Commencal Supreme DH V2

codfather

Afternoon all, having sold my hardtail, I now find myself hankering for something a bit bigger. Rather than buy something off the peg or second hand I've decided to go the long way and build it from the ground up. Some of this will be second hand, a fair amount new, and a reasonable quantity from the parts box. 5 internet points to the first person to correctly guess what I'm building. Delivery of minor parts from CRC today left me with these:







More as it arrives....

Chunkers1980

My guess is a mountain bike.

kyle17290

A mega?

rockmonkeysc

Nukeproof Pulse

codfather

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19689451#p19689451]RockmonkeySC[/url] wrote:

Nukeproof Pulse

Right idea, it was going to be a Scalp, but the guy selling the frame decided he couldn't wait a few days and sold it to someone else.








More parts-photos to follow...

rockmonkeysc

Scalp is a great bike. I planned on upgrading to a Pulse until I rode one and realised it rides exactly the same, doesn't even feel any lighter. Not much point in changing.

codfather

I know, I was really looking forward to picking it up, even coincided with the drive on our holiday route. The chap I ride with 90 % of the time has a standard build Pulse and while it's a fine bike, I don't really see where the extra money goes, especially since the "swing arm" on the Scalp has a nicer shape than that of the Pulse.

Anyway, no Scalp for me this time. I've paid for my frame, should be here next week. Got a very nice package from a very helpful chap. Brakes are apparently still in Germany and should be arriving early next week I expect. Wheels and forks are in Surrey

In other news, I trial fitted my grips to the bars and now I can't get them off.....good start so far....

codfather

Other parts have arrived.... including the frame. The forks and wheels are both in Surrey, receiving them next Monday. Was tempted to try Avid, sorry *Sram's new Guide's but that would mean buying a new non I Spec shifter and that seems like a waste of money. Zee's were on offer on BikeDiscount, saving £15 over Merlin's already discounted price with the only requirement being three minutes to swap the hoses from the Euro set up.



A small box from CRC also arrived with several small pieces of stainless inside, later revealed to be a cassette. This is the second time during this build that CRC packaging has fallen below expectations. When the bars arrived they had been removed from their box, put into a larger box loose with other parts and the original packaging folded in half and crammed inside after them. In this case, I have no objection to not sending the cassette in the original Shimano box, but it would be nice to put a cable tie through the sprockets to stop them rattling aropund in the box. Final, I ordered the brakes the day after the cassette, from Germany and the cassette, from Ireland, arrived a day after the brakes...
Anyway, here's two pictures of an unremarkable part





Arriving with my frame came a second hand Zee crankset, but no chainring bolts and no Saint BB as sold, so chasing them up currently. I'm going to run clutch and N/W initially and if I start dropping the chain I'll put a top guide on. N/W courtesy of my old hardtail, a 36t Superstar I/O. Such is my desire to not spend money unnecessarily, I rooted through the parts box and managed to come up with four chainring bolts, albeit four different colours. Conveniently, the four colours of bolts I have match the four colours of the rest of the bike.



Finally, my frame has arrived! Keep guessing as it's remaining under wraps for the time being. All I can say is it's going to be nice to have a suspension component with working compression adjustment for a change.

codfather

Took the time to clean up the frame today, so here it is; a 2011/12 Commencal Supreme DH V2, powder coated black with some amateurishly applied stickers. This is one of the all time greats of the downhill world, rising to frame underneath the Athertons during The Atherton Project years. Features adjustable chainstay length and head angle. Full build will take place on Sunday afternoon when I return to Kent to pick up my forks and wheels.

rockmonkeysc

Nice. It must be the only one in existence not sold as an ex-Gee Atherton race bike.

codfather

I don't understand why people are so drawn to "ex (insert name here)" bikes. Perhaps it's just the draw of a name, but anything that's been ridden by a World Cup racer is going to have been completely ragged and crashed at a higher speed than ordinary mortals such as those buying them.

rockmonkeysc

Factory DH bikes generally don't get sold on, they're development bikes as well as race bikes.

codfather

Aye, but that doesn't stop 80% of people with Supreme's selling them as ex-Gatherton's and V10's as ex-Ratboy's

rockmonkeysc

There's a lot of ex Steve Pete V10's as well and even the occasional Sam Hill Iron Horse Sunday.

codfather

I was nearly tempted into an older style V10, but the frames are too ugly for my taste.

