Steveb
January 23-2006, 12:56 PM
Article from Descent World.
You must all of heard of Commencal, after all "The Queen of Downhill" rides for Team Commencal. Many of you will remember the Sunn Chippie Team with Nico charging in pole position. There was big money going on back then and a lot of cash was thrown in here at the deep end with great results which saw an unparalleled "Return on Investment" (ROI). Times have now changed and one man who was so heavily involved with Sunn has now set up on his own, Max Commencal.
http://www.realcycles.com/smsimg/58/779mtbteamreplicasupremedh.jpg
The 06 Commencal Supreme DH team edition
I can't really think of anywhere better in this World to live, work and play other than the principality of Andorra which is up in the Pyrenees between Spain and France which is where Commencal HQ is based and was set up in 1999. You've got several tracks on your doorstep along with some of the Worlds top DH riders past and present in residence, within spitting distance.
I took receipt of this ace bike back at the end of July for the NPS round at Moelfre. Faulkner dropped the bike fresh out of his van, brand new, still with the price tag on it. Rotec rider Ali Mac soon had his Snap Ons out and gave the beast a once over, cutting down the bars trail boss style. Then within minutes he had the Marzocchi 888s fired up nicely with a few small tweaks. Chris Porter from Mojo (The Fox Man) had a dabble with the Fox DHX 5 Shock and it's 100% tuneable platform and we were set up, full factory style, ready to rock and roll. The first technical thing that got me was the quality and simplicity of removing the back wheel. Not that theres anything wrong with those Hutchinson's but when your the countries top seller of Maxxis Tyres you have to be seen.. Know what I mean?
http://www.realcycles.com/smsimg/58/763mtbsupreme610.jpg
Supreme 6, the 6" trail version of the DH flavour
5mm Allen key in hand, there's two pinch bolts on the disc side and one pinch bolt on the drivers side. The axle was no rusty, oversized scaffold bar, this was a lovely machined 12mm thick axle with two separate allen keyed bolts either end. Just think how your front wheels secured with Boxxers. This was just so much nicer finished and that axle slipped and slid in and out easier than a rat up a drain pipe. This meant that ever so important F1 tyre change due to our famous ever changing British weather was completed in under 5mins so easily. There was no adjusting brakes, no big loose collars falling off, just straight in and out, locating perfect every time.
Saturday 09:00 and it's never the best to be riding a new course on a new bike at a National but someones got to do this dirty job for you lot. Of course I wouldn't have it any other way.. You get to ride the top bikes in the World and see, feel and understand for yourself what's so good about them rather than looking at them and saying thats nice, from an aesthetics point of view only.
Moelfre it was and thats a fast, bumpy and technical course with some great jumps on there to test us all. After two runs I was soon at home on this quiet bike. Thats right, you heard me "Quiet".. The Supreme DH runs smooth with zero banging and twinking and t****ing as you fly down the hill. No monoque frame so that stops that along with a cleverly guided cable routings. Check the little cable clips that snap on and off multiple times. No more ugly zip ties and cable cutters on the case. These stayed in place for ever and clearly shows the amount of thought that has gone into the Supreme DH frame design.
http://www.realcycles.com/smsimg/58/739supremedh2.jpg
05 DH frameset, reduced to clear, call RC for info
Come practise run three I was noticing the back wheel staying stuck to the ground on high speed bumpy as you like off cambers. I was never ever sceptical of only having seven inches of travel on this bike. Ever read my SantaCruz V10 review? We don't all live at Fort Bill, reality is we ride the likes of Innerleithen, Bringewood, Hamsterley, Caersews, Aston Hill, Cwmcarn and Mt Coombe Sydenham. They are all good course but my question is, do we need 8+ inches of travel there?
How many races did Vouilez win on a 4-5inch travel bike? Exactly.. This was all down to one man, Olivier Bossard who runs BOS Engineeing. BOS Engineering have some **** load of F1 styled data-log tech workstations and servers that run certain FEA - Finite Element Analysis applications along with the ability to analyse suspension data. Rather than just concentrate on the bike itself bumping up and down, they've collated TerraBytes of data surrounding the whole riders package:
Thats you on a bike.
You pedalling on the bike.
