Good deals on Commencals!

Some good deals to be had at http://www.realcycles.com/ if anyone's interested. My 09 Mata 6 is holding up well after multiple 5ft+ drops etc and I'm 215lb.

…I was about to callously (but half-jokingly!) accuse this of being a 'spam' post. Then I clicked and saw the beautiful Flame Ti frame for £899 with a Thompson post!!! Crikey! If only I had a spare 900 quid rattling around, eh.. 😉

If those get the full warranty that's pretty cool… Meta 6 for £620 with a "free" Joplin… OK so it's just a horrible Joplin 3 I think but still.

Yeh they come with a full Commencal warranty! Well my Meta 6 did and no I don't work for real cycles, just thought I would share some genuinely good deals IMHO. The new re-designed collar seal and sleeve from the new generation joplins fit the old ones which should improve performance and longevity. I had to send mine away as the bolt was seized and they upgraded to the new seal/sleeve and its been working great.

If they had the 5.5 in medium I'd be seriously tempted!!
My bank manager will be happy…..

I suppose it could turn out to be a good deal on the meta's if you crack it within the 2 year warranty period and get a better made 2010 replacement 😉
I've heard of meta's cracking under light use from my lbs – they've now stopped selling them as they have been such a hassle. My mate hammered his for just under 2 years and has just got his warranty replacement through, whilst picking his bike up another customer walked in with one cracked at the seat tube. His cracked around the shock mount.
There's no denying they are good riding bikes but i'd be wary even at this price.

I think, if I hadn't just built my Hemlock, I'd be all over the 6 like a rash.

My mate snapped his in half last week, top tube went ping and the frame folded!!

Seen loads of commies with cracks and other damage and the bearings that they run are pretty useless. Unless you want to buy new bearings every year don't go for a Commy.

If you you do buy a commy upgrade the bearings, you will be lucky if they last 18 months. Remove your rear shock regularly and run the back end gently through it's travel as well, if you own a commy same advise.

As for frames snapping, why do you think they're going cheap?

I've heard of loads cracking (I've had 2 myself) but thats the first snap I've heard of.

And with regards the bearings, chances are they will last a bit longer than the frame anyway.

Must admit I'm tempted by the deal on the furious – £670 and includes this lot as well!!!

Extras inc.
Cane Creek Tornado 1.5inch headset
Ringle 150/12mm Jumping Flea rear hub
E13 LG1 chain guide
Marzocchi Roco Coil R shock
Thomson seatpost and seatpost clamp

Chance of snapping admittedly, when they do work they're awesome fun 😉

Mine's coming up to 2 years old now without issue, I don't think the problem was quite as bad in '08 though. It does eat bearings and bushings as mentioned I must admit, the rear end is crazy active though compared to anything I've ridden.

@ toasty do you know how to check the bearings?

Seen loads of commies with cracks and other damage and the bearings that they run are pretty useless. Unless you want to buy new bearings every year don't go for a Commy.

If you you do buy a commy upgrade the bearings, you will be lucky if they last 18 months. Remove your rear shock regularly and run the back end gently through it's travel as well, if you own a commy same advise.

As for frames snapping, why do you think they're going cheap?

Had my bearings for over 18 months now – all fine.

I ride pretty hard, and have beasted the alps on my 5.5 – all fine..

Crazy times eh, crazy times….

DrP

Must admit I'm tempted by the deal on the furious – £670 and includes this lot as well!!!

Extras inc.
Cane Creek Tornado 1.5inch headset
Ringle 150/12mm Jumping Flea rear hub
E13 LG1 chain guide
Marzocchi Roco Coil R shock
Thomson seatpost and seatpost clamp

Very tempting at that price… not that I need a 'Slopestyle/Freeride' frame, but tempting nonetheless 😆

1" difference in top-tube between the long & the short versions, wonder which would be better for a 5'8" chap? 🙄 Guessing the short?

meta 4x looks perfect for me ..

kaesae – Member
@ toasty do you know how to check the bearings?

OMG 😯

Nothing can save us now…

I knew all about the "issues" with Commencals 5/6's and to tell you the truth so far I cant be happier with my XL 6 and I have ridden it pretty hard to see what it can stand up to. How many people actually own a frame that has snapped/cracked? I'm not saying some don't break just things get over exaggerated a little, it seems to be a lot of my mate's mate had one that split in half etc. I have personally seen a fair few broken HT, FS & DH bikes over the years from large bike company's such as Giant, Tomac, Trek, Santacruz and Cotic etc does that make them all bad bikes/models? If my Meta 6 breaks within the 2 year warranty and its replaced 2010/11 then its all good. I wont be holding back either because I'm on a Commencal and I have/will be doing some big mountain DH ridding on it as well. I will post any positives or negatives.

