[Closed] new bike, AM wagon wheel content. commencal meta AM2 29

Hmm, not so sure about Crests & Aspens on an 'AM' bike.

Especially on a 29".

The Crest/Aspen combo are the summer lightweight XC style riding and local stuff, the more agressive stuff gets stronger options.

2 sets of wheels, i for light/fast, 1 for AM.

Suppose we better have a review really.

Did about 18 miles or so.. it's a complete and utter mudfest, so i guess as good a time for a ride as any, dry in the air though, lovely and sunny...

The bike is noisy on the road with the Kenda Nevegal rubber on, proper Spitfire type noisy actually LOL. The front end being very AM type geometry feels quite 'wandery' on the road, but that's something i've always felt about AM type bikes. On the trails though you certainly seem to notice it a lot less.

The gearing of 38T front makes my brain hurt, i'm so used to having a glance at the cassette and knowing what gear i should be in for a specific hill, but i'm now 3 gears different. I find i'm using 1st on the rear quite a lot... certainly a LOT more than i would have in the past. But it's not an issue as such, just something i need to get used to.

The CTD mode on the front doesn't make quite the difference it does on the rear, on the rear, the difference is MASSIVE, from almost no bounce, to loads of bounce, but on the front, it's some bounce to more bounce.. i expected the forks to be locked out, or very close... but it seems to allow a bit of initial 'squish' and then restricts the bounce from there.
You can certainly notice the weight of the bike when out on the trails... i have to admit, if i were being picky it's a ridiculous choice of bike for where i ride... It's heavy, burly and a bit of a beast. It ploughs through things with ease and the suspension is very soft and plush (need a few PSI more in the rear i think).

The Nevegals feel great on the dirt, really impressed with them.

Seat.. Hmmm... it's not the comfiest seat ever i admit. Riding this bike i can sort of now see why people run droppers, way more so than on the Spearfish, i never once felt the seat was in the way on that, whilst i don't feel it's hindering me currently, you're more aware of it being 'there'. So i can see a shopping trip on the way soon.

Grips are cheap and a bit firm and blocky for me.. .they're coming off being i head to Bike Park Wales tomorrow for my Giant grips... which have been long my preference now.

The rear shock protector/cover works well, indeed stopping it getting messy.

Hard to say anything on the true handling of the bike, i've not done anything even remotely bumpy yet...so we'll wait on that one for now.

My mate got one in the CRC sale and had issues with the forks. Got sent another bike which had the same issue. Turns out the forks were on the recall list. LBS sent them off to have internals changed to 2014 and now he is razzing around like a holigan on it!!!!! It is quite heavy and defo worth a wheel upgrade at some point. He has put a reverb on it and loves it.
off to bike park wales tomorrow as well so you will see another fluro am blasting around!!!!

Looks good ..enjoy ...

It was the right decision in the end 😉

The wandery feel may be due to the clown wheels 😉

Those stock wheels look pretty heavy. Mine with Flow EX/Hope Evo, 34mm forks and reverb is coming in at a smudge under 32lbs.

Having a minor issue or two on the back end of the MetaAM.

When out at BPW on both days the 12mm axle has come loose. Now, i may be missing something here in the plan, but i really don't know, some eduction from experienced guys may help. When i tighten up the first bit, which is the cut-out section, if i tighten it 'tight' then i can't tighten the QR, so i have to have the cut-out bit fairly loose, then the QR can be done up fully. But both times now it's come loose.

Secondly is a bit of play from the rear wheel. It's almost as though it's the cassette rather than the wheel, but i'll throw the HOPE on later to compare and see if i can work out what's happening.

Other than that... the bike is superb 🙂

Interesting read.

[url= http://enduro-mtb.com/en/biketest-commencal-meta-3-wheel-sizes-compared/ ]biketest-commencal-meta-3-wheel-sizes-compared/[/url]

I read they really liked the 29er.

Interestingly ..Whyte t129's had similar problems with the rear bolt through ...though mine has been fine ......I think they replaced under warranty

weeksy - Member

i may be missing something here in the plan, but i really don't know, some eduction from experienced guys may help. When i tighten up the first bit, which is the cut-out section, if i tighten it 'tight' then i can't tighten the QR, so i have to have the cut-out bit fairly loose, then the QR can be done up fully. But both times now it's come loose.

Looking at pics, is it a Maxle? The bit with the cut-out should be tight, then the QR should be tight on that. But there's a wee allen bolt in the middle of where the axle joins the qr, which adjusts the tension- back that off a little and you should be able to get things working.

If it's not a maxle, ignore all this pish 😉

it is. I'll have a look at that in a min and report back.... thanks.

Weeksy - you may need a mavic cassette spacer on the rear if its a 10 spd cassette?

How was BPW? Are the blacks rideable if you don't want gaps and 5ft drops?

Worked a treat Northwind, thanks lots 🙂 much better now.

I removed the cassette off the wheel and you can feel the 'play', so will drop wheel into the LBS for a bit of investigation.

When i fit the HOPE/Crest, there' no movement at all from it. So it's deffo the wheel that's not quite right.

Dan,

The cassette is a weird one i've not seen before, it comes in 10 pieces, each cog is individual with a small black spacer between each one. I'll leave to the LBS to advise me.

Blacks, mostly OK, apart from the odd MASSIVE thing that's way above my level. TBH, i think it could VERY easily be pretty dangerous, for example the wall drop, if i hadn't stopped in time i'd have gone head first over it as it was WAY too late to pick up speed etc and i'd already thrown in the towel on it.. so could have been nasty. but 90% of the black was just harder red...

To anyone with a Meta, SL, AM, AM29.... does your Fox CTD lever actually make any difference when flicked to Trail or Climb? mines doesn't seem to and it's the second shock I've tried so im wondering if it's something to do with the suspension design.

Cheers

Front is less noticable than the rear at a standstill. The rear goes from firm to proper boingy. The front seems to have little effect when bouncing on it. However, when you are riding you can really notice the difference on the front if flicking between modes.

Thanks. seems like i may have another duff!

Well it's looking like the bearings are dead according to LBS...

3 weeks from new to dead... that's pretty poor.

Wow- which bearings?

Jesus, that's not what I was expecting.

Finally took my 26 AM out for a very brief weekend ride. Any advice on rear CTD shock set up gladly received.

Northwind - Member

Wow- which bearings?

He thinks it's the wheel bearings, not hub bearings but needs to strip it down and have a peek later tonight.

Bummer. Still yellow though, that's the main thing

LOL. TBH I can accept wheel bearings, I've got spare HOPEs for use so it's not the end of the world.

The actual bike itself more than makes up for the bearing issue.

It's not like I've been using the wheels for towpaths, they've been getting lobbed down mountains, so it's sort of understandable.

LBS looked at and inspected/stripped the wheel.

"Your hub is just a completely mangled mess"... Was the simple answer.

15 miles.... it's destroyed...

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That's poor. Worth asking Crc for some credit you can put towards a wheel upgrade?

I didn't buy it from CRC mate.

Dealer has been spot on and good communication, he's currently on the blower to Commencal regarding the plan.

I've got other wheels, so it's not causing me a major issue, but not sure i really want another one of these particular wheels.

Finally i got a wheel back.... but...

Oh... FFS...

This is the wheel as it arrived....It's just not good enough IMO.

Tyre and tube were no re-fitted and the wheel was in the box with no wrapping, packaging etc, just lobbed in the box... then dragged all over the floor by the courier !

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