With the sun low in the sky the Commencal crew hatched a plan for a rapid sortie into the sun across the border for a shoot whilst Gee and Thibaut Ruffin put the medium and large second protos through their paces. It turns out that popping out of Andorra is not such an easy thing to do for a bike company with the border control demonstrating extremely enthusiastic levels of power. Yet we made it out and back in to catch up on Andorra’s impressively and fast twisters to ride the old, the new and the in–between.

Production bikes and pro bikes are very rarely the same and it’s very much the case with these bikes. However although this years championship winning bike is not that much lighter than a production, Gee had a shorter shock fitted to give a baggier head angle and cranks closer to the deck by almost an inch. These numbers are now more in line with many 2011 production bikes although still not as low or as light as a Trek Session or Specialized Demo, or as slack as a 224. It’s certainly quite different to the 34lb off–the–shelf Mondraker on the scales, that might surprise some, but then last year the champ was on one of the heaviest bikes. Where this new bike will score for Gee is room up front and length – longer downtube, longer wheelbase, one that heads almost to Barel levels of stretch. Yet in as much as it’s useful to compare rival brands the fact of the matter is that it’s the combinations that count and for this particular bike the overall dimensions, shock rate and riding position work incredibly well.

At the time Nico was still tinkering with adjustable and fixed chainstay lengths, but the production versions will probably come with adjustable ones so that the proportions can be altered for various frame sizes. Weight wise Gee’s 2010 bike and the second proto surprisingly weighed in at identical weights with the same running gear fitted.