 I
had the opportunity to ride the Meta 5.5 this week. It
was a frame build so not one of the standard models.
Component highlights were a Fox Talas which switches
with 3 easy clicks between 100mm, 120mm and 140mm. Out
back a Fox R took care of the very plush rear
suspension.
It must be said at the
outset, that this is the first time I have ever ridden a
5”+ travel bike, so keep this in mind when reading
further. Also, this is by no means a full test. I merely
took the bike on some cool tracks.
It is difficult when
riding a bike that is not set up 100% as you would like.
Because I was just swapping out bikes on the trail, I
was unable to set the sag of the front and rear to my
preference. Having said this, I am 7kg heavier than the
owner of the bike and I was unable to bottom out either
the front or rear suspension, and I had the chance to
ride the bike over some very knarly and rocky terrain.
The travel on the bike seemed endless! Even when I
totally got the line wrong, the bike saved me.
Eventually, I did not bother picking a line, I just
bombed over rocks and through trail obstacles. You
actually don’t have to be a very good rider, on one of
these machines. The bike pedals very well, you can
easily ride it all day, if you are quite fit. Just keep
in mind that the downs are always going to be much more
fun than the ups, but you certainly can ride the bike up
some serious inclines.
The Meta has some very
relaxed angles and coming off a hardtail I felt like I
was lying in bed. But when things got nasty on the
trail, it just simply soaks everything up and you never
have the feeling that you might go over the bars.
My biggest problem was
being able to see where I was going on the down hills, I
had such a big smile on my face that I couldn’t see past
my cheeks! This is one fun bike to ride. I will be
putting up a full review, when I get the bike for a
week. I am also intending to ride more all mountain
bikes in the future so that I can provide some more
comparative testing.
Commencal bikes are
relatively new to SA, having arrived on our shores
formally towards the end of 2006. average guy checked
out the bikes back then, see the
Commencal bikes at his blog. |