Commencal Meta 6 VIP Frame 2009
Reviews / Enduro Bikes
170,846
At a Glance
You have all heard of the Commencal Meta 5, the award winning trail bike. Well the Meta 6 is its big brother and takes all of the Meta 5’s pedigree and expands it into a bigger hitting machine.
Buy Enduro Bikes on
With 160mm of travel front and rear this bike fits nicely into the All Mountain category, Commencal are marketing this bike as their marathon downhill and aggressive enduro workhorse, they can certainly back this up with a gruelling Megavalanche win under its belt already. For those that do not know of the Megavalanche race, picture a horrendous 45minute + endurance downhill with boulder fields, ice glaciers, vigorous singletrack and handful of climbs all on Alpe d'Huez in the French Alps. A bike that is capable of winning a race like that deserves its ranking in the All Mountain category. We got the VIP Frame only and put together a custom build that matches with Commencals intentions for the Meta 6.
Tech heads
Our medium frame is constructed entirely of hydro-formed aluminium Nuts SL tubing. At first glance you may think that it is the same as the Meta 5 frame but look a bit closer and you will spot the beefed up rocker mounts, thicker swingarm linkage, enlarged head tube, large gussets across the headtube onto the down tube and top tube and generally a much bigger build showing that this bike means business.
The custom build we have put together is on the burlier side of builds and weighed in close to 35lbs, the frame weight is around 7.5lbs.
The rear suspension set-up is Commencals legendary Contact System that uses a single pivot swingarm with the shock being driven through a rocker linkage, this allows Commencal to custom tune each bike to its specific needs. The shock being driven on the VIP frame is the Fox RP32 with a high volume air canister, Commencal obviously feeling that the higher volume canister is suited to the leverage ratio the Contact System is using.
Featuring on the Meta 6 is an interchangeable sleeve system that allows you to change the head angle by +/- 1º, the stock head angle being 68.5º, fitting the slacker sleeve puts it down to 67.5º, though we cannot see why you would ever change from the slackest setting and Commencal have realised this as their soon to be released 2010 Meta 6 has a stock head angle of 67.5º, this will allow a improved window of adjustability with the sleeve.
Despite looking like an oversized head tube it uses the conventional 1 1/8th headset, the headset presses into interchangeable sleeves, the larger headtube allows for a larger welding area increasing stiffness and strength.
The frame features ISCG 05 Tabs, meaning that the frame is ready out of the box for a chain guide to be fitted, we chose an E-thirteen DRS guide as it allows us to use a double ring set-up which works well on a bike designed for All Mountain use.
Interchangeable rear dropouts allow you to use standard QR, 10mm bolt through, 12mm bolt through or 12mm Maxle, the latter being the preferred choice.
The VIP frame set comes standard with a height adjustable seat post and even has the cable guide tabs welded along the top tube for the cable run to the remote lever, a very neat feature which again points the direction of this bike towards marathon downhill and hardcore xc use. Being able to instantly drop the saddle for technical sections then raise it for up hill and pedalling duties is a real bonus.
On the trail
As soon as you jump onto the bike you will notice that the cockpit can feel pretty snug compared to other bikes in its category. Some of the team came to love this as it allowed them to throw the bike around and move around with ease while others would have preferred a large frameset to open out their position.
The wheel base is also verging on the shorter end, this helps in tight twisty singletrack but this can make the bike start to feel a little unstable on fast open descents, although the laid back seat tube angle helped to moderate this. For us the fact the bike felt smaller than a 160mm bike in the tight stuff really won us over.
We had to run more than the recommended amount of sag on the rear shock to slacken the head angle out to what we felt was right, the consequence of this was that on some of the big hits we found it bottoming out, though this never really kicked us out there was a degree of ramp up at the end of the stroke. Running less sag prevented this but did steepen the head angle and meant we lost some of the small bump compliance so we stuck to the more sag option.
Pedalling over rough ground and roots was manageable and felt smooth due to the way the Contact System operates through the early part of the stroke. This is again evident on the technical climbs as the rear wheel stays in constant contact with the ground giving good traction. One thing you will notice on the climbs is the weight, a smooth pedaller will probably ride without the propedal but the choppier amongst us will look to the propedal.
On the flat and through flowing singletrack the bike felt flickable and fun, when the singletrack turned tight and twisty the Meta 6 was pleasantly manouverable and was comfortable on slow steep technical drops. When the going gets rough and steep the frame felt stable and weight transfer over the back was easily achievable, especially since we are running a 50mm stem to try and conquer the thirst for a slacker head angle. At high speed on downhill sections the bike is a real pleasure and is sure to put a smile on your face.
For
This bike surprised us at just how well it got through tight, twisty technical sections, it really feels very chuckable for a bike with 160mm travel. It descends extremely well and you will be hard pushed to get it past its comfort zone. The uphill ability is also something that surprised us, the Contact System really does its work and the propedal is very effective if required. It is good to have a bike that descends so well that can be ridden back up and is so much fun through twisty singletrack.
Against
A slacker head angle would drastically transform this bike however as mentioned before the 2010 Meta 6 sees a degree slacker head angle so we cannot wait to try one. This will enable the sag on the rear end to be run at a rate that will bring out the bikes full potential and do away with the need to compromise between too soft or too firm.
It has often been said that the rear swingarm flexes with the conventional rear QR, we ran the bike with a 12mm Maxle rear and there was no flex to be felt.
For typical UK conditions an option to run a full outer cable all the way to the rear mech would be an advantage, running a split gear cable down the down tube is asking for trouble.
Overall
A true All Mountain bike that is happy being put through its paces on sweet twisty singletrack and can be ridden uphill and all day without leaving the rider in need of medical attention.
Where this bike really shines is on the descents which are a blast, ride it hard and it will reward you with sweet handling and an appetite for more.
Buy Enduro Bikes onThis review was in Issue 1 of IMB.
For more information visit CommencalRelated
By Nigel Garrood
Nigel Garrood was one of the instigators of the IMB project and has been with us since the very beginning. This loveable rogue has more stories than the Bible and is known to enjoy a beer or two. On the bike, he’s fast and loose and often puts younger riders to shame. Equally he’s been known to suffer from the odd crash and carries the scars to prove it. He was once referred to as being a robot sent from the future to save us all!
