As mentioned, this bike isn’t an out–and–out cross–country beast. While it went up the hills with reasonable pace, it does feel a little slow and cramped in its ride compared to some other 29ers on offer (think Specialized Stumpjumper Evo or Intense Tracer 29). This was balanced out with a definite feeling of stability on the undulating flat sections and the downs though – especially on the surfaced trail centre style tracks where you could let off the brakes and let the big wheels do the work with carrying speed. The suspension felt supple, the shock tune on the same wavelength as the suspension design. Taking it over to the downhill, the Meta held up well. It felt stable in the air, not shying away from jumps and holding speed well through rougher sections whilst not feeling like it was on the edge of its capabilities. Yes the Meta’s strength is certainly singletrack, but that said it held up very well to the harder terrain it was thrown into. The only minus would be the slightly heavy ride from the wheelset (carbon wheels have a hugely positive effect on 29 bikes), the slightly noisy rear end, the tyres and the bar/stem combo, which we changed to suit personal taste. Clean sheet then?

Now I’m not going to say this bike is a game changer. Yes, it rides well, it goes up quite well and down even better. It’s not the lightest (we’d like something sub–30lb for a 130mm bike), it’s not the fastest (carbon wheels will affect the price hugely), but it knows its place. It’s an all–mountain 29er in everything it does – a solid, good–feeling bike you can ride all day.

www.decade-europe.com

Get more from Commencal using the links below:

COMMENCAL META SX – BIKE REVIEW

Commencal’s 2014 Meta Range: Three by One

Dirt 100 2014 – Commencal VIP Meta AM