Moved into new house yesterday, said my hellos, went out, picked up forks and wheels, came back and built the bike on the kitchen floor.
Build is all but done; all I have to do is index the gearing and swap the brakes over from the current Euro setup when I receive the front adapter (who runs 180mm rotors on 200mm forks anyway?).

Pictures to follow this evening.

codfather

Build is now finished.

Received and (badly) applied the Indiprint crank protector decals, fitted the adapter, swapped and shortened the hoses as well as indexing the gears properly. More photos and full spec to follow when it's not raining quite so much.

Forks are BOS Idylles which although badly scratched and messy on the lowers, have immaculate stanchions and feel superb. It's going to be nice to have some suspension with working compression damping adjustment for a change.

Wheels courtesy of the Superstar sale are DHXs. Tank EVO hubs on DHX rims with brass nipples and Sapim spokes for £100 including a one time free truing.

codfather

So all is now assembled an (mostly) working properly, just a few creases to iron out. Final weight for the build is roughly 17.5kg, which for a L/XL frame built up on a modest budget is pretty impressive IMO. Could easily ditch another 200g with a lighter seatpost and saddle.

Observations

Forks; Plush, super plush. Recommended settings has too much compression damping so going to mess around with that soon, otherwise they feel superb.

Frame; headset feels a bit rough, suspension is smooth and composed. Pedals surprisingly well. Do not like having to detach top shock mount to extract brakes from frame though. Needs a few Helitape patches in cable rub prone areas

Drivetrain; n/w x Zee feels fine, even riding down flights of stairs with the shock accidentally left with the compression damping on full has been no problem for it. Poorly applied decals are not ideal but look a lot better than the old worn arms.

Wheels; light and stiff, 25mm rims make a nice change.

Brakes; Creamy smooth and tons of power.

Cockpit; DM stem feels so much better than ordinary and the combination of that and 35mm clamp feels super stiff and precise. Slim, stiff, hard grips are a bonus too.

Rear rotor may be slightly bent and the headset does feel a bit knackered but other than that it feels superb.

codfather

Commie now in the shop getting new frame bearings and shock bushings at great expense. New headset compression ring turned up the other day so that's now in. I'll be servicing the forks when I get it back and then taking it for a blast at Penshurst some time soon.

Final build specs;

Frame; 2012 Commencal Supreme DH V2 L/XL
Shock; Rockshox Vivid RC 5.1
Forks; 2012 BOS Idylles

Bars; Nukeproof Warhead risers 800x35mm
Stem; Nukeproof Warhead Direct Mount 45x35mm
Grips; Funn Combat

Brakes; Shimano Zee on 203mm rotors
Shifter; Shimano XT I-Spec B
Rear mech; Shimano Zee FR
Crankset; Shimano Zee
Chainring; Superstar I/O 36t
Cassette; Shimano Tiagra 12-28t
Chain; KMC X-10
Bottom Bracket; Shimano Hollowtech II BB70
Pedals; DMR V12

Seatpost; VooDoo 31.6mm
Saddle; Heavy VooDoo standard
Seatclamp; Hope

Rims; Superstar DHX
Hubs; Superstar Tank EVO
Spokes; Sapim Race
Nipples; Brass

Weight; circa 17.5kg
Plan on ditching the VooDoo s/post and saddle for lighter items to save 200g or so at minimal cost. Otherwise, it feels superb.

codfather

The Commencal is dead. Took this out for a first spin a few months ago now, noticed a knocking sound from the rear end, a slight play in the linkage. Decided not to arse around and took it straight to the LBS to get fresh bearings all round.
Got a call a few days later informing me that the con rod for the rear linkage was twisted and would need replacing, so ordered a new one from Commencal (at a cost of 123 Euros) and dropped it off. Got another call a few days later informing me that the holes for the main pivot bearings had been ovalised and the bearings had been packed in with bits of energy drinks can; The frame was complete scrap.
Thus ended the Supreme.
I cut my losses, removed the shock and sold the frame as a project.

rockmonkeysc

A broken Commencal frame? That's highly unusual.

codfather

I know, right? A Franco-Andorran frame made in the far East; what could possibly go wrong....