Video: Introducing the Commencal Supreme Junior 650b

 This is silly. My son is 10, he's transitioning over from 24" wheels to 26, he won't be tall enough to consider a 27.5 bike until he's on his own. I want more XC demo's, or similar DH bikes with frames small enough for kids, that use 26" wheels so they can roll through shit. Jumping from his 24" wheeled grom hit to something like this is silly.

 Big wheels / very small frame. I don't understand.

 I'm a kid... i don't want no stinkin' 27 point 5 monkey juju, malarky I say!

 on the commecal store it says

"The logic was to choose the 26 inch wheel size but it has been all but abandoned by almost every brand making wheels, rims, tyres and forks which has led us to choose the 650b format"

clearly haven't looked at maxxis, conti or schwalbe catalogues then. 26 still has the best range of tyres and wheels and since when did SRAM stop making the pike in 26.

 My kid's 13 and rides a 26" Glory (he's lanky).
I've got a mate who's 30, short and doesn't want to sell his Summum 26" because all the new bikes are 27.5" and feel wrong.
I finally bought a 650b AM bike and can't believe how much better it feels than my old XL frame 26" bike even though they have almost identical geo.
The older I get the more I think wheel size should be in proportion to frame size.... really happy we've got the choice these days but the marketing guys are busting a gut to sell us bikes that aren't well 'proportioned'.

 LOL Commencal go home m8 you're drunk. That's the dumbest idea ..

 I'm struggling with this. If my kid is big enough for 275 wheels, there are already a lot of small-frame big wheel longer travel choices out there. The new size Small 650B Uzzi would do similar work with more travel, as would others.

It's not about "fitting" into the frame, it's the ability to ride the bike. Bigger wheels take more power to get them rolling. Once a kid has them up and rolling, they will be just as fast. But getting them rolling with smaller legs and less power is a detriment. Put the kid on a tight tech course on 650B and put him on the same course on 26 or 24, and he'll be faster, as the kid can explode and excellerate on the little wheels.

At local races at Whistler, the top 12 year old pulls out his old 24" wheeled DH bike for tight bermy and corner-filled courses as he's way faster out of the corners and pretty much kills the other kids on 26" wheels. My son at 10 (tall kid) went to 26" XS frame this year (Reign SX) and on drops and when rolling fast tech, he loves it, but he knows he's slower on acceleration and twisty sections that require putting the hammer down. 650B would only add to this.

 I think 26" or even 24" wheels are probably a better size for this kids bike. the wheels look a bit large and hard to manage on this smaller bike? bike looks sweet though

 I am amazed at the hostility. Here is my perspective as a parent who has an 11 year old downhill racer. The hardest part of finding a downhill bike for kids, until recently, was finding one that had a short enough toptube and that you could get the bars low enough. In my case, when my son was 9 and about 4'8" we ended up getting him a used Giant Faith in XS. This was close enough on the reach (at 13.8"), but even with stem as low as we could go, the bars were still high with a stack height of 24.16". Keep in mind this is with a short 4" headtube, the height being dominated by the 180mm fork.

Jump forward to this year. My son has grown like a weed, and is now 5'3". We demo a YT Tues and he is way faster on it. The Tues is 650b, but has a lower stack height than his Faith at 23.9", but is much longer with a reach of 16.14". His comment was after riding the YT, the Faith felt like a BMX bike. It worked well enough for him to win the points series for Cat 3, 13 under at Northstar. He has no trouble handling the long bike and does whips and table tops all the time.

So what is my point here? The difference between 26" and 650B is minimal. What is important is the reach and stack. With a short headtube and a 160mm fork, you can actually get the stack height down to about 22.5" which is much better for the 4'9" to 5'3" riders that Commencal is targeting the bike. Would 26" give you a little lower height, yes, about 1/2" for the same headtube length, but Commencal is absolutely correct, 26" development for parts has virtually stopped and existing inventories are dropping. Trust me, the other 7 mountain bikes in the garage are 26" and every time a new tire comes out I groan, because they aren't available in 26".

