Spotted: A New Commencal Supreme Breaks Cover at the Portugal Cup

Mar 7, 2022
by James Smurthwaite  
photo

A new version of the Commencal Supreme race bike has been spotted at the Tarrouca downhill race in Portugal.

The bike, which was being ridden by the Commencal Muc Off team, looks to be a refinement on the overhauled Supreme that was first unveiled at the start of 2021. The previous prototype proved to be extremely successful with Thibault Daprela and Myriam Nicole both piloting it to victories last year. While that prototype race bike had most of its tubing lifted from the current production Supreme, this bike now has a dedicated frame to hang the "Virtual High Pivot" system on.

photo
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The new Supreme now has a dedicated tube set

The 6 bar Virtual High Pivot System has been carried over including the link between the chainstay and mainframe and the dog bone link that connects the rocker and the aforementioned chainstay link. You can read more about how the system works in Dan Roberts' deep dive, here. The previous version of this bike included a lot of adjustability including a flip chip on the lower shock mount, adjustable length on the connecting link and a different mounting point for the connecting link on the rocker. As the previous bike was a prototype, it makes a lot of sense that Commencal would allow themselves as many permutations as possible but it's tough to tell from these photos whether they have settled on a locked-in final set up or whether they will be keeping this bike adjustable for further refinememt.

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The connecting link now looks to be less adjustable than on the prototype

One final thing to note is that Commencal said there was "no commercialisation on the cards" for the prototype bike. Now that the Andorran brand has gone to the trouble of creating a whole new tubeset for the bike, it seems more likely that a production run is incoming. Whatever the case, it's clearly a set up the team are loving as they completed a clean sweep of the junior men's and both elite categories this weekend. We've reached out to Commencal for more information and they told us that the full bike will be unveiled at the Lourdes World Cup.

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Reviews and Tech Spotted DH Bikes Commencal Commencal Supreme


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124 Comments
  • 164 8
 Just such a looker!! Commencal are releasing some absolutely beautiful bikes at the moment
  • 40 2
 I agree, one of the best looking bikes out there.
  • 22 0
 for years already!
  • 51 50
 Room for Water bottle - check! Extra 4 bearings and two piece link - may loctite be with us. I'd rather invest that extra weight in a coil spring.
  • 1 0
 Most definitely do.
  • 51 0
 @calmWAKI: It’s a DH bike. Let it have all the bearings and a coil. The shuttle truck ain’t gonna care.
  • 6 20
flag optimumnotmaximum (Mar 7, 2022 at 8:47) (Below Threshold)
 @calmWAKI: I did not believe it myself but my recent bike tought me two things: a bike can be too progressive for coil and you can setup an airshock to be as plush as coil on the first few mm.

Coilshocks have the best midstroke support and with a very progressive bike this can lead to a harsh riding sensation.

A Shocknerd tuned my airshock in a way that it does not extend the last mm, by doing so the bike sags under its own weight and feels like coil on the first mms. The midstroke is designed to be like with a megneg and 4 bands - it basically sits in the middle between a classic airshock and a coil. In my expirience coil forks are fine, but matching a coilshock to the frames kinematics is much harder than with an airshock.

I bet the airshocks on probikes have undergone something similar.
  • 19 2
 @optimumnotmaximum: Impressive how much wrong you fit into this post... Well done...
  • 10 11
 I think it’s a great looking bike. Commencal is really smashing it across the line since a couple of years.
  • 15 0
 @optimumnotmaximum: A bike can be too progressive for an air spring, not for a coil specifically. If it's too progressive for coil it's too progressive for anything. Because a coil is never more progressive than an air chamber, unless it's got a huge volume.
  • 1 16
flag Riwajc (Mar 7, 2022 at 16:14) (Below Threshold)
 @optimumnotmaximum: I'm no expert but iam sure coils have less mid stroke support due to their linear nature
  • 10 0
 @Riwajc: I'm definitely sure about this thing that I clearly don't understand.
  • 6 1
 Felt's Equalink knockoff
  • 7 2
 @DavidGuerra: maybe my post was a bit too reduced.

A coilspring is basically linear, a coil damper is linear for about 2/3 of its travel. At the end the bumper and the building up pressure in the reservoir make it quite progressive. But still not as progressive as an airshock.

An airspring is in most cases linear in the beginning then slightly digressive and then progressive.

A (also in the midstroke)very progessive bike like a capra can make it hard to use its travel in the midstroke when paired with a coilshock as the linear nature of the coil combined with the progressive frame is a bit too much.

