- SRAM Guide Level T.
(upbeat music)
- Hey everybody I'm Mike Levy.
We're here in Sedona, Arizona,
for our annual Field Trip where we test value bikes.
And this good looking gray machine is Commencal's
Meta TR 29 Ride,
a $2599 trail bike,
with a 130 mm of rear-wheel travel and 150 mm upfront.
Okay, so let's talk about geometry first,
I'm 5'10" and that puts me on a large with a 475 mm reach,
Upfront, your head angle 66.5.
A relatively steep seat angle at 76.5 degrees.
Now all the sizes from small to
extra large support 434 mm chainstays.
So let's take a closer look at this aluminum frame
including its rear suspension design.
It's a single pivot linkage activated system,
that compresses a RockShox Deluxe Select+ shock.
That's a bit of a tongue twister.
Now there's a whole bunch of details
on this frame that are worth mentioning.
Including two places to store a water bottle.
One inside the front triangle,
and one outside on top of the thick down tube protector.
Speaking of protector, the chainstay protector
is really well thought out,
and it's very effective and very quiet.
A couple other things to note.
Cable routing is done really well
and the pivot hardware looks like something
you would see on a bike that costs $6000 not $2600.
Drivetrain duties are handled by SRAM again.
This is a 12 speed NX system,
that they're using a GX crank with.
So that means you get a really wide range,
including that 50-tooth cog out back,
that let's you climb straight up the side of a building.
Braking is SRAM Level Ts they're 2 piston brakes.
But upfront you got big boy 200mm rotor
and out back 180mm rotor.
Enough talking about the details,
we've been riding this bike for the last two weeks
here in Sedona so let's cover that.
(mellow electronic music)
- Commencal Meta TR 29.
Let's talk about set up.
Kazimer what did you do?
- First thing get that suspension set up.
The shock, run at 30% sag.
- That's a little bit more than some of the other bikes.
- [Kazimer] Yeah, this bike has 130mm of rear travel,
so on some of the slightly longer travel bikes
I'd run 25 percent,
just so they wouldn't feel like they're bobbing up and down.
But we found this one that 30% worked well.
About 75 lbs in that Revelation fork.
Getting right in line with the set up guides,
so pretty straightforward.
- [Mike Levy] And tubeless tires ready to go.
And there you have it,
we pretty much just did that and hit the trails.
(mellow electronic music)
- If you're familiar with the look of Commencal's
other bikes this one looks a lot like their enduro bikes.
But then you look at the numbers on paper,
it's just not that much travel.
You know it's their trail bike,
130 mils in the rear, 150 upfront.
But climbing it does feel different
than those big enduro sizes actually pretty good.
- When you look at the bike,
it definitely looks like a very aggressive bike
and it kinda has that
I don't care about the climbs air to it,
but it's surprisingly capable on the climbs.
There's a lot of traction, the seat angle is bang on.
It's 76.5 effective, it does look a little bit odd,
'cause it sits so forward of the bottom bracket,
but the seat ends up exactly where you want it.
- Yeah that climb position, nice and comfortable.
You're sitting right where you want to be.
I did find that the amount of traction
was a little less than say the YT Jeffsy.
It has a little more travel,
it felt like a little more supple off the top.
But it's a nitpick it climbs very well.
- I think this is gonna climb as well
as anybody needs who would buy a bike like this.
It has a pedal assist switch on the shock.
I mean there's 130mm of travel
if you have to reach for the switch
something's wrong I think anyway.
And I mean you never had to reach for it.
- No, I didn't have to reach for it.
There's plenty of support there.
- He was about to disagree with me,
but then he admitted that he didn't have to touch it.
- I don't mind it doesn't matter either way,
if there's a climb switch or not in this case,
it's there if you wanted it
but I don't think you have to use it.
- [Mike Levy] It pedals extremely well.
And like we said it's capable on the technical stuff too,
I didn't have any extra dabs or anything like that,
and it doesn't feel overly long.
- Yeah, it's very manageable you know it's not,
it might have the appearance of a big brute
but it's actually pretty manageable
and pretty fun bike even on the climbs.
- It feels like a trail bike on the climbs
even though, I mean it looks like
a big burly old mountain bike sitting right here.
Definitely a trail bike on the climbs.
(upbeat music)
- Okay so you climb to the top of the hill,
you got that behind you, it's all over with.
This bike feels like it was made for the downs.
[Kazimer] Yeah, it's really good
[Mike Levy] Solid.
[Kazimer] Especially for a 130 millimeter bike.
Which you may think that's your light,
and kinda nimbly bimbly trail bike.
But you could smash some stuff with this.
- Nimbly Bimbly?
- It's a new term it's going to catch on real soon.
- This is definitely not nimbly bimbly
in any sense of the words whatever they mean.
- It's just a fun trail smasher.
- [Kazimer] You go fast, hit your line,
and it's gonna stay solid.
- It feels extremely solid
it holds the line when you're going over
that rough choppy stuff,
especially in the corners,
it just doesn't, it doesn't feel as upset,
it stays more composed and
that kind of air of solidness about it,
like it gives you a lot of confidence.
- I think supportive is the theme here
you know you've got not a ton of travel,
but it makes the most out of it.
It's not going to totally erase every obstacle in your way.
But it's also not going to go through its travel
too quickly or not use enough.
It's just really well balanced.
- I never felt like
I needed to put a volume spacer in the shock.