The bike sloping down on a hill going faster and faster..
This lead to the birth of the "Full Contact System" after two years of hard study. This has also been duplicated throughout their podium winning XC range so it's got to pedal well for sure. This rocker link and rod setup was amazing, it tracked the ground like no other. I'll put it in my top three in no particular order, next to the IronHorse Sunday and SantaCruz V10. I still don't know why it works so well, all I can say is it makes the bike. Just looking at it again across the lounge, I had to run my beautifully manicured hands over it again. The links are beautifully machined, shaking it between my legs she's still not wobbly. You know I never even checked or tightened any of those bolts! Pure, distilled quality.
Lets talk a little further about BOS Engineering...Founded in 1999 by Oliver Bossard, BOS Engineering www.bos-engineering.com
Their main focus is on chassis and suspension design and build in key ‘performance suspension’ fields besides Commencal:
Vouilloz Racing Team (Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup Overall in 2000, World Championships 2001) World 250cc MX World 125cc MX Yamaha Factory MX Honda France MX Team Coquard Suzuki MX Team Suzuki Star Motos MX World Enduro Championships (Stephane Peter Hansel) Renault Sport (Touring car and rally) Pugeot WRC team French Touring Car Championships World Rallye Raid Championships (Mercedes M Class) FIA GT World Championships (Paul Belmond Racing)
That is some heritage and history right there. All that research data coming in, development and build has allowed then to collate so much data. Thus enabling them when working now with Anne Carro who's been 17 times World Champion (DH and 4x silly) and originally Nico to produce what they believe to be the best working suspension and chassis/frame ever!
Theres 7 inches of progressively controlled travel driven through the super efficient ‘Contact System’, a single pivot and sealed bearing strength and reliability, a 12 mm bolt through rear axle and a three point adjustable head tube gives the Supreme DH all the right features to take you to the top step.
Read the full article and see the pics here. (http://www.descent-world.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=82&task=view&id=218)
Real Cycles is Irelands exculsive Commencal dealer. See the full range here. (http://www.realcycles.com/brand.php?PHPSESSID=a04468be0ab1b65c5e16160a4efef6 46&bid=58&submit=GO)
You must all of heard of Commencal, after all "The Queen of Downhill" rides for Team Commencal. Many of you will remember the Sunn Chippie Team with Nico charging in pole position. There was big money going on back then and a lot of cash was thrown in here at the deep end with great results which saw an unparalleled "Return on Investment" (ROI). Times have now changed and one man who was so heavily involved with Sunn has now set up on his own, Max Commencal.
http://www.realcycles.com/smsimg/58/779mtbteamreplicasupremedh.jpg
The 06 Commencal Supreme DH team edition
I can't really think of anywhere better in this World to live, work and play other than the principality of Andorra which is up in the Pyrenees between Spain and France which is where Commencal HQ is based and was set up in 1999. You've got several tracks on your doorstep along with some of the Worlds top DH riders past and present in residence, within spitting distance.
I took receipt of this ace bike back at the end of July for the NPS round at Moelfre. Faulkner dropped the bike fresh out of his van, brand new, still with the price tag on it. Rotec rider Ali Mac soon had his Snap Ons out and gave the beast a once over, cutting down the bars trail boss style. Then within minutes he had the Marzocchi 888s fired up nicely with a few small tweaks. Chris Porter from Mojo (The Fox Man) had a dabble with the Fox DHX 5 Shock and it's 100% tuneable platform and we were set up, full factory style, ready to rock and roll. The first technical thing that got me was the quality and simplicity of removing the back wheel. Not that theres anything wrong with those Hutchinson's but when your the countries top seller of Maxxis Tyres you have to be seen.. Know what I mean?
http://www.realcycles.com/smsimg/58/763mtbsupreme610.jpg
Supreme 6, the 6" trail version of the DH flavour
5mm Allen key in hand, there's two pinch bolts on the disc side and one pinch bolt on the drivers side. The axle was no rusty, oversized scaffold bar, this was a lovely machined 12mm thick axle with two separate allen keyed bolts either end. Just think how your front wheels secured with Boxxers. This was just so much nicer finished and that axle slipped and slid in and out easier than a rat up a drain pipe. This meant that ever so important F1 tyre change due to our famous ever changing British weather was completed in under 5mins so easily. There was no adjusting brakes, no big loose collars falling off, just straight in and out, locating perfect every time.
