Commencal Releases Clash Park Edition

Jun 30, 2022
by COMMENCAL bicycles  

Press Release: Commencal

Why did we make a CLASH Park Edition?

Much like Max Alran, some people spend all summer long riding bike park. And for people like Max, we think that the CLASH is the perfect bike for shredding, with no enduro accessories necessary!

This Park Edition has a 7-speed drivetrain, 165mm cranks, no telescopic seat post, stronger tyres, a stronger SDG Kevlar saddle and Title cockpit. It’s a simple, robust and high performance bike. It’s a CLASH made for people who just love throwing those bike park shapes and lapping lift accessed playgrounds all day!

Rider: Max Alran
Video: Gaetan Clary
Photos: Nico Brizin
Location: Les Gets Bike Park


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Posted In:
Reviews and Tech Press Releases DH Bikes Commencal Commencal Clash


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126 Comments
  • 171 5
 "removes dropper post",,,instant park edition
  • 18 0
 and water bottle mounts..(woops, guess it didn't have them to begin with)
  • 17 1
 Don’t forget swap the 1x12 for a DH groupo so you can’t climb
  • 94 8
 Looks nice, but does it crack as well as a Supreme?
  • 18 6
 worrying about cracks , you only live once man you may as well do it on the ragged edge
  • 6 61
flag fullendurbro (Jun 30, 2022 at 9:36) (Below Threshold)
 Cracked Commencal? Lol, nice try dude.
  • 27 2
 @fullendurbro: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X0s95RbZR0
  • 34 1
 @fullendurbro: Paul Aston alone got sent pictures of over 70 cracked Supremes related to his video about cracking commencals. Pretty shit to be fair
  • 25 0
 @fullendurbro: more like, “commencal supreme with no cracks? lol, nice try dude”
  • 6 2
 @jaydawg69: Damn, that's wild. I legit thought OP was joking because these things were bombproof.
  • 3 14
flag bigmeatpete420 (Jun 30, 2022 at 10:53) (Below Threshold)
 70? He said 7 on his story a few days ago. @bashhard:
  • 22 1
 @fullendurbro: I have personally cracked 2 of them. The last-gen Meta TR frame was known among owners for cracking very easily. They had a design flaw that would make them always crack at the same weld above the BB.

I honestly don't know who started the "Commencals are bulletproof, bro"-claim, but he was totally wrong. The bikes are very undeserving of that nimbus.

This is also exactly why independant long-term reviews from people like Paul Aston, who ride super hard are so important.
  • 22 1
 @freeridejerk888: Nope. Yesterday's post on instagram: "Still no reply from @commencalbikes after two weeks about my last YouTube video. And I’m also disappointed in the 15x top websites in the world who couldn’t be bothered to reply to my email about the rider safety video about these bikes - seems to be clear what’s more important to them…. I’m at 70x reports of failures now, my reach is tiny so there must be some more unsafe frames out there: CHECK YOUR SUPREME before you ride it again."
  • 3 0
 Idk how is 2022 Clash but cracked my 2020 Clash on headtube Thx to commencal, warranted new 2021 Clash frame right away
  • 5 1
 @bashhard: We should all write to Brian Parks inbox until he gets someone to look into cases like this. And while they are at it, they can also investigate the tons of Specialized Enduros that have cracked at the headtube. Because that is another bike that got an absolutely raving review from PB, but ended up having serious issues.
  • 2 0
 Yep - my friend Ant’s Supreme cracked at the head tube after less than a year. He’s not had the same problem with his older Enduro or Mondraker Summun.

