Bike Check: Benoit Coulanges' Commencal Supreme

Aug 24, 2020
by Ed Spratt  

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BIKE CHECK
Benoit Coulanges'
Commencal Supreme
Photos: Nathan Hughes


Team Dorval AM rider Benoit Coulanges is on a heater of a season so far this year, coming off a 4th place at the first French cup before beating out Loris Vergier, Hugo Frixtalon and Luca Shaw at the second round to take the win. Then, up against a stacked field of France's top downhillers, he took the gold medal at the national championships last weekend making him a rider to watch as we finally head into the World Cup season. But what is his winning bike setup?

Rider Name: Benoit Coulanges
Team: Dorval AM
Instagram: @benoitcoulanges
For Benoit it is actually pretty simple; he likes to keep everything pretty much as it comes on his Commencal Supreme, which already has plenty of racing pedigree under Amaury Pierron, Thibaut Daprela and Myriam Nicole. Currently, there is nothing unique for him, with no anglesets or custom mounts, and he sees no reason to change anything at the moment. If you are getting good results, who can argue that? This year Benoit is running the new Fox 40 with 95 psi and three tokens for front suspension duties then out back he has a Fox X2 set up with 230psi and four tokens.

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Details
Frame: Commencal Supreme
Fork: Fox 40 (95 psi // three tokens)
Shock: Fox X2 (230psi // four tokens)
Wheels: Crankbrothers Synthesis DH
Tires: 'Super Secret' Schwalbe prototypes
Drivetrain: Shimano Saint
Brakes: Shimano XTR
Cockpit: Renthal (Bars uncut at 800mm)

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Posted In:
Reviews and Tech Bike Checks DH Bikes Commencal Commencal Supreme Benoit Coulanges


