When I called into my local bike shop last week I had, by chance, arrived moments after the Commencal rep had left the building, leaving in his wake a shiny example of their new Meta AM, a tempting example of 150mm all-mountain loveliness with a focus on the gravity aspect...My bike shop isn't a dealer for Commencal so it was strictly a 'mates rates' loan and it was stressed to me that this was the pre-production frame so had a very slightly shorter top tube than the intended production version (which is on sale now..)
I called up my regular trail buddies and just by chance, (I suspect the lure of the AM clinched it) we all had a free midweek day to head to our regular haunt at One Planet Adventure, Coed-y-Llandegla. We ride there regularly on all our various steeds and we're big fans of the intelligent trail building which has that all important mix of climb and flow with some techy stuff to keep it challenging. Our familiarity with the courses would help make it a robust comparison with our usual stable; A Pace405, Commencal Meta 5.x and Marin Attack Trail, all pitched at a similar genre within the mtb 'All Mountain' discipline.
Initially I had a worry that Commencal might, by making such a radical change to the Meta layout, change the 'engaging' character of the original Meta 5. The BB is lower, the wheel base longer and steering head a degree or so slacker. All these changes had the potential to eradicate what makes the Meta 5 such an enjoyable ride. First handling and 'carpark test' indicated that this was a much more solid feeling set-up and silky smooth..the apparent heft of the bike's appearance didn't translate to actual weight, without a specific scale test it felt just as feathery to lift in and out of the boot of my car as my now 'perfect-for-me', self built Pace405 and old Meta 5, although I suspect that might have had something to do with the very high end XO group-set and carbon cranks etc on this demo bike, maybe we should add a couple of kilos for a 'real world' spec...A couple of other additions that would skew the comparison slightly was the new to me 2x10 group-set and dropper seat post..
I had volunteered to pedal up the first long drag out of the trail centre as long as I got to do at least one descent on it..,the first few kilometers confirmed the feel test in the carpark, it felt sturdy and solid with a very smooth action and excellent small bump sensitivity, it felt short. My pace is on the short side (I'm a very average 6ft build) and I like a short stem for quick steering but the AM felt very short in the top tube. I played with the dropper post for a bit and decided I liked it but wasn't sure about the 2x10 set-up, I seemed to spend a lot of time shifting up and down on the front two cogs before I discovered where my familiar, favourite ratios were. After a while though I needed to change much less often than on a standard triple set-up as my favourite ratios were hidden within slightly longer ratios which I decided was a good thing.. :)
Another very obvious trait on this first long drag is that the crank arms are a little shorter than I'm used to, probably to offset the lower BB and there is no noticeable pedal induced 'bob'. I didn't even need to use the platform setting on the FoxRP23 LV shock. This bike is definitely a very competent climber.
I had a good rest before attempting the first descent so I could hit it hard and get a fair comparison. When starting the attack I immediately noticed that the erstwhile adolescent enthusiasm of the Meta 5 had indeed been reined-in slightly, which I found disappointing...initially... That initial disappointment was very quickly dispersed by the new attitude of the AM. There's a certain aggressive aplomb that the new AM allows you attack the trail with, a sure-footed arrogance that communicates the extraordinary amount of grip available. We were all using excellent examples of 'as new' tyres so grip comparison could be attributed to chassis and suspension rather than who still had the sharpest edge on their nobblies. The stability felt 'juggernaut like' and encouraged a hard hitting aggressive style and completely flattered my ham-fisted attempts to tame the trail...
The rest of the day we spent swapping each other's steeds, passing judgement, blathering nonsense and hitting our favourite descents. Rarely we did all agreed on the same thing, this bike flatters, it's immensely capable, stable, solid feeling and engaging in a new way. The ADHD Meta of old has matured, become stronger, more stable and I want one.....for nearly an hour yesterday I looked like I knew what I was doing, I assure you that was nothing to do with me.....
Foz..
Thanks, as ever to Cyclestore in Congleton
