Commencal – tell me about them…..

My 4/5″ search continues. I’m not flush enough to consider the likes of Intense. Tell me about Commencal- I know nowt.

i like my meta 5.5. Pretty standard build: pikes, xt, hope on 719’s, high rollers. I think it weighs 34lbs. Seems quite heavy! nice ride though. Does attract MBR types though; can’t go to a trail center without peple commenting on how there not stiff and the head angle isn’t the same as the ’07 or ’09 🙄

http://www.commencalownersclub.com

They sponsor the Athertons!

and also make exellent mountainbikes,buy one you will not regret it

07 meta 5.5 here, standard enough build Fox Vans, XT, Dt5.1s etc.., can’t complain about it other than I appear to be between a medium and a large size wise

hora – Member
My 4/5″ search continues.

😯 😯

’07s snap, ’08 too steep and flexy

Seems they never got it quite right with the meta

mine is going to be beefed up and ridden till it snaps right through

Cap’n, well a mans got see what smaller ones look like 😯

djglover- thanks for the honest feedback- I did read (bikeradar) review that the 6′ was flexy as well on the rear 🙁

I’ve seen the cracks in djg’s – I wouldn’t be riding it!

I’ve never ridden the ’08 one, so that is second hand feedback from an ’06 owner and ex professional mtb reviewer.

If you are after a Meta 5 i have a brnad new large Meta 5 VIP (the bright green one) frame for sale with a set of Manitou minutes (slightly used).
It has a Thompson seatpost and it comes with a headset.
£800 ono.

xanboy- where do you live (town/city-wise)?

markhoracekuk (at) yahoo.com. No offence but as this is effectively a new forum and alot of people on here might be new- you would have to be a reachable distance from me. I couldnt have it posted.

Hora – you may want to compare with an 09 Lapierre X Control 310. It’s meant to be the dog’s according to Cross Trax in Leeds….

Mates has got small cracks in the head tube. Shame as I had a go on it and it rode nice I did consider a Meta 4 and he loved it. They wouldn’t warranty it as he had 150mm forks on it.

i like my meta 5.5. Pretty standard build: pikes, xt, hope on 719’s, high rollers. I think it weighs 34lbs. Seems quite heavy! nice ride though. Does attract MBR types though; can’t go to a trail center without peple commenting on how there not stiff and the head angle isn’t the same as the ’07 or ’09 [:roll:]

I have almost exactly the same build. It’s a beast! It picks up speed a little too easily tho 😯

Back end does feel a little flexy when the wheel is rocked by hand, but I can’t notice it when riding.
The only thing I really don’t like about it is that the paint comes off fairly easily (mines an ’08). Oh and apparently it’s a bugger to replace the main bearings on the ’08 model…

I clatter my pedals and big ring far too often on mine, but then I don’t really do wheels off the ground that much/at all. Lovely bike though.

paintwork bad, everything else good

lapierre zesty

nuff said

or giant trance X

Well I had an 08 5.5 here’s my thoughts; Not the lightest as pointed out and the paintwork was of a disappointing quality, the back end did seem flexy at rest, I eventually cracked it.

BUT it really was a great bike! The contact system suspension is truly excellent for tracking round corners without having to scrub speed, the bike just made you go faster downhill. Despite weight issue it was by no means a slouch on the climbs and propedal on the RP23 masde things a bit easier. But probably because of hammering it so much I ended up with small crack at head/top/down weld. I decided a bigger bike was in order and had no bother getting an 08 666 as a warranty replacement. And I **** love it.

Don’t think you’d be disappointed with a 5.5, they are excellent, fun, enagaging bikes. Even if they are too “Trail Centre-ish” for some of the bike snobs on here?

Btw no real comparison to a Zesty, tried one of them of my mates for couple of weeks and this seemed altogether more lighweight, racery type. Descent handling especially was decidely twitchy compared to the 5.5. IMO of course!

Great bike I nearly bought one after testing but was put off by the issues of cracking frames – seems quite a few ppl have issues and the warranty support isn’t always amazing. For a bike like that you want to be confident its not going to break really.

It’s interesting that most of the criticisms are of the “car park expert” variety. I’ve an 07 which has never given me any problems and has been ridden pretty hard on a variety of terrain. They can be be on the heavy side – once you get on the bike you realise that the extra grip from the contact system means that they’re actually fine on technical climbs. Some break, but there are a lot of them about now and it isn’t like there’s been a public outcry about them snapping.