Rock Shox is aware of this. When designing the megneg, which was built to give better midstroke support by increasing the negativ chamber, they also added the possibility, to reduce the added volume by adding bands. A coilshock has still more midstroke support than a rs schock with megneg.

So in reality you cant say a bike cant be too progressive for coil, it all comes down to the leverage curve especially where in the curve most of the progression lies .

Or to put it simple: coils work best (for non pros) with a mildly progressive bike which gets even more progressive at 2/3 of its travel.

An airshock works best with a very progressive bike with a flattening springcurve at the end ( if you look at the linkage blog there is a a great number of modern frames designed with air shocks in mind, for instance the new Banshee generation.)

If you still dont believe me go to insanityofgravity.com and look up all the graphs and bonus info, provided by the german engineer who built the high pivot bike seen on eurobike.

@deadmeat25: your deadmeat anyway.
  • 4 1
 @optimumnotmaximum: the reason for the YT capra feeling tough with a coil is most probably too soft of a spring, thus sags too much and you're constantly on the harshest side of travel. This combined maybe with too much rebound damping is a recipe for s**t suspension feeling.
See it all the time...
  • 2 0
 @dick-pound: @dick-pound: Actually i ride a MDE Damper which has a similar curve midtravel. I used the capra as a reference, as few actually know the MDE.

I built the bike with a Formula MOD and started with 25% sag, later i got a softer spring and went to 30%. With both springs the bike fellt harsh.(Rebound was a problem though as i had to close the shock all the way to get it slow enough -maybe you are right and it was not slow enough after all.)

After reading the stuff on insanityofgravity i bought a RS superdeluxe on sale and a megneg - after a bit of tuning it works better than everything i have owned in the past 25 years -including DH bikes with coilshocks.

So it was definitely not a too soft spring, rebound could have been too fast.
  • 2 1
 @optimumnotmaximum: That's exactly my point, too much low speed rebound damping. If you close the LSR too much, you don't give enough time to the shock to extend before the next hit, resulting in a very harsh ride, especially with very progressive suspension designs.
As I said, I see this all the time...
  • 2 0
 @dick-pound: i see i misunderstood. But i think this was not the problem, the shock was extremely fast - massive pop, getting airborne again after landing, topping out hard etc. I set up the new shock a bit slower and it is far better.
  • 3 1
 @optimumnotmaximum: If you were running rebound fully closed and the shock was topping out hard then the damper was fundamentally broken. I don’t think in that case you can make any general ‘coil vs air’ comparisons. You’re just comparing a shock that works vs one that doesn’t.
  • 2 1
 @wingguy: i dont know, i have had broken coil shocks in the past and it felt different, additionally the shock was new. On my previously broken coilshocks rebound did not do anything anymore and they usually leaked or slurped, this was not the case here. The damping range on this shock just reached from megafast to kinda fast.
  • 1 0
 @optimumnotmaximum: "An airspring is in most cases linear in the beginning then slightly digressive and then progressive" You seem to be confusing shocks with suspension systems. Both air springs and coils springs are always progressive, there is nothing but progressivity, only the progression rates are different. With an air shock the progression rate is tuned by the size of the air chamber, with a coil shock there are also ways to add progressivity, by the shape of the coil for instance. But progressivity is always there, if there was no progressivity it would be impossible to ride. This of course is different from a frame suspension system, which might be progressive, regressive or linear, but this refers to the LEVERAGE alone. That's what progresses or regresses.
  • 1 0
 @calmWAKI: "may loctite be with us" lol
  • 1 0
 @calmWAKI: imagine riding dh with a water bottle lmao
  • 1 0
 @NateO14: The bottle is drank from after or before the run, not during lmao.
  • 1 0
 @NateO14: Although generally speaking, bottles are drank from when riding dh, when you don't need to grab the handlebar with both hands to hammer on the pedals. I also heard reports of bottle drinking mid-air, when there's no ground to get traction from.
  • 1 0
 @DavidGuerra: yes, i put it wrong, a spring has usually a constant springrate unless its progressive wound. An airspring does not have a constant springrate, the amount of progression decreases midtravel and increases at the end. I never meant that with airshocks you suddenly need less force to compress the shock further, a shock like that would truely be unrideable.This does not change anything in my post. If you compare an airshock to a coilshock which are set to the same force at sag, you will need more force to compress the coilshock for most of the travel. Combined with a progressive bike you can get more midstroke support than you or at least i want.
  • 1 0
 @optimumnotmaximum:

Hi!
Hab gerade deine Antworten in dem thread gelesen
m.pinkbike.com/news/spotted-a-new-commencal-supreme-breaks-cover-at-the-portugal-cup.html

Habe auch ein MDE und Kämpfe etwas mit der Abstimmung meines EXT Storia V3. Hast du Coil noch hin bekommen?
Bei mir ist es auch der Rebound. Soll ja schnell genug wieder raus um nicht zu versacken aber hald auch nicht kicken.
Hast du im IBC Forum zu deinen Mod Problemen schon was geschrieben?

