Commencal Meta V4 Race - Review

Commencal’s Meta V4 Race looks pleasantly simple from any viewing angle. Its shock is tucked into a forged-aluminum pocket, welded into the top tube’s midsection, while the rocker system which drives it is styled to blend into the frame’s conventional-looking double-diamond profile. Its rear suspension is intentionally low tech. The single-pivot swingarm, with its clevis dropout pivots and semi-rectangular stays could have been ordered from the Sears catalogue – and that may be a good thing, because its kinematics are the stuff of which all the fancy patented mechanisms are still measured by, and the stuff of which precious few have managed to better.

Our V4 Race was painted blazing hot in Day-Glo yellow and black accents, but it probably should have been left bare. This is not one of those narcissistic carbon dandy bikes that are plastered with decals that shout out every nuance of their ANTIFLAB carbon frames, their patented wobbly-link this and proprietary WTF that. It does not beg for likes on its Supa-Travel Facebook page. By contrast, the Meta X4, stands quietly at the ready, unashamed of its welded aluminum chassis, its mid-level SRAM X1 drivetrain, and its house-brand components. It looks like a soldier returning for a second tour of duty, strong, lean and confident, and it conveys the sense that when it comes time to rock and roll, failure will not be an option.




Construction

Commencal make a point in its literature that it has no plans to make carbon-framed bicycles. The 150-millimeter-travel Meta V4 chassis is sturdily constructed from a slightly tougher and stiffer version of the popular 6061 aluminum alloy, designated 6066. The chassis makes extensive use of forged parts, which can be seen at the clevis-type rear dropouts, bottom bracket shell, top tube shock mount, and linkage pivots. Welding is beautifully done, with second-pass, smoothing welds used to minimize the visual impact of the head tube junction and where the flush-mount shock segment is attached to the top tube.

The compound rocker linkage is also forged-aluminum construction, and it employs the yoke-type shock driver which Specialized introduced on its more recent FSR models. One key advantage of the yoke arrangement is that it helps to reduce the rate that the linkage geometry changes as it cycles through to full compression. It’s no secret that longer-travel suspension systems favor much milder rate changes, which may explain why a number of top all-mountain contenders have employed the concept. Unlike the Specialized configuration, which uses a proprietary threaded shock interface, Commencal’s yoke arrangement bolts to a conventional shock eyelet – which means that customers will not be stuck in a time warp with only one shock option.



By the numbers, the Meta V4 is refreshingly modern, in that kits top tube and reach are usefully long, should its owner want to use the shortest stems available and its 13.3-inch tall bottom bracket (337mm) is set low enough to corner properly at the expense of banging the cranks and pedals on regular occasions. It is also prudently unfashionable in that its 17.2-inch chain stays are a tad long for present tastes. In addition, the 66-degree head angle, is only mildly slack, which makes for a far better handling bike in the larger sense. Trail-riding proponents of DH-slack head angles may be perfectly happy to trade good climbing, low speed agility and sharp reflexes for the single purpose of bashing down the one or two difficult trail segments that they hope to encounter each ride, but that seems like an incredible waste to me. Commencal strikes a much better bargain: The V4’s numbers give you all the agility you’d ever want, with enough handling in the bank to get any decent bike-handler down those same trails at pace.



Commencal includes just enough detailing to keep the Meta V4 from falling prey to post-modern critics, with a single down-tube-mounted water bottle option, ISCG 05 tabs on the bottom bracket, internal cable and hose routing and a tapered head tube that is provisioned to accept adjustable cups. The post-mount rear brake boss is tucked inside the left chainstay to keep it out of trouble, and in case you are not privy to an internally routed dropper post, the top tube has additional ports to route an eternal-type arrangement. Two items you will not find on the Meta V4 are threads in the bottom bracket (PressFit 92) and a front derailleur mount. No tears shed there.



