2018 Commencal Meta Tr v4.2 Essential vs Canyon Spectral al 6.0

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2018 Commencal Meta Tr v4.2 Essential vs Canyon Spectral al 6.0
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flag daviamer
O+
Posted: Feb 25, 2018 at 13:50 Quote
I've cracked one too many carbon frames so I'm in the market for a new bike. I'm looking for a good spec on an aluminum frame and these are the two bikes that I've come to (but I'm open to other suggestions). There's a lot of info/experience out there on the Commencal, but I haven't seen too much for the Spectral, especially after the 2018 redesign. The specs look pretty similar; the spectral weighs more but it's $600 less. I'm coming off a 2017 Specialized Stumpjumper Comp Carbon 29, so the wheel size will be new for me too. My big questions are:

1. I've read bad things about Canyon customer service. I do most of my own repairs so I wouldn't need much unless there's a big issue -- any experience with this? Is Commencal much better?

2. My gut reaction is that the DT swiss hubs on the Spectral would be better and easier to service than the Formula hubs. Is there a big difference in reliability/functionality?

3. The geometry page on Commencal's website doesn't seem to be working. I've emailed, but haven't heard back yet. Is it the same geometry as the 2017?

4. I have a lot of logs where I ride and sometimes (okay, maybe more than sometimes...) hit my bottom bracket. The Commencal has ISCG05 tabs, does the 2018 Canyon? The Jeffsy's lack of ISCG tabs is what turned me off to that. Is there a decent bash guard available without them?

5. I'm 5'6" with a 30" inseam. The medium Stumpjumper was a great fit with a short stem. Any idea what the BB to saddle rail measurements are for these two bikes with the droppers fully inserted?

6. I don't expect to solve the wheel size debate today, but I really hate going OTB. In rocky stuff is that a lot more likely to happen on one of these compared to the Stumpjumper 29? I've tested out a couple 27.5 bikes and liked the handling, but wasn't able to test them in really rocky/technical stuff.

I really love the look of the Meta, but I'm having a hard time justifying the extra $600 if they're pretty similar bikes.

Thanks for any help!
flag 3rdrockrider
Posted: Feb 26, 2018 at 7:32 Quote
You can get the 2018 Meta TR geometry from this link:

http://tech.commencal.com/geometrie.php?lang=UK&cadre=62&annee=10

I copied it from the broken part of the page on the Commencal site. I think the link is broken because of a bad certificate so I replaced the https header with http and it works fine.

I am also interested in this bike and started looking at it during the 2017 model year. I do not believe the geometry has changed.

I cannot find any mention of the Spectral AL having ISCG tabs. I did see an unboxing of one of the carbon models on BKXC's YouTube channel, and they say that the bike doesn't have them.

The BB to top of saddle height measurement for the Spectral is listed on the geometry chart. It's the first entry after "Height" and is labeled "Saddle Height". They don't specify if that is measured with the dropper fully inserted though.

I don't have any experience with either of these bikes... I've just been researching compulsively for a while now. Good luck!
flag MrFowl
O+
Posted: Feb 6, 2019 at 13:29 Quote
I'm comparing the two bikes now as well (as well as the 2019 versions). I'm curious what you ended up buying? any update?
flag jonnymcc
FL
Posted: Mar 5, 2019 at 5:10 Quote
I've been riding a 2018 Canyon Spectral CF8 since August last year and been loving every minute of it. Many benefits aside for being a gorgeous looking bike like the seat post clamp design, steering limiter, the internal/external cable routing and the fact it comes on 2.6 tyres.

I am very similar height and leg length as you... I went for the medium and is perfect for me.

Not sure about ISCG05 because I have never run a bass guard as I've never had any chainring impact damage before... perhaps i'm not riding hard enough! lol

Canyon have been working on their customer service over the last year and now have a Canyon uk base where any warranty issues go through. Never had any warranty issues on my spectral so can't comment for sure.

Hope this helps
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