[havenzhiv]

Guys,
New here and this is my first post......

I am pretty much going the Commencal way after a year with Iron Horse MKIII and DW Link......Although how much I love the bike I need to get rid of it due to reasons I am not stating not wanting to waste screen space Cheesy:

However, I am contemplating between meta 4 and meta 5.

a) Meta 4 has an almost similiar geometry to MKIII but shorter travel
b) Meta 5 is more aggresive but has the same amount of travel

You see, I would like to think that I am a XC/Trail aggresive rider, small jumps here and there, love to use my bike on road as well (my BH HT split into 2 after a horrifying crash)

I want to go for meta 4 but afraid that the 120mm travel upfront and 100mm travel at the back is not adequate enough since I am used to 140mm travel as on the IH bike.

Then there is the meta 5, same amount travel than I am used to but very aggresive geometry in my book, which I am afraid I wont be able to enjoy long XC haul with my buddies as well road easy rides with buddies....however, I know I will enjoy more when the nose is pointing down on fast technical single track....

Another thing is, the top tube length, METAs seems to have a shorter top tube by about 100mm and me being so used to 500++ mm TT length, I am not sure whether I would go for the medium or small (I was on small for both of my previous bikes)

I am in Malaysia so getting a demo bike is impossible........I tried a friend's meta 5, liked it very much but it was a 15 minutes test ride so didn't get a feel of it that much.....

So....what say you?

 

[Little Willy]

I would argue that the Meta 55 is a much more All Mountain bike than it's travel would suggest, and it is one of those bikes where everything makes sense once you point it downhill.
The Meta 55 is a very playful bike that rewards those wanting to jump off every lip and rail every corner. However, it is substantially heavier than the Super 4 (Meta 4?).

Given what you're used to, I would suggest the Super 4. I have an '09 version with 100mm front and rear, which I would call a trail bike more than an XC bike.
Great for long rides, not too leaned over like a full blown race bike, low BB, slack geometry and a fantastically simple suspension design that is much more capable than the numbers would suggest.

The great thing about the Commencal's Contact System is the suspension travel is very linear and the rear wheel moves in a very simple arc that has no surprises in it. They are very easy to have their suspension tuned aftermarket, and on the trail you always know what the rear wheel is going to do.
I have found they provide the best amount of traction from the suspension designs I have used (also had a BMC Trailfox with DW-esque suspension) and although not as efficient as a DW design, I find it better through the rough.

Hope that helps!

 

[b45her]

niether the f$%king things are made of chocolate and have pathetic customer service , i snapped 3 frames in just over a year, they did replace the first 2 took 5 weeks for the first one and almost 4 months for the second, they refused to warrenty the 3rd frame claiming it was crash damage ( its hard not to crash when the dropout snaps off) on the plus side they do ride nice while thier in 1 piece

 

[metajkt]

long haul, uphill, downhill, road use, xc loop or am abuse meta 5 is the way to go. especially since your in malaysia where fabulous trails are abundant. rode my 5 for 2 years now, rode at least 17 hours in a week, 60 - 80 kms on the weekend. trust me meta 5 bud. im in indonesia btw

 

[Mr Trail]

niether the f$%king things are made of chocolate and have pathetic customer service , i snapped 3 frames in just over a year, they did replace the first 2 took 5 weeks for the first one and almost 4 months for the second, they refused to warrenty the 3rd frame claiming it was crash damage ( its hard not to crash when the dropout snaps off) on the plus side they do ride nice while thier in 1 piece

Strange man and sucks ass majorly , I've heard of welds cracking but hasn't been my experience at all . I'm a "reformed" DH/FR'r and I ride XC like it and usually weigh 205-230lbs and my Super 4 has never shown any signs of weakness .

 

[Little Willy]

I think you'll find he made his decision a while ago...

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=583990