Standout Spec

Judging by Commencal’s selection of components for the V4, its intent was to avoid expensive name-brand items, where doing so would not harm the bike’s performance, and then use those savings to pop for high ticket items that could not be compromised. As a result, the Meta V4 Race is suspended with a 160-millimeter-stroke RockShox Pike RCT3 Solo Air fork and a matching Monarch RT3 shock. Stopping duties are in good hands with SRAM Guide RS Trail brakes and 180-millimeter rotors. Its cockpit and wheels are “Alpha” house-brand items, and the internally routed dropper is a 125-millimeter-stroke KS LEV. Commencal understands that tires make a difference, so the V4 gets a 2.3-inch Maxxis High Roller II up front and a fast-rolling 2.25-inch Ardent in the rear.

Commencal cherry picked SRAM, by spec’ing its sweet-performing mid-priced X1 one-by-eleven drivetrain and shifter, and then pairing it with a race Face Turbine Cinch crankset. Besides looking sharp, the Turbine’s left-side crankarm can be popped off with an eight-millimeter Allen key to access its direct-mount chainring. Switching chainrings can be done in less than ten minutes, because the bottom bracket remains in the bike, which makes it practical to match an upcoming ride with a larger or smaller chainring – something that we took advantage of during testing.

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Commencal’s target audience has always been all-mountain and gravity riders, so it would be strange if the Meta V4 was not an admirable descender. That heritage becomes apparent within the first few meters under saddle. The steering is calm, the suspension is firm at slower speeds, but wakes up quickly as speed increases. The long-feeling chassis positions the rider closer to the center of the bike, and the 750-millimeter handlebar, while not excessively wide, feels just right when the front tire needs to be ordered around. The bottom bracket has enough drop to give the impression that the rider is inside the chassis, more than on top of it, and neither wheel seems to be weighted excessively, so it is possible to precisely lift and place a tire should the need arise. The Meta V4 feels familiar and intuitive.


Corners and steering: What the V4 may lack in pedaling pep, it more than makes up for in the handling department. The steering is precise, without feeling on edge, so the bike corrects and corners in a very unforced manner, even when it is being asked to pound around edgy rocks and roll off-angle lines. The chassis feels flex free and its 66-degree head angle works in harmony with the RockShox Pike fork’s 42-millimeter offset to keep the front wheel tracking exactly where it is pointed with minimal effort at the handlebar. The Commencal can be cornered with a heavy hand like a super slack enduro racer, set up to dig in, spray rocks, and hold a line regardless of what may be in its way. Or, it can skate around the turns, weaving around the ugly bits and drifting in short, controlled spurts. Either way, the Meta X4 feels calm and capable, which gives its rider more options to deal with trail features.



Technical and downhill: Some of the Commencal’s descending potential was obscured by its wimpy 2.25-inch Maxxis Ardent rear tire. To its credit, the Ardent rolls quite fast and it doesn’t weigh all that much, so until we needed the extra traction and security of a real knobby tire, the compromise was a beneficial one. Exceeding the Ardent’s capabilities, however was an easy task aboard such a capable trail bike. Even with the exceptional modulation of its SRAM Guide RS brakes, skidding and drifting became the signature sounds of V4 whenever it was pushed hard on the downs.


Issues: Commencal’s design team took extraordinary measures to weave the V4’s chainstays around the crankarms and to clear the rider’s feet – but the engineer who penned the frame’s seat stays didn’t get that memo. The stays are ridiculously and unnecessarily wide where the shoes pass by, causing heel rub at inopportune moments. An S-bend, similar to the treatment used for the chainstays would easily have solved that glitch.

Although not exactly the fault of the bike, we were struck by the KS LEV (Least Evolved Version) dropper curse once again, with an intermittent refusal to extend completely – or at all in some cases. The sticky post did get better with time, but never fully healed.

Finally, while we completely understand Commencal’s aversion towards carbon frames, we could not resist dreaming of how much more fun the Meta X4 would be to ride had it been significantly lighter weight and livelier at the pedals. It may be blasphemy, but a carbon V4 would be a sweet ride.





Pinkbike’s Take:

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MENTIONS: @COMMENCALbicycles, @SramMedia, @Maxxis, @lambertphoto, @iMountainBike

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