Remi Thirion's Commencal Bike Check - World Cup DH, Lenzerheide
Remi Thirion was launched in to the public eye when he demolished an Andorran hillside in 2013. His win in Vallnord has yet to be repeated, but the young Frenchman's name always comes in to conversation when the World Cup circus rolls in any town flanked by steep, technical hillsides. The pressure will be on when the World Championship visits Andorra in September, as many expect Remi to repeat the storm that raged down the near vertical finish arena two years ago. We disturbed the peace this morning as Remi was relaxing by the lake, trying to focus after a difficult start to practice yesterday. He said he was struggling to find confidence and grip in the loose, deep and dusty conditions, something of a rarity at home in the Alsace region of France. We took a closer look at his Commencal Supreme V4.
![Remi Thirion s Commencal v4]()
![Remi Thirion s Commencal v4]()
![Remi Thirion s Commencal v4]()
![Remi Thirion s Commencal v4]()
![Remi Thirion s Commencal v4]()
![Remi Thirion s Commencal v4]()
![Remi Thirion s Commencal v4]()
![Remi Thirion s Commencal v4]()
![Remi Thirion s Commencal v4]()
MENTIONS: @COMMENCALbicycles / @SramMedia
At 175cm tall, Remi is using a medium size frame with 0mm headset cups, the V4 has options of -10/-8/-5/0/+5/+8/+10mm to extend or decrease the reach and the wheelbase to suit the track.
A Renthal cockpit for Remi - he prefers the aluminium version of the bar rather than the carbon and cuts it down to 770mm. He mates that with a 50mm Integra II stem. His brake levers are set at a notably steep angle, this would suggest a preference for a riding position over the front wheel.
The number 5 plate should help to boost Remi's confidence after struggling early on in practice.
The V4 uses a monster 89mm stroke BOS Void rear shock. Remi sets 20mm of sag in riding position measured while in his full riding kit - this works out to a firm 22.5% sag (most consumers run their DH shocks with something around the 30% sag mark). He doesn't measure the fork sag, he just sets it by feel and adjusts the air volume according to the gradient of the track.
Remi has a prototype BOS Idyll FCV fork which has an extra air valve on the front of the lowers. He didn't want to give too much away about it, except that it can be used to adjust a negative air chamber that gives the effect of more or less low speed compression.
Hutchinson dual ply tires are mounted using a standard tubeless set up on the Novatec Demon wheelset with 26psi front and 29psi rear.
Here on the dusty Lenzerheide track a lot of riders are opting for cut down spikes, or intermediate tires. The Hutchinson Toros fit the bill for this, with wide spacing that should let the knobs dig though the deep dust and find traction in the dirt below.
Code calipers are matched to SRAM guide levers for increased stopping power with 200mm rotors front and rear.
A quick spin on the V4 revealed the suspension to be super supple through the first half of travel, but ramps up incredibly quickly front and rear at around 60% travel. However hard I tried, I couldn't force it anywhere past 80%.
MENTIONS: @COMMENCALbicycles / @SramMedia
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- waited 9 months to get a spring ?? Crazy!!!
- I had my fork sent in 3 x's for the same issue
- Near impossible to get a hold of-- would occasionally respond if they feel like it
- I bought a new Idylle Air, before even riding it-- tons of play within stanchions after mounting it, I have to pay to have it warranty repaired in the first week???
- Then they hired a shady US Rep who ended up doing some shady stuff (wont go into details) , and he bails out of the office. ALL of the customer suspension repairs and warranty's were left behind abandoned!!!!! . after 2.5 months of emails, I finally get a response from headquarters, and they said he was "sick." Then it took another 4-6 weeks after bombarding them with more emails to get my older fork back from warranty repair (3rd time). AND they tried charging me $50 on top of all that cuz their rep stripped one of my bolts- I came unglued !!! so a total of 4 months to get my fork
- And the best they can do after all this (and more) is offer me a 25% discount on buying new forks and rear shock!!??
- Recommendation. Get Fox, upgrade w/ Avalanche internals (same internals w/ more options), or Ohlins-- they are branching out with more stuff in the near future.
The bike looks very nice. Best of luck to Remi!
Sounds like that theory has come from extensive market research. Keep it up.
Have had my darkcycle for 7 years and never had this problem, its something that you just don't notice...
Infact if you done this the rear suspension would be more squatted and wouldn't throw weight over front wheel at all...
Couldn't figure out how this wouldn't cause major rubbing/drag in the small cog(s).
?????????
a href="http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb3767922/p4pb3767922.jpg">http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb3767922/p4pb3767922.jpg/a>
If it was used to pump air in the lowers, be assured that on the first compression the seals would pop out. And if it was linked to a negative air chamber, it would mean that is it linked to the bottom of the stanchion, but that is just not possible. And last, using air to adjust any kind of compression is just a no-no. Air is too unpredictable.
lol, you must be batshit crazy to say this
Air is as predictable as spring. It is easier to adjust, more accurate and it's lighter.
End of irony, Ploutre is probably right about the actual function of this valve.