The bike is a nice climber, reasonably nimble on singletrack, but really comes into its own on descents, they have managed to give it plenty of feel in normal riding but keep a “bottomless” feel to the rear travel on technical stuff. In my opinion that is what tempts people to put 36s etc on it and void their warranty, or to build it up to 35 pounds etc.

You should realise that they’ve beefed up all their 09 bikes as well, which should mean less issues with cracking. If you’re interested in them look at an 09 model or get a cheap second hand 07 – the older swingarm design in supposedly stiffer anyway. If I was in your position now I would go for a change and get a Pitch cheap and spend a few quid on nice components, or push the budget to a 575.

I’ve an 08 5.5 – lovely bike and SOOO much fun to ride! The reviews are right when they say it’ll make you ride like a hooligan!

It’s my only bike, and I’d say it just about covers all bases really. I use it for epic rides, to a bit of ‘freeride light’, to XC blasts, to just playing around.
I’ve recently fitted pikes to the front (from revs) and the extra stiffness is rather quite nice!

It climbs like an absolute beast (let a few PSI out of the tyres, wind down the forks, and it’ll climb a tree!), and descends beautifully – I’ve never felt like I’ve blown through all the travel (that’s the contact system for you) and I don’t particularly ride light.

I know all the mags hark on about head angles and stuff, but I’ve never felt it too twitch/upright.
THe RP23 is great as when it’s ‘fully open’ it sits lover in the travel, essentially slackening out the head angle….

My 2cents worth..

DrP

I’ve had a Commencal Supreme/Mini Dh for almost three years now..

Paint is solid- yes its scuffed and scraped, but its very tough and not chipped.

Ride is very good- very good downhill and very grippy. Bit weighty, but rides a lot lighter.

I’ve cracked two swingarms so far, first one was replaced under warranty and second one (outside of warranty period) was about £200- so not expensive.

RE. Meta 5- headangles are slacker this year, as feedback on 08 angles was not very positive! Although, Commencal are aware there are a lot of riders using the 5 as a light freeride bike which it is not!

I’ve got an XL ’07 4.1 with 140mm bombers on the front, built with parts/ wheels stripped from my Kona so its not the lightest of builds, but it climbs much better than my Kona Coiler.

I find its very good at technical climbs, it just digs in and goes up some pretty steep bumpy climbs, also good at general XC and descents. I do like its geometry and find it very comfortable and capable bike, more so than its rider 🙂

The only thing I occasionally notice is the back end flex which is noticeable on fast smooth downhills but not a problem otherwise.

I’ve heard tell of this back end flex and recently bought (but not yet fitted) a rear maxle for my 5.0 to see if I can spot any appreciable difference.

Maxle on my bike, its very good but then again I haven’t used a QR in years (apart from the road bike)

the kit that you get on the commencals are really good! but completly let down by the frames, they ride fine nobody can complain about the geometry itl get you up and down the hill,
but i personally feel its a rather bland ride to them
frames are very flexy and they will develop a crack eventualy

id look at the marin mount vision, orange, cotic, yeti, santa cruz first a try them all
i can back these recommendations up ridden and owned a few

Found this if anyone is after a 6′ frame:
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?f_ProductID=8866&f_SupersetQRY=C371&f_SortOrderID=1&f_bct=c003155c005700

rode a meta 5.5 for a photo shoot yesterday. i took photos of all other bikes there but not mine….

had a pair of fox float 100mm on the front. thought it could have handled something a little longer.
didn’t think it was overly heavy but there were others that were lighter (liteville 301)
rode up hill well. seemed to find more traction where others didn’t.

quite impressed but then i haven’t ridden lots of fullys.

lots of pivot points and open cables on the down tube would be my biggest worries…

I have a 07 meta 5.5,I have fox 36s, and it gets hammered a lot,I love it for the ride quality,no doubt the frames crack, but i really think its because the suspension design allows you to push the limits beyond the norm,the frames are that good!

I think you do need to ask yourself what you want out of the bike,if your carrying a bit of weight yourself,and ride hard then the 6in rig is the way to go,but as an allrounder,The meta 5 is had to beat imho.