That's at 30% at sag, on a 130 millimeter travel bike.
I mean there's some square hard hits
out there that don't feel good,
and the bike didn't feel like it blew through its travel.
I mean the hips didn't feel great,
but the bike felt great.
- [Kazimer] Yeah, it's solid.
- So one of the big takeaways for me here with Commencal
is it feels like just the right mix of
slack and capable enough,
but not so much that it takes away
all of the trail bike feeling.
I think some of that comes down to the suspension.
I mean it's just 130 millimeters it's well sorted.
But the geo just feels good and ready for anything,
whether it's normal trail bike riding or smashing.
- They didn't go super far with it
which kinda applies to Commencal's bikes across the board,
they kind of take things in moderation.
And so that 66.5 degree head angle which isn't the slackest
but it just feels right for this bike,
well-suited to what we were riding It just works.
- You don't have to go overboard right.
Sometimes it's fine to be conservative
and it works out great.
- [Kazimer] Yeah, and a bike it's more than just one number
so you take all those numbers together,
turns out, get the right recipe,
you're gonna end up with something like this.
(slow electronic music)
- Alright, let's talk about timing now.
Kazimer, What were your times like on this bike?
- I Wasn't that fast on this bike
I think my times ended up somewhere
seven out of eight or so and then a couple others
I think in the middle of the pack.
- Why do you think that is?
- I'm not really sure.
We found that how we felt on the bike
didn't always correlate with what the clock said.
It wasn't the fastest but that's all right.
I didn't feel like it was a slow bike
when I was on it,
to me that matters more than what a few lap times say.
- And I also think this bike
is probably more capable than our test loop is ready for.
Like I think a rougher track,
this thing is gonna be
quicker than the other bikes for sure.
So for me I had my third fastest time in the loop.
My third fastest time of the climb.
And my third fastest time on the descent.
Overall it just feels solid.
(upbeat music)
- Okay it's time to get into some details here at the fork.
It's a revelation it's definitely
not as good as a pike, with the charger damper.
But if you've never ridden a pike,
like this thing is never gonna hold you back.
We're spoiled with the latest and the greatest,
best of the best thousand dollar forks.
If I had to spend the next year on this fork,
I would be just fine with it and I think that says a lot.
- Other components you get those tires the Schwalbe tires.
Tread pattern is great,
they are the least expensive tread compound.
So if you're picky about things like that
if you notice that your tire is a little bit harder
and not quite as grippy,
that might be something to think about.
But you probably could just run them until they're bald
and upgrade to something nicer after that.
- Just skid a lot and then buy new ones.
- Like I mentioned before,
it's got those level T brakes.
Personally I'd like to see four piston brakes on this bike
just 'cause the way it makes it ride.
- 300 lbs Kazimer here needs four piston brakes
on his trail bike.
- I like to be able to stop easily and quickly,
and just be in control,
and like I said it's nice there's a 200 mm rotor,
but even those guide T brakes,
like we see on the YT Jeffsy,
those just feel better with four pistons,
so that's something I might consider changing
or would like to see different on this bike.
- A couple other little things,
these aren't deal breakers but they're nice little touches.
House-branded stem and handlebar,
says alpha on it it's nothing special,
it's just like aluminum stuff that works well
and I know it looks pretty nice too.
Also comes with some nice lock-on grips.
Just little things you're not gonna have to buy.
You won't have to spend $30 on a set of lock-on grips.
It comes with them.
- It comes well stored out of the box.
Even the dropper post, you got that KS post.
That lever design is super nice.
- One final little detail is the chainstay protector.
I mean it looks like this thing belongs on a $10,000 bike.
Not a... how much is this?
- [Kazimer] $2600
- [Mike Levy] $2600 bike It's just,
it works really well and it's well thought out.
- Really I wouldn't change anything right away.
I would just ride it until things started to wear out.
Eventually I'd probably swap the tires out
for something with a softer rubber compound.
Start saving my pennies maybe get something stronger,
more powerful brakes on there.
You don't need to brake apparently but I do.
Either way out of the box it's ready to roll.
- Third seventh, on our times.
- Yeah, I could go faster with better brakes maybe.
It was the brakes holding me up.
- But I think overall I mean
there's not a lot to change here.
- If I was to nitpick the NX shifter,
it's not matchmaker compatible.
You have that SRAM brake on there.
If it was a matchmaker compatible shifter
you could mount it to the same perch,
and it wouldn't be quite a reach.
I have little tiny hands
compared to Kazimer's huge hands so it was
a bit of a stretch for me so but that's...
- You could even get a shifter for $40 or $50
that would fix that.
So again out of the box nothing really needs to be changed,
but a couple little things
you could swap out as time goes on.
(upbeat music)
- Okay, so what's our big takeaway here Kazimer?
- This is a nice solid trail bike.
- It definitely straddles the line
like I know it's just 130 mm,
but it straddles that line of trail bike all mountainy.
But if you want a very capable trail bike
and you don't need to have the lightest one,
this is a good option.
- Yeah, suits my riding style well.
I know you,
someone that's focused on the downhills
or wants to have a decent time on the uphill,
this is the bike.
- [Mike Levy] Yeah, good job Commencal.
- Well there you have it.
That's the Commencal Meta TR 29.
Stay tuned for more videos
for our Pinkbike Field Trip in Sedona Arizona.
As well as a round-table discussion,
where we talk about the highs and lows
of all the bikes we have here on test.
(upbeat music)