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63 Comments
  • 33 1
 That front rotor has seen some shit
  • 9 1
 Yeah but the rear one seems even worse to me, look how discoloured it is! It almost looks like a motorcycle exhaust, all purple and burnt
  • 45 0
 I’ve had rotors look like that. Difference is I’m just fat.
  • 6 9
 Front rotor: I've seen some gnar shit, it won't affect my braking. Rear rotor: *surprised pikachu face
  • 2 0
 Rear rotor: I'm the most used, Benoit: hold my beer
  • 2 1
 @DaFreerider44: i like to use both F/R equally as possible
  • 1 0
 @Ccouch5859: hahaha I was just thinking the same thing!
  • 7 0
 @lehott: this isn't reddit dude...
  • 1 0
 @Ccouch5859: I feel you buddy
  • 1 0
 @TylerG96: You are clearly an equal opportunity speed modulator.
  • 8 0
 Ohhhhhh shit, I have that same seatpost! Did he also need 5 hands to keep all the parts aligned while it was getting tightened down?
  • 1 0
 No, he's got a mechanic who gets paid to do that.
  • 6 0
 Cushcore front & rear
  • 4 1
 Or just the valve stems like my bike, no Cushcore. You never know.
  • 1 0
 @willdavidson9595: well.. it does hove the CC decals, sooooo
  • 19 0
 CushCore in the rear tyre. No insert in the front
  • 1 0
 @benoitcoulanges: 275 front and rear?
  • 3 0
 @gonecoastal: ....
  • 3 1
 @benoitcoulanges: He may not be running them, it's 2020, we can't assume.
  • 1 0
 @willdavidson9595: hahahaha
  • 1 0
 @willdavidson9595: read this thread again, but slowly...
  • 3 0
 @Bikerdude137: well that's awkward
  • 1 0
 @willdavidson9595: lol
  • 5 0
 Would be interesting to add his height/ weight as well as the frame size
  • 4 0
 that bike must be stiff as fuck
  • 1 0
 Like a hillclimb shootout
  • 1 0
 3 front, 4 rear tokens? my god. stiff and fast and stiff and fast and stiff and fast
  • 3 0
 That blue looks real nice
  • 3 0
 Fastest DH bike out there? Change my mind.
  • 2 0
 Damn, another fast Frenchie. These guys are killing it.
  • 5 0
 True and yet so hard to believe since our regional racing series are all pretty much gone due to enduro and the FFC not giving a shit and our National serie was pretty sad looking too untill those two post covid races. I honestly don't know how we keep pumping out DH champs like that with such low support of the sport it is truly amazing.
  • 1 0
 @Balgaroth: I don't kown how it was before, but when I looked up the french national and regional dh race calendars there were lots of races, definetely more than this side of the border (Italy) and most importantly, the tracks looks like great racing courses.
  • 1 0
 @ORTOGONAL555: Only Alps area still have some events mostly thanks to the bike parks. We used to have 5-6 DH races in North East of France and to my knowledge only one remains. Even Britany used to have a DH regional cup which I believe is also gone.
  • 1 0
 The drone footage of his race run from his latest Instagram is pretty cool. New fastest man on the planet.
  • 1 0
 @benoitcoulanges nice setup! Do you feel a difference with the crankbrothers synthesis wheels compared to others?
  • 2 0
 Yes very confortable in straight line. So strong, I broke just 1 rim this season (normally we change 1rim at every race...).
And more dynamic from other wheels! I love there wheels and I want to ride the same next year
  • 2 0
 Finally, not Maxxis tires.
  • 1 0
 BB hight? Looks higher then “normal”,nice bike
  • 2 0
 Great looking bike!
  • 3 1
 Mullet? 29 f+r? 27.5?
  • 10 0
 Full 29"
  • 3 1
 Can’t you tell?
  • 1 0
 @Molesdigmyjumps: barely. The wheels don’t look too big
  • 1 0
 @benoitcoulanges: Thanks!!
  • 2 0
 @Molesdigmyjumps: No - that's why I asked. Seemed like a fair question, and possibly quite a key piece of information on a bike check...
  • 1 0
 @Thor44: you probably didn't have to ask if it was a mullet, also they don't make this paint job in 27.5 although that's not really something you should know so it's fine
  • 2 0
 @Bikerdude137: Dunno - look at the photo of Myriam Nicole's - it's a mullet but not clear depending on the angle that the photo's taken. Not sure about your point on the paint job - that dark blue isn't available on the commercial site in either 29, 27.5 or mullet. At least, not on the European site.
  • 3 0
 @Thor44: it's a great question Thor and the first thing I wondered since Commencal make 3 different Supreme frames. What's next, bike checks with just "Meta frame" or "Kona Process Frame"?
  • 1 0
 @Thor44: not as a frame but as a complete bike they make it for 29, but there are side shots and he is a racer so it's pretty safe to assume it's full 29
  • 1 0
 @Bikerdude137: not in that dark blue - there are no Supremes on their site either as frames or as bikes in that dark blue colour combo - just the bright blue "lagoon". And with a lot of racers riding mullets this year, I'm not sure "it's pretty safe to assume it's a full 29"...
  • 1 0
 @Thor44: i said it's safe too assume it's full 29 because it's quite obviously not a mullet from the first picture and there are nearly no commencal riders running 27,5 (if there even are any?)
  • 1 0
 @Bikerdude137: Like I said - Miriam Nicole is running a mullet. Don’t know about the other Commencal riders as I’ve not seen bike checks for them. And like I said, go look at the photos for the bike check for Nicole - first photo looks like equal wheel size, last one looks very mullet, so sometimes it’s not so clear from the photos, and the 2021 fox 40’s are no longer labelled 49’s for 29ers, so no clue there. So it seemed a reasonable question - sorry if it offended you ;-). I take your point - unlikely he was on 27.5, unless he’s very short. I’ve no idea how tall he is - they didn’t cover that either!
  • 1 0
 @Bikerdude137: Pierron posted on insta earlier this year that he’s riding a DH mullet - not sure if he was racing on it when he crashed. But that’s 2 Commencal riders on mullets...
  • 1 0
 @Thor44: yeah they definitely could have added some more details (i would put a facepalm but i have no clue how on a phone) what i was saying is that from a side view a mullet is pretty obvious, although at certain angles it can look weird
  • 2 0
 Big fan of the colors
  • 1 0
 What's up with influx of white lowers? Makes the bikes look old.
  • 3 0
 Fox factory color for 2020 I think. In my opinion it either looks awful or really good, it depends on the frame color (I really like it here)
  • 1 0
 So why the use of XTR brakes rather than Saints?
  • 1 0
 French tricolore livery would be perfect! Wink
  • 1 2
 Mom, is that what sex looks like????
  • 3 0
 Weird question to ask your mom...
  • 1 0
 @seismicninja: Gold. Thanks for the laugh.
  • 1 0
 @seismicninja: not as weird as the question I asked your mom!!!!







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