Climbing like a dream!

jon prothero

Hi,

Felt I needed a little more strech on the small 5.5 so added a 90mm stem and stiffer handle bars, commencal own brand bars felt slighty flexy along with the race face, light cross country stem. Anyway now it climbs great and the whole ride feels much stiffer to. I simply did not trust myself with the punishment I am giving the bike so I stuck a thomson x4 on it with eason oversize bars. The only down side at the moment is more hand fatique on the downs, I will have to get bigger grips! What surprised me most though was how a few mm made such a difference to its climbing!

Unknown

Jon, get some Oury lock on grips. They're on ebay for about 15 quid. Very comfy, large grips.

I used spesh big hit bars and a 90mm x4 elite stem too and they were perfect with these grips.

Mark 8-D

'97 Zaskar

GYP

I too have the Thomo 90mm stem with race face high riser oversize bars on.Much better feeling for me too..

<center>Me</center><center>Commencal Meta 5.5</center>

jon prothero

Thanks for your advice about the grips and both of you for confirmation of how you two have also found a positive change in your bikes handling.

Unknown

This sounds like something I should be doing! The Commencal is a short reach. Just out of interest then, what rise did you use on the stem 0 or 10 degrees, if I order on line then I won't be able to test them - It is quite a range really, either 0 or 10, hmmm? I know it is personal preference but just interested. If I get a riser bar should I get a less elevated stem?? I think I'll search the forum for threads on riser bars as I don't really understand them yet???

GYP

10 deg 90mmm and high riser bars. Really adds to the feel for me. Have a look on my pics as i have a pic of the front of the bike. Just zoom in on flikr
Personally, its 10deg but i dont like flat riding positions. Save that for the head down arse up xc race mob. My mate has a heckler and has commented on the nice secure feel of the riding position on my bike. He has his set up very XC. I felt too over the bars.

<center>Me</center><center>Commencal Meta 5.5</center>

GYP

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8779009@N0 ... otostream/

Just hit all sizes on the tab and it zooms in if you didn't already know

<center>Me</center><center>Commencal Meta 5.5</center>

jon prothero

I got a 0% rise because the angle of the fork rod is slack and angles the stem up . I also put the stem down to the bottom of the shaft and put the spacer rings on top. Then added a high riser ea70 oversized bar on it. It feels great up hills and good going down. I might at some stage try moving it up a little higher to the middle spacer to see if it still climbs so well then it will feel even ore confident on the downs. There are so many positional options if I had bought a low rise bar I would have just placed it on top of the spacers to get more height. Any more questions please ask?

GYP

Horses for courses with everybody isn't it? . The Commencal has very slack angles in head and seattube. Personally i like the cosy *****pit shield feel, especially hitting downhill stuff...[:D]

The climbing just means i shift my weight forward a bit over the nose if needed for some more speed or just wind up slowly sat back a bit..Options options .Oh its a lovely life [8D]

<center>Me</center><center>Commencal Meta 5.5</center>

jon prothero

GYP just looked at your picture of your 5.5 team and I am not sure you are going to get a better bike on the planet than this, it gives a whole new meaning to the word bling!

Unknown

Agreed, that is a great bike. I had looked at the pics before but from that distance it looked more like 0 degrees!? I might beg, borrow and steal a couple of stems off mates bikes and see how they feel and then get the Thomson x4 and bar configuration that I think fits best. I think with a flat stem and riser bars using the spacers for height variation I should be ok.
I am not worried about climbing specifically, as mentioned, just put more weight on the nose, it just feels cramped. I havent' replaced the stem previously as I was worried about losing responsiveness on the steering but at the moment it is hyper hyper responsive. Time to bite the bullet!

papasmurf.

mines still stock in this department, like fatbob I like the responsiveness and slightly skittish steering. Though keeping the front wheel on the ground can be an issue, might have a play soonish though.

Also can recommend Oury grips, great size for big hands and give you great grip

Meta5.5
GT Avalanche 3

jon prothero

I think you will find one heck of a difference when you put weight down on the front with the thomson stem it is so much stiffer and accurate. Also have you placed your seat back along the rails? I have found this opens the *****pit! and of course makes you strach that little bit more!

Unknown

My seat is as far back as it will go. Don't really have a choice in that sense anyway, my knees are shot and if the saddle is not right relative to the pedals then get sore quite quickly.

I am going to check out the Oury grips too, sound good. My bike definitely needs more bling - don't think I will ever be able to hit the lofty heights of GYPs 'Rig'! H

papasmurf.

Yeah my seats all the way back. I got a large over the xl as I prefered the slightly smaller frame for trails so seat went back first thing.

Meta5.5
GT Avalanche 3

jon prothero

I have found the steering accuracy and responsiveness even better papa. I did take a couple of cm of each side of my bar though cause I am of the small variety of human. Now its 25 and a half inches. The standard commencal i had were just over 26 if i recall correctly and the ea70 I replaced them with were 27 inchs before the chop!

jon prothero

The funny thing is i have read commencal 08 bikes are having the seat angle more forwards because some have said there is too much weifgt over the back wheel? Think I am glad I got a 07!

papasmurf.

the only thing i'd change is the bb height, if you could keep all the geo the same as present though.

08 bikes do look sweet though, apart from the swingarm

Meta5.5
GT Avalanche 3

jon prothero

Yeah bottom bracket is low, I am almost tempted to go for smaller crank arms in the future I could get away with this change!

GYP

Thanks for the compliments of the bike fellas. I saved for a full year and a half hard to get a new bike or a build done. Loved the demo 5.5 so decided to get a frame built up.They only do em in Gucci white boutique. I said i'd never get a white bike too. [:o)] Just got some formula puro's coming tommorow. Woohoo [8D] Bling bling bling...What a dic k....lol...Learnt a lot of lessons [B)]on a trek with 80mm travel so its been a long time coming.

Anyway I'm on a large frame and i'm just under 5.11" seat is forwad and bars swept back a bit.. Thinking i should of got medium but the coc k pit is very small and i dont look or feel too out of place on it....

On the note of bottom bracket height that was my gripe with the demo. I have 170mm crank arms on mine and it makes it a little better catching the pedals for what it is 5mm (1/4")...I don't notice any difference in pedalling efficiency

Interesting enough here's the response from David Pergant @ Commencal when i emailed him via thier website. Great comms from them by the way..

<i><font color="navy">I had a chat with Nico, one of the bike design guys, and basically his
feeling is low BB height is everything!

Low BB is the only parameter that allows you to pair up stabiltiy and
maneuverability in the twisty bits. This set up is way better on the
downward trails, as it really counts a lot for your centre of gravity.

Ok, in really rocky pedaling sections, it is a bit penalizing, but you
get used to it. Experienced riders have told us they really appreciate
the low BB (not trying to be snobby or anything). You should feel more
at home on the bike with this set up, and you'll end up going faster,
normally.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know.

Best regards

Dave

David Pergant Export Sales
Commen‡al Bicycles, BP 36, Erts, La Massana, AD400, Principat d'Andorra
Tel: + 376 737479, Mobile/Cell: +376 626665, Fax: +376 737490
email: dave@commencal.com Skype/ichat: davidpergant
Le 5 mai 07, … 18:34, Aaron Donohoe a ‚crit :</font id="navy"></i>

<center>Me</center><center>Commencal Meta 5.5</center>

jon prothero

Nice response!