Saturday 09:00 and it's never the best to be riding a new course on a new bike at a National but someones got to do this dirty job for you lot. Of course I wouldn't have it any other way.. You get to ride the top bikes in the World and see, feel and understand for yourself what's so good about them rather than looking at them and saying thats nice, from an aesthetics point of view only.
Moelfre it was and thats a fast, bumpy and technical course with some great jumps on there to test us all. After two runs I was soon at home on this quiet bike. Thats right, you heard me "Quiet".. The Supreme DH runs smooth with zero banging and twinking and t****ing as you fly down the hill. No monoque frame so that stops that along with a cleverly guided cable routings. Check the little cable clips that snap on and off multiple times. No more ugly zip ties and cable cutters on the case. These stayed in place for ever and clearly shows the amount of thought that has gone into the Supreme DH frame design.
http://www.realcycles.com/smsimg/58/739supremedh2.jpg
05 DH frameset, reduced to clear, call RC for info
Come practise run three I was noticing the back wheel staying stuck to the ground on high speed bumpy as you like off cambers. I was never ever sceptical of only having seven inches of travel on this bike. Ever read my SantaCruz V10 review? We don't all live at Fort Bill, reality is we ride the likes of Innerleithen, Bringewood, Hamsterley, Caersews, Aston Hill, Cwmcarn and Mt Coombe Sydenham. They are all good course but my question is, do we need 8+ inches of travel there?
How many races did Vouilez win on a 4-5inch travel bike? Exactly.. This was all down to one man, Olivier Bossard who runs BOS Engineeing. BOS Engineering have some **** load of F1 styled data-log tech workstations and servers that run certain FEA - Finite Element Analysis applications along with the ability to analyse suspension data. Rather than just concentrate on the bike itself bumping up and down, they've collated TerraBytes of data surrounding the whole riders package:
Thats you on a bike.
You pedalling on the bike.
The bike sloping down on a hill going faster and faster..
This lead to the birth of the "Full Contact System" after two years of hard study. This has also been duplicated throughout their podium winning XC range so it's got to pedal well for sure. This rocker link and rod setup was amazing, it tracked the ground like no other. I'll put it in my top three in no particular order, next to the IronHorse Sunday and SantaCruz V10. I still don't know why it works so well, all I can say is it makes the bike. Just looking at it again across the lounge, I had to run my beautifully manicured hands over it again. The links are beautifully machined, shaking it between my legs she's still not wobbly. You know I never even checked or tightened any of those bolts! Pure, distilled quality.
Lets talk a little further about BOS Engineering...Founded in 1999 by Oliver Bossard, BOS Engineering www.bos-engineering.com
Their main focus is on chassis and suspension design and build in key ‘performance suspension’ fields besides Commencal:
Vouilloz Racing Team (Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup Overall in 2000, World Championships 2001) World 250cc MX World 125cc MX Yamaha Factory MX Honda France MX Team Coquard Suzuki MX Team Suzuki Star Motos MX World Enduro Championships (Stephane Peter Hansel) Renault Sport (Touring car and rally) Pugeot WRC team French Touring Car Championships World Rallye Raid Championships (Mercedes M Class) FIA GT World Championships (Paul Belmond Racing)
That is some heritage and history right there. All that research data coming in, development and build has allowed then to collate so much data. Thus enabling them when working now with Anne Carro who's been 17 times World Champion (DH and 4x silly) and originally Nico to produce what they believe to be the best working suspension and chassis/frame ever!
Theres 7 inches of progressively controlled travel driven through the super efficient ‘Contact System’, a single pivot and sealed bearing strength and reliability, a 12 mm bolt through rear axle and a three point adjustable head tube gives the Supreme DH all the right features to take you to the top step.
Read the full article and see the pics here. (http://www.descent-world.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=82&task=view&id=218)
Real Cycles is Irelands exculsive Commencal dealer. See the full range here. (http://www.realcycles.com/brand.php?PHPSESSID=a04468be0ab1b65c5e16160a4efef6 46&bid=58&submit=GO)