Meta 4 and Meta 5 frames.

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May 24, 2012, 04:21:48 AM

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Total Voters: 287

[LukeB]

Heard a rumour that they're the same frame with a different shock. Is that the case? Are the tubes etc all identical?

Seems strange, but would be interested to know.

[steveb]

Same frame, same tubing. The 4 takes a 160mm shock the 5 a 200mm.

The rear ends and all the linkages are the same on both, the only difference in the front end is that the 5 has a higher upper shock mount, to accommodate the longer shock. I think also the 5 has a slightly difference seat tube, to accommodate the longer travel (not 100% on that though, never had it confirmed either way, just I think it would need to be different to stop the swingarm hitting it at max compression on the 5).

[LukeB]

So, the Meta 4 is capable of the same abuse as a 5 then? I could take it off a 5 foot drop and it wouldn't hurt it any more provided it was smooth?

[steveb]

You could take a carbon road bike off a five foot drop and not break it. Provided your smooth ;-)

OK, ya, you could, in theory. The 5 has a bit more cushioning to protect the frame from impact, but ya, essentially they are as strong as each other.

Last year in Spain we had a guy on a G-Spot, a Coiler, me on a 5 and a guy on a 4 with Halo wheels and 140mm forks etc. He hit everything as hard as the rest of us. Infact he was faster than us all, nearly as fast as the guide, it was a bit embarrassing really. His frame was fine.

BUT.... (Ain't there always a but!)

Why?

If your gonna do sorta stuff get a 5 or a 4x.

Saying all that, Luke, I might be mixing you up with someone else, but ain't you a real big fecker?

[LukeB]

Most definitely are getting me mixed up with someone else- I'm a real skinny fecker!

There's no real why other than 2nd hand availability- there's lots of 4s available, and next to no fives.

The guy with the 140mm forks- are you safe to run them with the fork that long? I'd always thought not.

I was thinking the same about the extra cushioning- if I land a drop too heavy, or hit something too rocky too hard (which is going to happen sometimes), the 4'd bottom out more and that'd put more through the frame than if I had the extra 1"/1.5", so it'd be more likely to break.

I still think a 5 would be more suited to my needs, then.

[steveb]

Bike yourself up for when it goes tits up, not for when everything comes together, cus lets face it, we all know which one happens most ;-)

A few cheap 5's on Ebay at the mo.

[PHC]

Most definitely are getting me mixed up with someone else- I'm a real skinny fecker!

There's no real why other than 2nd hand availability- there's lots of 4s available, and next to no fives.

The guy with the 140mm forks- are you safe to run them with the fork that long? I'd always thought not.

I was thinking the same about the extra cushioning- if I land a drop too heavy, or hit something too rocky too hard (which is going to happen sometimes), the 4'd bottom out more and that'd put more through the frame than if I had the extra 1"/1.5", so it'd be more likely to break.

I still think a 5 would be more suited to my needs, then.

I emailed Commencal about max fork length on a 4 a while back.  They basically said that they don't recommend more than 4" primarily for geometry reasons but also because the increased torque of a longer fork might damage the headtube.  Having said that, the response also strongly suggested that I buy a new 5 if I wanted a longer fork so I was left wondering whether they gave the answer they did in hope of selling a new bike, rather than it being a genuinely well considered answer...  Perhaps I'm being overly cynical though!

There is a post on here somewhere from a guy who was running 130mm on the front, although no real feedback on how that was working out.

I'm shortly going to increase the travel on my Rebas to 115mm (from 100) and see how that goes.  It feels a little steep at the moment.

[LukeB]

I ended up going for a 5. To be honest, I'm glad I did- playing on the DH track at the weekend, the 4 just wouldn't have coped. And it's nice having the option to run the forks bigger than 5".