Commencal’s Meta 5 has been a firm favourite amongst UK riders for the past few years, and has won many plaudits along the way – including MBR’s coveted Trail Bike of the Year award.
For 2010 Commencal are working on a carbon version of the bike, and Madison’s Ice Bike trade show in Milton Keynes was the first showing of the new frame – albeit in a prototype form.
The original plan when turning to carbon was to stiffen up the back end, rather than just save weight, and according to the designer, carbon’s ability to form weird and wonderful shapes has worked wonders in making the swingarm stiffer. As a result, some of Commencal’s mid-range bikes for 2010 will be offered with an aluminium front triangle and a carbon back end, giving many of the benfits of carbon, without the whole price penalty.
The full carbon bike isn’t just stiffer though, it’s lighter too, and a complete frame is reported to be coming in at under 6lbs with a shock – impressive stuff.
Check out our youtube vid below for a look in all the nooks and crannies, and check out the full size pic below for a good look at the frame. Keep your eyes on www.commencal.co.uk for updates.