Finally, as to pricing, it seems pretty good to me. $2200 for a ready to roll grom bike that weighs 31 pounds and a junior can competitively race on is a good value. Take a look at used XS bikes and you will see that to get a decent one is $1500 plus (ala Giant Reign or Faith). Hell, when I sold my son's XS Santa Cruz Nickel frame, the guy that bought had me ship it to New Zealand, because he couldn't find a decent XS anywhere else.

 Great video, excellent riding . If a kid is serious about riding and has the skills- what is wrong with having a good bike? Big Wheels? As long as the reach in particular is right, I think a good rider can easily manoeuvre 650B wheels around. The kid will get a benefit of being able to roll through the rough stuff easily.

 Soooo A JUNIOR downhill bike is the same as an everyday trail bike?I am 14 and I ride a 27.5 Scott Genius so i could say it´s a junior dh bike?

 I am a 36 old kid with a 26" wheel bike :-) and that's all i need.

 After selling overweighted bikes for kids...
After selling unusable mountain bikes for kids with only one gear... (Supreme 20, in the mountain really ?)
They did it : oversized wheels for kids

Guys @Commencal, have a look a little on Lil Shredders, Norco, Early Riders, MTB Cycle Tech, ProPain.
They know how to do bikes for kids and this has nothing to do with wheel size.
When your kid's bikes weight nearly the same weight as the rider, that the rider can't climb a small hill and can't learn turning, I call that an anvil.
Go back to your office and design real kid's bikes. Nice painting & marketing is not enough.

 I don't know if I like this as a dh bike for kids because the wheels look huge in that bike. 650b for am junior bikes but stick with 26 so they have more control. It's like putting 29+ on a dh bike for adults

 the wheels are like half the size of the kid, ridiculous

 This kids amazing on a bike.

 I think alot of you miss the point with kids bikes. My boy just turned 6. He has a Specialized Hotrock 20 which is the worst bike money can buy and is so heavy even after I stripped the crap off it. He tries to jump everything and has that thing airborne at every opurtunity. However, things go wrong the moment he hits rooty rocky sections as his wheels are too small and jam in the gaps.
My point is dont under estimate the skill and strength of a kid. In their case it really is about blaming the tools.
I have the remains of a 26" hardtail (because 650b is the future so stop whinning) in the garage and am pondering getting a really small frame and building it up for him. I dont care what it looks like and nor does he. The last laugh is on who has the most fun.

 My buddy is 5'2" and 30 years old. Every small frame we tried to get him on was too big but obviously 24" wheels were too small. He found a 26" Supreme Jr. a few years back and f*cking loves it. Now he has the option to join the 650 club.

Not just for kids. Great for short folks too.

 the commencal junior bikes are awesome I rode and raced one for 2 years, I now ride a 650b and I definetly believe there better than 26", its the size of the frame which is important for small riders , I am a 14 year old girl and I can manage a medium 650b downhill fine and actually have benefited from it loads as it hits stuff much faster, and I have much more confidence as the 650b gives you more stability, which is also great for steep stuff. I think a small frame with 650b wheel is great advantage for small riders as it gives you the same stability as a big bike due to the long wheelbase and big wheels but kids can also fit on it.

 Aaron that is some great riding!! I hope you got to keep the bike

 I'm 12, and yes I am very tall for 12, but I ride a small framed 29er! It's been an awesome all rounder and I have loved it. But I am now converting to a medium 27.5 which will probs suit my riding a bit more. So I just don't get why you would want such big wheels on a small frame. He will have grown out of that in a year or sow, and he will look get a few stares out on the trails until he does! Sweet video though.

 Nawesome that manufacturers develop kids bike, however i'm more interested in a product life cycle; for adult it 3-5 years of ridding, for kid 1-2 years; in that case i will able to buy just new frame and swap components rather than offering whole new bike which is smart choise i believe;

In a long run kids are growing fast, the more smooser transition for parent - the better and more loyal audience of the brand

 Forget wheel size just watch the riding he quite obviously doesn't struggle with the issue or even care!

