Hiding in plain sight at the Commencal Vallnord race pits in Fort William is the latest variation of the Commencal Supreme DH bike.
Walking around the pits, and watching the action on track, it’s hard not to be impressed by the number of Commencal Supreme downhill bikes in action this weekend.
Commencal Vallnord, Commencal 100%, Team Dorval AM, One Vision Global Racing and a multitude of privateer racers all use the Commencal Supreme, but this weekend the Vallnord bike is a little different to the others.
A quick glance over the bike won’t bring up many differences, but look a little deeper and you’ll begin to see some major changes to this bike from the previous model.
The most obvious change is the front shock mount which now uses a separate mounting plate with 3 shock bolt options. Scan your way to the rear of the new Supreme and more changes are evident. In fact, the change in pivot placement and kinematics is such a departure from the previous model, Commencal’s mechanics kept a close eye on us while shooting these photos.
What’s not so obvious is the change in geometry. We’re told that the new Commencal Supreme is both longer and slacker, but by how much is still not public knowledge. However, we do know that both a 29er and 27.5in version of the bike exists with Thirion testing the smaller wheeled bike and, DH champ Pierron on the 29er.
We’ll try to head over to the Commencal pits again this week to try and learn more about this bike, what the changes are and when it’s likely to go on sale.