Have a few friends with Clashes with no issues, but they hardly ever use them so probably not representative.
JP
  • 3 4
 Wow that got out of hand fast as can be. Well cheep brands usually make cheep frames so it should be this surprising @bashhard:
  • 4 3
 @fullendurbro: commensnap
  • 1 0
 @Muscovir: I have heard from multiple sources that there was a running change in the carbon layup in response to headtube cracking issues on the current Enduro
  • 10 1
 @bashhard: we’ll you are talking about the most popular downhill bike on the market. When there’s a lot of supremes out in the wild you’re going to see a lot of failures.
  • 4 3
 @thenotoriousmic: Paul Aston has a very limited reach of around 10k followers. 70 reported Supreme failures are a lot for his reach. And seeing the cracks these supremes develope are mostly in the same place around the BB, it looks like a design flaw
  • 2 0
 @Ambushell: My friend cracked his enduro near the BB and he was saying they're is also another place, I think near the seattube, higher, so like 3 problematic places where it could crack!
  • 3 2
 as a commencal owner the people who downvoted me are wrong
  • 7 0
 @Bikerdude137: i cracked the f*** out of the supreme dh v3, only frame I've ever had fail. The resulting warranty service was so poor I swore I'd never buy another commencal
  • 1 0
 @blackpudding: Yeah living in BC I'm not too worried as I'll just check the frame often and if it cracks I can just go to the Commencal store in Squamish and get a replacement but I've heard the warranty can be pretty bad in other countries
  • 1 0
 @jaydawg69: holy shit the comments section on you tube is even better than here
  • 6 0
 @Ambushell: Yeah, they apparently did. In another forum, a user posted a screenshot of an e-mail they received from Specialized Germany, with the rep claiming that the carbon layup in the head tube area has been altered as a solution to the issue of cracking headtubes.

But that means two things:

1. There's still probably tens of thousands of Enduros with the "old" layup out there that are potentially unsafe to ride.

2. It was apparently such a big issue that even Specialized themselves felt compelled to do something. And yet PB has never picked up on this. They could at least have issued a warning to buyers under the original review article. It's the least they could have done after it turned out that the bike they gave such a glowing review to evidently has design flaws that make it borderline unsafe to ride.
  • 2 0
 @Timo82: Yeah I've seen a couple posts reporting seat tubes cracking in the place where the upper rocker arm is attached.
  • 2 7
flag RockCrawler (Jul 1, 2022 at 1:35) (Below Threshold)
 @Muscovir: Dont think they are unsafe, I have been riding my Enduro with a Crack in the head tube area for around 1500km (including 18 Days in Bikeparks so far) without a Problem expect for the Noise. It sounds like a freight train
  • 3 2
 @bashhard: It’s probably the best downhill bike right now, it’s reasonably priced and absolutely everyone has one. You’re going to see higher failure rates and people seem to be getting warranty replacements fast without hassle so what’s the problem? We’re talking about cracked BB’s it’s not the Evil revolt all over again.
  • 6 0
 @Bikerdude137: funnily enough I was in whistler when it happened. So, they got me a replacement but raw frame only, missing several pieces of hardware so it was unusable. Then they sent the wrong pieces. Then it became clear it wasn't from a proper production run but was a sample with a non-standard headtube. Absolute shitshow, worst service I've ever had. Went months without a bike.
  • 2 0
 @thenotoriousmic: No... Have you actually watched Paul Aston's coverage? We're talking numerous violent and catastrophic failures. "The bike is literally snapped in half"-kind of failures.
  • 1 0
 @Muscovir: I watched the video posted further up. Seems a few have gone around the head tube and but the majority are cracking under the linkage around the bottom bracket area. Like I said there’s a lot of them in circulation and they’re downhill bikes. They’re not exactly living the east life, they’re going to break. What’s the failure rate? No body seems to be having issues with the warranty and it’s not like commencal are making the frames, they’re probably made by giant or somebody. Since it’s aluminium it wouldn’t be hard to reinforce the next batches so it doesn’t happen.
  • 3 0
 @thenotoriousmic: there’s actually a guy in the commencal forum who said that his supreme is within warranty and has cracks that are consistent with others are finding. Commencal told him no warranty replacement and offered a 15% crash replacement discount
  • 1 0
 You know from personal experience?
  • 1 0
 @thenotoriousmic: supereme ftw every other opinion is invalid with absolutely no knowledge to back it.
  • 2 0
 @thenotoriousmic: Yes and no. The problem is that all versions of the Supreme V4.X have a major engineering flaw. The forces in the frame are just way too high. The force in the downtube at the main pivot at bottom out is for example more than six times higher than the force at the rear wheel. That is not yet a problem, in and of itself this is just bad design. But it becomes a problem, when the frame tubes are also not strong enough to deal with those forces, which seems to be the case here. The downtube and bb area are simply too weak.
  • 41 1
 Throwing those bike park shapes is hella Lit, but what about laying down those excel spreadsheet shapes all day yo?
  • 37 2
 Commencal are a bunch of cowards. They should have made it a single speed and tossed a couple extra, other size cogs in the box.
  • 36 8
 a dropper post and full range cassette with a dual crown would have been cooler
  • 28 1
 Okay, for someone who's only ridden a bit in the park over the years, what are the advantages of this over a DH bike?
  • 198 4
 The fork is gonna start creaking on this one a lot faster.
  • 50 0
 double-tailwhips obviously
  • 6 0
 flickability? honestly, idk.
  • 14 7
 Maneuverability & agility. But if you want to explore your limits with a bigger safety margin for error, you're better off on a DH 29er.
  • 8 5
 Popping the seat post up to ride back to the lift after lunch break at the truck?
  • 8 6
 In theory, it’s a decent compromise. A significant proportion of riders with the disposable income needed for a bike dedicated to riding park can’t really handle the added weight of spec choices like DH casing tires, a dual crown fork, etc and will get more tired faster while riding a real DH bike. Plus this is close enough to a “trail bike” that justifying it to your significant other should be a bit easier. And if Commencal’s product manager did their job properly, the parts spec should be up to the abuse that repeated laps in a bike park will put a bike through.