 I take my hat off to Commencal for their foresight in developing bikes like this, it may not suit everyone but for those it does will have a great bike to shred on. A few years ago we built a 20" wheeled bike up for our son because there wasn't anything decent enough for his ability. It was one of the best things we ever did! see link below
www.pinkbike.com/news/If-you-cant-buy-it-youve-got-to-build-it-2012.html
Once he grew out of that he had a Commencal 24" mini DH which was a fantastic bike for little kids and he loved it and won quite a few races on it as well!
He is 14 now and has just got onto his first 650b wheels his first comment after riding it for the first time was how much smoother it made things and the grip level was a lot better. So well done Commencal I hope it does well for you.

 Why not just offer a consisting bike in a smaller size, when the kid is big enough for 27,5 wheels then there is no need for an extra frame for this kid.

 My son is 14 and rides a small demo 8 26" wheels and rips it just fine, but my friends son that is 10 rides a 650b small Intense 951and can shred PBR at Stevens pass on it!

 Great ! a 14 yr old just made me look like ive never ridden a bike haha but glad to see some young talent rising up.

 Doesn't everyone just love a good wheel size debate?
Aaron is 1.5m tall and as we said, 14 years old. Before riding the SUPREME JR 650b (and indeed a 650b for the first time ever in his life) he always rode a 26". After trying it he loves the 650b size.
First of all, let us appreciate how comfortable and effortless he looks having never ridden the finished product before filming. Secondly, looking at what is available on the market today and more importantly, into the future, 26" wheels are fading and in order to provide a product to the young public that will grow with them and stand the test of time (and also be resellable and customisable with standard industry components being produced in factories around the world), it is necessary to use a 650b wheel format. Our first thoughts/choice was to go with the 26" but it's just not logical.
Finally, it is important not to concentrate solely on the wheel size but everything that goes on around it. When we design a bike for a kid (or anyone for that matter), it's important to get a good balance between the reach and the stack height. There are many other factors to be considered other than just wheel size because after all, the difference in radius (measured to the rim) is just 12.5mm!

 I am 14 and lucky to own a session park 8 in a medium and i'm only 5,6. this bike just seems unnessecary

 one sec.. small bike with big wheels... are we devolving back to the penny-farthing?

 Bigger wheels for smallest riders...... Brilliant.

 I'm 13 and I would never be able to afford this and by the time I would have saved up the bike would be to small! This is stupid...

 Bikes designed for kids makes me look forward to having a few of my own one day!

 Bridges the gap in every way except price I'm guessing? DVO. Enve. I could go bankrupt trying to source two decent bikes (and I'm not talking crazy builds or anything) for my groms.

Some days I wish I was a dentist.

 looks way to big for the kid

 PLEASE DONT PANIC! All the sheepple WILL BUY one...Making sure this becomes the new kids standard. ...2 tyre sizes 20's and 650b + boost...Its the future of KIDS MTB

 To everyone saying "Rich Parents" maybe. But thier is no denying you would have wanted a nice bike like this at his age, and you might be a bit jealous.

 I'm a kid of the same age and i run 650b wheels and and adult medium frame size. It's a great idea but a kid at 14 shouldn't need a "junior" bike.

 So many people called 150/160mm rigs "Mini DH bikes" that Commencal actually made one.

 The size of the wheel is irrelevant. There are small women -- probably not too much bigger than your average 12-14-year-old -- who ride 29ers. There are short guys who ride 29ers. It comes down to frame size, geometry and all that. I'm not saying 650b is the greatest solution in the history of all things on two wheels. I'm saying this bike will likely fit its intended consumer just fine.

 It's like the equivalent of a 29er dh bike for a fully grown rider XD

 Wow that kid ripps! He looks right at home on that bike.

 so basically the are trying to pawn what looks like an xs meta as a kids downhill bike?

 This riders style looks just like Finn Illes. And I love it!

 If this works for this kid can my 29er be a 32er please.

 Totally unnecessary, I am 15 and can fit on a full size dh bike no problem

 Already gloveless.. poor kid

 29er for kids.

 Hey kid, those wheels look way too big for you! Fuck these marketing schemes.

 rich parents

 Price?