Ich habe noch einen DPX2 mit dem spiele ich auch gerade an der Negativkammer rum. Da gibt es von FOX auf Nachfrage auch Token. Mit dem bin ich auch relativ happy.

Evtl kann ich von deinen Erfahrungen ja was lernen.

Grüße
Gerhard
  • 1 1
 @thegoodflow: and you're a suspension expert are ya
  • 54 2
 Looks clean and I'm loving the graphics. Intense, take note!
  • 187 4
 Intense hasn't been paying attention for about 15 years now
  • 33 1
 They're going to need more than notes.
  • 4 0
 @chriskneeland: That's going to leave a mark. Wink Maybe more like 5 years to be fair.
  • 6 2
 @mybaben: Minimum 12. Look at bikes that were being raced in 2011 like the Devinci Wilson and Santa Cruz V10, then look at the M9. Which one looks like it came out in 2006? Then it took them 5 more years to release the M16, and the XL is equal to today's size small. Intense is on it's own planet.
  • 1 0
 @chriskneeland: Okay. I was focusing on their enduro/trail bikes on the market. I'm not up to speed on their DH rigs, since I don't ride one.
  • 1 0
 Noted. ; )
  • 2 0
 @font style="vertical-align: inherit;">font style="vertical-align: inherit;">jeremy3220 /font>/font>: I don't know what it means. The IFR team have the right ingredients and great drivers, I believe in them. Besides, we still don't know anything about the new bike. Greetings.
  • 5 0
 Anyway, it is quite curious to see comments from Intense in an article dedicated to Commencal...haha!! Don't suffer.
  • 45 2
 How many bars do you want?
Commençal: yes
  • 32 0
 N+1
  • 24 1
 Looks like the shock is driven from an upper link inside the seat tube spars that is attached to the lower link, not necessarily attached to the upper link that controls wheel path. This allows for separate tuning of shock rate and wheel path. That can achieve whatever feel they want this way. Pretty cool. Throw on the computer controlled Fox shock and data metering rod and they’re working over time on this one! Meanwhile everyone else is trying to copy the Session..
  • 5 1
 You seem to be the only one to note this rather big change. The split seat tube & the shock driven by the doggone off the lower link. The seat stay just pivots at the top it seems, and the length of that link would have an effect, but is now separated from all other links. The large rock arm is gone, and them new driving links seem smaller and possibly stronger and have less chance to flex.
Amazing evolution and beautiful main frame to boot.
  • 3 1
 Interesting observation. I'm not sure if I get it 100% but wouldn't there be too much freedom in the system in that case? The way I see it the whole rear end could simply rotate around the lowest pivot point (of the black lower link) like a regular 4 bar without compressing the shock at all (unless there is a second hidden shock).
  • 3 0
 @DefonzoSkinnyPalmer:
You might be right. The 2 links need to be tied together otherwise it would have a multiple trajectory wheel path. Excited to see more about it!
  • 1 1
 @Krispy-at-Go-Ride:

Maybe it’s not a 6bar-whatever anymore. It’s hard to tell, but it could also be similar to the Specialized system where the vertical link connects seat- and chainstays and drives the shock….
  • 1 0
 I’m pretty sure that dogbone is still attached to that upper link, and there is still only one upper link rather than 2 separate ones. If there were two separate links here it would have too many degrees of freedom as some others have insinuated. I’m pretty sure it’s just an illusion of a different layout due to some clean and clever packaging of that upper link.
  • 1 0
 @logcabm77: agree. Must still be connected. But certainly a simpler construction in some ways. Lower unsprung mass as well, than the original design.
  • 25 1
 Another new one? Its almost like Max really likes to win.
  • 7 3
 I think it is more like last years' WC model was kind of an adjustable mule to find out what the ideal bike would be like and now that they've found that, they've settled on a less-adjustable model which will become available to the customer eventually. It would have been more surprising if they hadn't made this shift. Either they would have settled on a single model, or they may offer different aftermarket versions of this (previously adjustable) link plate.