In reality, if you’re spending $5k+ on a “park bike” you’re not gaining much of anything over just buying a $5k DH bike. More travel and a dual crown fork = more forgiving and better suited to park use. Bonus: your dual crown fork is much, much less likely to creak after a couple days of riding than whatever overbuilt, overweight single crown fork your “park” bike came with out of the box.
  • 6 0
 Steep switchbacks, some parks still have them
  • 9 0
 I have the regular clash. It's badass and I'd say the "advantage" is being able to pedal it up. Obviously it's got the disadvantage of the fork.

For this bike, i say slap a dh fork on it and call it a Furious. Because this spec takes it's only advantage away.
  • 4 0
 If you've got the gravity/gradient nothing beats a dh bike. But, many newer parks are more flow so dh bike will take more work.
  • 6 0
 No dropper post

DH drivetrain

"Pedal it up"

"Popping the seat post up to ride back to the lift"

What was meant by this?
  • 4 1
 at 165mm of rear travel, not much. Just some bad marketing tactics here. Take the clash to 175/180mm rear and you have a decent mix, really being a proper freeride machine.
  • 2 0
 @hamncheez: it was written by someone (myself) who clearly wasn’t paying attention to the pictures.
  • 6 1
 zero
  • 4 0
 @pedroll: DH 27.5 more fun in the park
  • 4 2
 Literally zero. But then again, they don't sell you a sensible bike here. They sell you a lifestyle. This is very much a bike for the hardcore freeride bros who unironically throw the horns.
  • 2 0
 This compared to the Supreme is going to be more fun / less work to jump but perhaps slightly more work to straightline through those rock gardens. I have a furious that kind of sits in the middle between the two. Typically it would also pedal better, but not with a 7 spd, no adjustable seatpost and no water bottle mount, so probably not in this case. Ultimately it's a niche label for a bike in a category you probably don't have covered, so can be used to justify the purchase to your wife or S.O.
  • 3 0
 Stiffer suspension = more predictable on big jumps. Plus pedals better, more pop, more speed generated by catching sweet spot of landing, more maneuverable in the air.

I prefer my 150mm travel GT Force over my 210mm travel Scott Gambler on big jumps for example. Both have enough travel to handle the impact of the landing just fine, the shorter travel bike is just more predictable taking off of the lip and way easier to ride fast and generate speed on flow trails.
  • 17 0
 This model is proudly presented by:
The MTB supply chain of 2022.