The Titanium Flame frame with an Alfine 11 speed hub would be a great UK winter bike.

There are some cracking deals there.

Sorry, IGMC.

Got this via email as I ride with Steve from real cycles:

Start:

Hello, Steve from Real Cycles here. Yes all frames come with the usual Commencal warranty, all serviced by us, Commencal dealer of the year for the last decade or so 😉 So if you get a problem, we're here to sort it out.

09 was not a good year for Commencal in terms of frame reliability, a few models suffered a few cracking issues in a few sizes, mainly large & XL. But hey, nothings perfect. These issues are sorted in 2010 with a new manufacturing plant making them now. Failures though are still below the industry norm, so you've no more chance of a Commie breaking than other bikes, you just hear about EVERY Commie that cracks thanks to the good old internet. Worth noting that to date not one frame has failed catastrophically, just hairline cracks.

Regardless, if one of the frames we're clearing cracks, then you get a new 2010 as a replacement. So go figure.

As for that mental bearing blokes comments about Commencal bearings. Stop talking everyone else's products down in an attempt to talk yours up. It's the lowest form of salemansship (Is that even a word?). Commencal bearings are no better or worse than anyones else.

As for the Commencal snapping and folding, pics please, would love to see it.

If anyone wants to talk to me direct about my clearance frames, call or email me. Details on the site: http://www.realcycles.com I don't use this site so don't ask Q's here, I can't reply.

End.

aaaargh… should I incur the wrath of my wife and order the Furious or not… she will kill me I'm sure, but it's so tempting!

"that mental bearing bloke"

Love it. "What's up with him?" "Ah, his mental bearings are worn out, all he can do is talk bollocks on STW"

On the slightly silly bearing note, what it did eat through very quickly was the bottom eyelet bushing on the shock. I've seen a good load of these on the owners forum. This was swapped with a BETD Hula Hoop one. It's eaten that too, I think the wear on the reducer shortened it's life. Through all the faffing I noticed the bearings were rough, due to the design a few are fairly exposed so they've been swapped too.

I was planning on buying a new set of reducers and eyelet bushings tonight actually, with a spangley tool for doing it myself 🙂

Don't get me wrong though, the Meta is a lovely beast, I'd get another in a heartbeat. It goes out even in the bleakest weather, then far too often gets jet washed off afterwards, so I'm sure I'm to blame.

Steve at Realcycles was fantastic too, he set up interest free and a decent deal very quickly over the phone on my Meta. There was a shifter issue which developed after the first ride, I sent it back and he sent me a replacement instantly, less than a week turnaround on a warranty claim! People post pics of themselves jumping down huge drops on that forum, then later warranty their frames without question!

can't speak highly enough of Real Cycles
Steve is an absolute legend, sorted me out with help and advise no end of times and all Ive ever actually bought off his is a set of tyres

Also that Ti frame is mint and at that price an absolute steel
Unlikely to see many others on the trails either – less than 1000 wordwide and 300 in UK (and I have one)

See the bearing bloke is spouting sh*te again. Still on original bearings in my 2 year old Meta5, only now are they ready for replacement. Treat them right they will last as long as bearings in any other bike

Ive never heard of any Commie completely snapping before either
Yes plenty of large / XL had hairline cracks at the seat/top tube or shock mount welds but none where overly dangerous to ride and as far as I know all replaced under warranty no questions asked (although for some it took a while to get the replacements)

just hairline cracks
thats total bollocks ive had a customers meta 6 back after the swing arm was sheared in half
his replacement then snapped at the head tube

Mental bearing bloke got banned from SteveB's MTB rider forum – sour grapes eh!!! Real Cycles top blokes well more so Luke 😉

Just an update on my Meta 6 frame, its cracked in the seat tube/top tube weld after 3 months! Getting my 2010 replacement this weekend I hope. Its a real shame as the bike is great and loads of fun. I'm sure the 2010 frames will be better. Forever the optimist!

Well it's not just Meta 5s and 6s. This very day I discovered my 2009 super 4 seat tube was so cracked it had only half an inch to gobefore snapping off completely. The shop said there should be a lifetime warranty on frames and they would submit to the importers but couldn't predict how long it would take as they don't sell them any more hmmmm!
So no bike for who knows how long just as the summer season gets going.

Now I've got a 456 I'm even more tempted as the builds would overlap enough for me to not worry about the time taken for replacements 🙂