And then a year later, Cascade Components is still going to make another link for this bike.
  • 11 1
 Looks good , but seing the results from Coulanges with the old bike , I can’t stop thinking that anyway the rider matters more than the bike now , and even the old bike was already good enough to win any race if the rider is on form
  • 2 0
 Agree!!
  • 2 1
 There is a limit to this. Coulanges is awesome, but a well set bike that works with him will make him go faster.

If you are not 120% confident on your brakes, you'll brake sooner, even if those brakes are trickstuff.

I always think that those black box stuff from SRAM do something extra to the riders. Some other valving, damping, coil conversion...
  • 3 0
 @Nomeatalla Angel Suarez in the last race changed all the suspension settings on his Comnencal, because he did not feel comfortable, the result was 3rd place and ahead of many like Coulanges. The machine is always in balance, then it is the rider who makes the difference. Greetings.
  • 2 0
 @Notmeatall: I don't know, Looking at the last year of World Cup, you see Coulanges often verry closed to Pierron and Daprela, and I don't think that the time difference between them is made by the bike because from my point of view, Pierron or Daprela is more talented than Coulanges. I think they can both be 120% confident in their bike, and at the end of the day, the bike doesn't change much, whoever is on better form finishes in front.
  • 1 0
 @trisquel: When rider and bike are in sync, the results are AWESOME. Greetings!
  • 13 0
 Are they off Enve wheels?
  • 8 0
 I bet Enve paid them to use those Wink
  • 21 3
 I heard they moved away from ENVE- doesn’t surprise me after Thibault’s catastrophic failure in snowshoe.
  • 1 0
 @Daray: 100%
  • 1 0
 The ENVE logo is still on their jerseys, so I’m thinking that they are still on em
  • 10 2
 enve and bonty should team up and get sharpie as a sponsor
  • 1 2
 @HeatedRotor: I think some DH teams should get some pen/marker brands as sponsors: FOX, SHIMANO, KENDA, ENVE and BIC Wink
  • 1 0
 @lkubica: How do you sharpie out brakes though?
  • 11 2
 I was already a fan of the prototype's design, but man that new frame is downright gorgeous
  • 10 1
 Gwin's taking this photo to the intense team now.
  • 3 0
 it is quite curious to see comments from Intense in an article dedicated to Commencal...haha!! Don't suffer.
  • 4 0
 Does this linkage design accomplish what norco did with the Range but with a vertical shock? I mean it's not really high Pivot so to speak but does have a rearward axle path.

There's just so so much to look at lol.
  • 2 0
 That’s one way to look at it. They are both virtual high pivot bikes with linkage to drive the shock. They’re more similar to each other than most bikes even though they executed them differently.
  • 3 0
 Almost exactly the same end goal I would suspect. Both linkages give you a method of getting rearward axle path while still maintaining control over the antirise (unlike a single pivot). Both companies previously have had experience with the lack of antirise control on HSP platforms. Both of the virtual high pivot layouts also tend to give you a bit more control over leverage curve.

There is probably a few more options with leverage curve shape on the Commencal layout and the lower link sits a little higher but it comes at the expense of a lot more moving parts. The Norco layout has the same number of pivots of any other Horst link bike (the idler sits on an extended pivot shaft).
  • 1 7
flag jomacba (Mar 7, 2022 at 7:49) (Below Threshold)
 @RoboDuck: This is not a VPP bike, although they share alot of similarities.
  • 5 6
 so much effort to try and maximize the rear suspension performance, but our front suspension is still just telescoping sliders? With head tube angles and offsets that are virtually the same as ten years ago? Strange that innovation hasn't really come to the front of bikes.
  • 10 2
 @hamncheez: Head angles and offsets are not the same as 10 years ago. In regards to telescopic sliders, there had been attempts to try other methods out, but the industry keeps going back to a more traditional architecture because it's generally superior. Air springs, and dampers have improved drastically, and overall I'd say bikes today are significantly better than that of the rigs from 10 years ago.
  • 3 3
 @jomacba: 2012 Trek Session: 63.6 degree HTA
2022 Trek Session: 63.6 degree HTA

And thats with the move to 29er front wheels. The Offset has grown somewhat, but only to keep the trail figure roughly the same.
  • 3 0
 @hamncheez: 2012 V10.4 HTA 64° in the low setting, 2022 V10.7 HTA 63.3°.
I will also add that this is one part of the equation. Reach, BB height, offset, chainstay length, axle path, kinematics, flex optimization. You could continue down a list of bikes from 10 years ago, and I'd say most will be different.
  • 1 2
 @jomacba: Yes, things have evolved overall, but the front end, not so much. 90% of us couldn't tell the difference between 64 degrees and 63.3. Also, the 2012 V10 had literally 10 inches of rear travel, so with the additional sag it would be slacker, probably around half a degree, putting it at 63.5.

