
If it can climb like the 09 Met 5.5 with Fox Float 36’s
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I’d would hope it climbed much better than that!
Only just seen the full bike pic, Sim. That looks TOIGHT! Toight loike a TOIGER!