I do give them points for making still making lemonade out of the bits they can get their hands on.
  • 17 0
 Guide brakes for a “park bike” I think it needs saints, maguras or something of that class to be called a park bike
  • 3 0
 At the very least some codes would have looked better on paper than the guides :/
  • 15 2
 Another cracking bike from Commencal
  • 11 0
 So, dual crown enduro bikes didn't take off, so let's try single crown downhill bikes?
  • 16 8
 I don't think anyone in these comments has ever ridden a park lap in their life
  • 2 0
 I rode snow valley today and I had to climb a 15 ft hill AFTER the chair!! Obviously needs a cassette and a dropper
  • 8 0
 Hasn't this been out for awhile now?
  • 1 0
 not with this configuration
  • 1 0
 @SnowshoeRider4Life: no it's been released in 7 october 2021, i found the message that i sent to my friend
  • 1 0
 @Noeserd: i saw it that day too! They quickly removed from the website on the same day. My guess is that they weren't meant to post it back then
  • 1 0
 It's been on Commencal USA for months @SnowshoeRider4Life:
  • 7 0
 great for Les gets Is there a need for a southpark edition for those in southern canada
  • 6 1
 I want the inverse of this; a Clash with a 40, a wide range cassette and a dropper, then you can ride park but also you know, go mountain biking too
  • 4 1
 Oh man, too funny. That single crown doesn't stand a chance. Creaaaaak! Throw a dual crown on there and this makes sense. Time for one of big dogs to make a 170-180mm DC. E-bikers would also buy it, so the market is now big enough. Mezzer DC would be siiiiick!
  • 2 0
 you can get an ohlins dh38 in 180
  • 2 0
 The boxxer comes in 180, 190 & 200mm.
  • 1 1
 I find the single crown is easier on the hands for fast trails with braking bumps. Dual crown is too stiff.
  • 1 0
 @mcozzy: @Sammtb17 you can literally lowers all those suspension forks (noticed I said "forks" because we're talking about more than one) to those travel ranges. The fox 40 used to be able to be lowered to 160mm internally.

Also check the MRP Bartlett for those travel ranges factory.

www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=87023&pagenum=940
  • 4 1
 At the Commencal product launch meeting,

Procurement manager: Covid 19 supply chain issues! We've run out of 12sp drivetrains, no forecasted arrival of droppers and double-crown forks!

Intern: Errmmm... slap some 7sp, rigid posts and single crown.. and call it 'Park Edition'?

CEO: Promote this guy to SVP Marketing
  • 8 3
 use-case be damned...geeez can Commencal put out a bike that doesn't look incredible?
  • 7 2
 Clash Park: supremely furious
Furious: supreme clash
Supreme: furious clash
  • 2 0
 Honestly its not a bad concept for a average park rat, but I agree with everyone here in the lack of brakes and lesser dropper/drivetrain department while paying trhat price tag bites....
Retail on this should be closer to 4300 or else might as well build a purpose driven DH bike for that range.
Kinda hard to justify that price for a rig to only get used 3 months out of the year and back in the shed she goes...

Come to think of it this is a terrible idea hahahaha
  • 1 0
 m.youtube.com/watch?v=a__4QgP4F-A
  • 5 1
 Just buy a furious, this bike will start creaking so much faster than something that's purpose built for park/DH.
  • 1 0
 10,000 upvotes
  • 1 0
 Wow this is a lot of hate. I agree with some of the shortcomings, but they're easy to address and also very much personal preference. I don't like riding with a water bottle and prefer a small Camelback with my tools in it.

I purchased the regular park edition knowing what I wanted to change. Dropper post, 11-52 12s, upgraded front/rear suspension. I wanted to spec a bike that literally could do it all, albeit not as fast as a true DH bike, but way more fun.

I picked up a zub ultimate 190mm fork, fox factory 2pos shock w/sls spring, GX 12s drivetrain, and a dropper post for $1600. Everything but the front fork was new. I was able to recoup $750 selling the old parts. $4250 all said and done. I used to be a bike mechanic and have all the tools at home, so that helped the cost.