My point is that the basic technology is the same- sealed damper rod, right-side-up, air or coil spring, same travel for almost all of the major brands. Structure cycles seems to be the only successful execution of an alternative take on front suspension (Trust wasn't successful, performance wise or business wise haha)
  • 4 2
 @hamncheez: that number was pulled from the V10 in the 8" setting. However, I would argue that I have noticed a significant difference. I spent the past 3 years testing setups and suspension. I would argue however that the average rider WONT know the difference, but that's not what high end equipment is created for. This stuff is made for the top 1%.
I will agree that we are still using the same tech, but I don't think we have finished refining just yet.
Ohlins are producing some incredible equipment, and I'd say Fox is doing quite a good job too. Things are getting more reliable, and the performance gains are significant.
On that note, I do appreciate your perspective, and enjoy the exchange of observations.
  • 1 0
 @Krispy-at-Go-Ride: I wonder if Norco beat em to it for the horizontal shock placement down low. It may answer why they now have this over complicated system achieving the same thing.
  • 4 0
 How about a new Supreme SX though?
  • 2 0
 You will see one announced either this year or next. At least I hope so. Sucks they stopped making it in 2018, then in 2021 high pivots started trending. Commencal was ahead of the game with that bike. Would love to try the 2018 version. Loving my 2022 Meta SX though.
  • 4 0
 Supreme always makes me think of Taco Bell
  • 3 0
 mmm Taco Bell *drool*
  • 2 0
 Where “supreme” means tomatoes and sour cream
  • 1 0
 Cool. “This season’s” Supremes are available in August of 22. AKA, after the season is over. How soon can I pre-order this new bike that will be outdated by the time I get it?
  • 3 1
 I spy Enve bars, let’s talk about those rims! They look similar to Crank Bros and carbon.
  • 2 1
 They actually look like reserves without the decals
  • 3 0
 That might be the cleanest shot of a prototype i have ever seen.
  • 4 1
 No commencallisation, you say...
  • 3 0
 Pinkbike told me a week ago that I don't need this bike.
  • 2 0
 Did they not just see Pinkbike's opinion on 6 bar linkages the other day? " - "
  • 1 0
 Kev Sherry is riding one over there this week, proper testing when he gets involved
  • 1 0
 Are they running ghetto-tubless in the rear?
It kinda looks like it on the last picture to the left.
  • 2 0
 Even the Idler wheel is slacker on this bad boy!
  • 1 0
 Some dedicated home Machanic to maintain that complex beast . That or deep deep pockets
  • 6 4
 too many bearings.
  • 7 1
 Get a track bike. One gear, no braking system, 4 pairs of bearings.
  • 1 0
 @wyorider: there is no in-between!
  • 3 2
 Best bikes going. No question
  • 1 0
 If you get yourself in that stance, you can ride.
  • 2 1
 Maxwell (Commencal)'s Silver Hammer
  • 1 0
 and its got room for a water bottle, thank goodness!
  • 2 0
 Looks Like a Comsession.
  • 2 1
 Just plain SICK!!
  • 2 1
 Looks much nicer now!
  • 2 1
 That is one sexy bike
  • 2 2
 looking a touch like the evils
  • 1 1
 Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it.....
  • 2 1
 Looks like the new evils
  • 18 20
 Looks like a session
  • 42 4
 You piece of shit
  • 5 5
 @PremiumCyclingProducts: Isn't your reaction the whole point of trolling? If it weren't for your response, he wouldn't have seen a reason to post that.
  • 8 0
 Looks like a Devinci got Felt up.
  • 3 4
 @vinay: probably comment of the year
  • 2 3
 @PremiumCyclingProducts: looks like your mom.
  • 1 2
 @PremiumCyclingProducts: this made me laugh
  • 1 2
 frick you
  • 3 0
 @vinay: damn that's crazy I never thought about it like that thanks
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