The Commencal distributor has been on at me for the last month to call up a local Meta AM 29er owner and ask if I can take his bike for a ride. It’s not that I didn’t want to ride it, I was just struggling to find the time. Anyway he obviously got fed up with us and just decided to send Spoke a brand new 130mm 2013 Commencal Meta AM 29er. Out of the box one of my favourite things about all Commencals are the graphics; hands down they do and always have done some of the best paint jobs and graphics on bikes and this bike is no exception, once you get past the neon yellow that is.
The spec is spot on, this bike knows what it is and the dual ring sans bash guard points to its all-mountain/enduro roots. X7 up front and some nice mid range RaceFace Ride Cranks (w/Turbine chain-rings). Commencal have stuck with their tried and true link actuated single pivot although as with the 2012 bikes it’s got a bit more beef. Oh and yup, that’s the Kashima coated CTD rear shock complete with the Curnutt licensed boost valve.
Out back the always reliable X9 handles shifting duties (this one is Type 2) and you may have noticed already but internal cable routing is the name of the game. There are no cable bosses on this bike, everything is routed.
See told you…
Front and rear derailleur, the rear brake and the dropper post all have a hole to call their own (well some share).
It’s so well thought out it’s not funny. Here cables leave the front triangle and head into the rear stays.
Formula RX’s stoppers atop one rad looking post mount. There was a one in three chance it would have a 12mm rear Maxle. Well what do you know, it does.
Oh and get this, this is only the third bike ever that we haven’t had to change the bar out for something wider. It’s house brand but it’s 740mm and comes with a nice 65mm stem, hell, even the brakes were mounted in-board of the grips! That never happens!
Burly Fox 34s (Float CTD Adjust FIT, QR15, Tapered, 130mm, Kashima) handle the bounciness up front. I mean really what else am I supposed to say, the Fox 34s have become de rigueur for long travel 29ers. I’ve been running them for the past year and they are the business.
Nice little details like this chainstay protector give the Meta extra brownie points…
…but none so much as this rad neoprene mud and debris shield for the rear shock.
Leif took possession of the bike today and will be taking it out for its Wellington debut on Thursday evening. Hopefully we’ll have some initial thoughts up on Friday or after the weekend when it’s had a little bit of a thrashing.
Whats the RRP ?All cable routes are internal except the reverb ?? Can a stealth version be installed ?
Sweet looking bike, what size frame ? any good for a 5ft 7″ pilot ?
There is internal cable routing for all dropper posts, it goes in the head tube and comes out at the base of the seat tube. You could possibly use it with a Stealth but I haven’t checked to see if that low tube that hits the seat tube can take a cable, if it does then you could absolutely run the stealth post. That’s a medium, its got quite a long reach so you might want to look at a small… but all the specs are on the commencal site… I’ll chase up the price
Oh and the RRP $6800
Saw you in Wainui today… Not the sort of bike that goes unnoticed š
Did you ever have any feedback/initial thoughts on this ride, thanks