I love the bike so far and it's done everything I've asked. Can pedal uphill and rips down. I think the thing to keep in mind is personal use. I used to race DH as a Jr Pro years ago, but these days I don't really have a demand for a dedicated DH bike just to save some time on a lap. I can still haul ass and have a blast doing it. 99% of the time my demo sits in the garage. Swapping forks literally takes 5 minutes also, so you could keep a dual crown on hand. But again that's just what suits my needs.
  • 4 2
 Wish they would focus on releasing the new Supreme! I'd buy that in a second. But this "park edition" is like Taco Bell rearranging ingredients and calling it new.
  • 4 0
 must be nice to be close to a bike park where you don't have to pedal lol
  • 1 0
 ya its awesome
  • 1 0
 Bikes looks dope, love the colors, great ad including the music and riding. Of course, that rider could do those same tricks on a kid's tricycle, but that's besides the point
  • 7 4
 but will it crack?
  • 1 1
 in ireland will it be a good craic
  • 1 1
 Not sure, but it'll definitely creak.
  • 1 1
 Dumb question, but is it possible to pedal the 7 speed uphill? I'm not talking full on climbs, more of lift accessed cross country.
  • 50 2
 No. The wheel locks up if it detects an upward gradient.
  • 3 0
 I’ve got a bike with a 7 speed box DT and paired it up with a small 28 tooth chainring.
We don’t live in the Alps or Rocky Mountains, so for our local rolling hills it works really well. But the reality is that there are so many 11 or 12 speed options for the same price that I’m not sure I’d bother again.
  • 2 0
 Yes, it's possible. If you absolutely hate yourself, that is.
  • 2 1
 @hhaaiirryy: comment of the article
  • 1 0
 The shock bob on these bikes makes any pedalling so inefficient you won't bother trying regardless of 7 spd or if you could get a 12 speed. Sincerely, a Furious owner
  • 1 0
 I kept the 7 speed on for a day, it does take quite a bit of effort up even a modest hill but the 32 tooth front chain ring.
  • 2 1
 Ok nice, but whatever happened to Andreu’s 26” furious park bike edition?
  • 1 0
 He just put a 26 in the back. All furious are park models basically
  • 3 4
 Literally, a water bottle is the most relevant piece in the bike park, you can refill it btw laps and drink it on the chairlift, no need for stupid funny packs/backpacks or so, especially if riding in body armor
  • 1 1
 Just put a bottle at the bottom
  • 2 0
 So less parts , but no cheaper , damm marketing …
  • 1 0
 Great bike, it should come set up to do bar spins.
  • 2 1
 So, it’s pretty much a DH bike, but with a single crown fork?
  • 11 0
 nope. It's a Enduro bike with a DH groupset. Big Grin
  • 1 1
 @alexBiker95: LOL!
  • 4 0
 Us slightly older folk call this a freeride bike.
  • 1 0
 @alexBiker95: and no dropper
  • 1 1
 It’s a total relief that it was released !!!
It it was held captive We’d never see it
  • 2 2
 Hopefully they have sorted out the cracking issue
  • 1 2
 Just in time for the Commencal team to ride at the next World Cup…sorry to ignite that conversation again
  • 1 0
 Nice color
  • 1 2
 I can’t see any reason not to just get the furious, there really isnt much difference
  • 2 3
 Does the frame crack easily, like on the Supreme DH?
  • 1 2
 Park edition?? It's not even single speed......
  • 7 0
 It is if you don't change gears.
  • 2 3
 Looks like a cracking good bike
  • 9 12
 Commencal just gets it.
  • 15 1
 gets what? making a DH bike that isn't a DH bike?
  • 6 1
 Why would anyone take this one instead of Furious?
  • 4 1
 I have a clash and a furious.. The furious is great but I just have more fun on the clash.. At least at my local parks the clash is more than enough bike.
  • 3 0
 Commencal gets it, Pinkbike does not
  • 1 4
 27.5?
  • 8 1
 Half a number higher than 27. And half a number less than 28. Some say it's a hidden page in the bible, Harry Potter.





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