meta 55 vs spicy

lawman

hello. major dilema. havin riden the spicy at cannock on the excellent bikeradar demo days, it totally blew me away with its amazing ride and involving handling. trouble is ive had my heart set on the meta for a good couple of months now and im worried it will disappointing compared to the spicy, which i unforetunately cannot afford anyone riden a meta and are they really worth it? can they match a 6" bike downhill and climb as well as the superlight spicy?????

Anonymous

Can you get a test on the Meta?

pdid

Obviously i`m gonna tell you that the Meta is superb, but i`ve never ridden the spicy so couldn`t sway you one way or the other.

I know one member on here has tested both and went for the Meta, can`t remember who it was but i`m sure they`ll be along to pass their opinion.

Do they not make a lower spec version of the Spicy that you could stretch to.

I`ve not heard of many people who have been disappointed with their Meta`s, if you can get to Llandegla they`ll let you test a Meta for a small fee which they`ll refund if you buy the bike.

pdid

This thread:

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/forums/vie ... encal+meta

Mytchett Mike made the comment regarding Spicy and Meta, maybe you could drop him a PM.

And this thread, last post:

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/forums/vie ... 9&start=15

toasty

There's a Leisure Lakes demo day in Cannock this coming weekend.

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/Article.aspx?&id=224

If you contact them you can request specific bikes, including Metas.

I love my Meta to bits and have personally never looked back, my missus is demoing one this weekend too They're suprisingly stable climbers but very plush on anything even vaguely rough. I demo'd a Santa Cruz Blur LT, Specialized Enduro, Niner Jet 9 and Bionicon Edison LTD at the recent demo days, definitely prefer my Meta to any of them and it's far better value. I'm bound to be biased though

I think Swinnertons in Cannock Chase can get hold of Metas to demo as well, I'm not sure if they have any in their fleet, I'd assume so though as they're a stockist now.

Mytchett Mike

I think it depends on what you are looking for and the style of riding.

I got hold of the Spicy, the Meta, a Trek and a Giant and four of us rode the same lap on each of them in turn.

All of us thought the Spicy was great fun going downhill but none of us liked it up hill at all - we all agreed that even that Giant (half the price) was better going up.

As I was wanting an all round bike for trail centre riding I wanted one that climbed well and for me that meant the Meta.

I tested the 55.2 but bought a 55.1 (they had a deal on Merlin) and I'm very happy with my new toy, even if all my mates demand sunglasses when I ride it (including at night!).

I would highly recommend doing a group test if you can as you get a good feel for the differences between bikes.

Mike

Father Faff

I got a Meta 5.5.1 (2007) from JD Cycles in Ilkley at a decent price. I think if I was getting another I'd possibly build it myself quite similar to the 2009 Meta 55 UK but with some lighter bits alround to make it a similar weight to my 5.5.1 (27.5lb). Perhaps XT alround and a lighter wheelset (I've now got DT Swiss rims with Hope hubs. The Race Face bottom bracket didn't last long at all so I've again used Hope and put a Hope Ceramic replacement in. The Formula Oro brakes are great (but both have required repair which has taken a while to sort) - again a better option might be the Hope Mini Monos. Maxxis tyres are good and grippy although I've currently got Mountain King 2.2s on (which are actually rubbish when it gets slippy!) because they roll faster on smoother terrain. Where the bike really excels is when the going gets rough - excellent traction for uphills and very fast and stable downhills. It's worth putting GTore cables on cos the cables are under the downtube and without them I had a lot of shifting problems.

grantway

Test one nothing worse than buying a bike you aint riden.

Costly mistake if you get it wrong

Yeti Jon

I tested a meta and a zesty rather than a spicy, ended up buying the zesty, I found it more an all round trail bike than the meta, less of a compromise on the climbs.

Might be worth considering the zesty seen as they start at £1600 depending what you are after I guess.

Agoogy

Yeti Jon wrote:

I tested a meta and a zesty rather than a spicy, ended up buying the zesty, I found it more an all round trail bike than the meta, less of a compromise on the climbs.

Might be worth considering the zesty seen as they start at £1600 depending what you are after I guess.

have to agree there

gypsy3006

I tried loads of bikes , and the Zesty was my favourite all rounder but once i dialled it in I realised that theres no compromises in it being an alrounder cos its VERY good at everything !!!

Mrs Toast

Yeti Jon wrote:

I tested a meta and a zesty rather than a spicy, ended up buying the zesty, I found it more an all round trail bike than the meta, less of a compromise on the climbs.

Might be worth considering the zesty seen as they start at £1600 depending what you are after I guess.

I tested the women's Zesty, and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately the women's Zesty is only available in the 514 model, which is a whopping £2400 ish. I know the bloke's Zesty is only slightly different in terms of geometry, but I don't know if that slight difference would be enough to change the experience. And I don't think I'll be able to get to another one of the demo days this year.

Demoing a small Meta 5.5 at the weekend, hoping it'll fill me with joy like the Zesty did. It'd certainly be a bit easier on the pocket!