Mini Dh bikes - Supreme 6 vs Reign X?

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May 24, 2012, 04:37:03 AM

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Total Voters: 287

[chuckie]

I needed cash a few months ago and sold my 09 Reign X1, as I had an Anthem for XC and a Morewood DH bike for the bigger stuff. I am feeling the urge to get a play bike again, something that I could jump and take the gnar route if available, yet ride uphill if need be and clock up some XC miles (AM style), which the X1 did very well. I have gone off Giants and the Supreme has caught my eye. the Meta's are just too close to my Giant Anthem

So I have noticed the 2010 Supreme has dropped some weight(16.9kgs) and now comes with a better fork Fox 36 Van up front.

What I woudl like to know is do you guys who have rode both bikes think the Supreme Mini DH is just as versatile as the Reign X? I know its gonna be love for some light DH/FR stuff but what about pedalling to get to those descents and rides on flat sometimes bumpy singletrack?

I would like to hear some more about the Supreme's versatility? is it similar to the X1?

The plan would be to build her up lighter anyway with a DHX air (or new boost valve RP23) and a Fox 36 Float up front

am I barking up the wrong tree?

also can someone help me with sizing?, Im a tad under 5'10, i noticed the Supreme L/XL is closer to the medium Reign X I was riding

[tintole]

I have the 08 vip version and it's a great bike, I had a downhill bike before but wanted something more versatile that I could use at trail centres and the downhill stuff.
Mine is set up like a minidh bike with a gamut on it, pushed van r and 36 rc's upfront, it is such a blast to ride, climbs much better than you'd think but is better at the downs. Keeps me fitter! I'm 5'11" and have the s/m as I like a compact, chuckable bike.
Mine weighs in at about 36.5 lbs but rides much lighter than it sounds.
As a play bike you can't fault it so I assume the newer version should be just as good.
Try to get a demo on one, you'll love it.

[chrissturch]

Mine's an 07 and I use it for what you are planning to use one for. I've been on a couple of the forum rides, and almost kept up with some people.  Its more my fitness holding me back than the bike though. I can happily ride it for 20 odd miles, its just a bit slower on the ups. I have mine down to about 36-37lbs too, and thats with a DHX5 air shock and Totem Solo Airs up front lowered to 160mm. I'm 6ft and have a lg/xl.

[oscarbobza]

Santa came early!

I have just ordered a 2010 supreme frame today to replace my broken meta 5, should have it by friday 
i also intend to build it up light as and when funds allow so that it can rode up hills instead of pushed or uplifted
 just finding the time to build it then get out for a ride will be the biggest problem for me!

pictures will follow

[Ant]

Now then...

I've ridden both, and spent time on both, so i think i'm able to provide a worthwile contribution to this thread.

The supreme, it's heavy. Even with an air can, there's no denying that my '08 frame is heaaavy! But it loves to plough, loves to jump, and just loves to be flicked about. It's stiff as hell, and you can tell when the rear wheel is tracking as you want it.

The Reign X, it's light, it's got a lot more pivots, it eats top shock bushings, but it's soooooo plush and the travel feeels bottomless. I was riding faster on the reign X than on the supreme. Only problem with the '10 frames, is that the frame looks weak, and not as gnarcore as the bikes from 2009 and earlier.

And when riding..

The reign soaks up EVERYTHING, effectively 'deadening' the rear end, which is good, as you get more grip than the supreme, but bad, as sometimes it's hard to tell when the rear is starting to slide, as there is a fair bit of flex in there too, as there is only a QR axle (Again, pre'10 bikes only), Whilst the supreme is stiff throughout. This meant that on the reign, i was able to keep my feet on the pedals, when normally on the supreme, trail chatter, and the larger bumps knock my feet off the pedals. This was using the same pedals/shoes on both bikes.

But this is the thing that would sway me away from commencal.

WARRANTY. 

Giant took 3 days to get someone i know a WHOLE NEW REAR END, it took commencal 7 weeks for a new rear end for my mini.

Also Giant are a hell of a lot cheaper for frame only, and the full bikes are a lot cheaper, and a hell of a lot better specced than commencal.

Any Q's, just ask away.

[bong69uk]

It sounds like you had your commie setup a bit wrong at the rear Ant, i have never had my feet come off the pedals due to trail chatter as you say it and certainly not from any larger hits(even up at fort bill i never for one min felt any of that) , maybe thats where the air shock fails and the coil rules? so maybe a coil shock with a ti spring is the way forward?

And chuckie it sounds like you are aiming in the right direction with the supreme for your all round bike, Steve B (the founder of this site) used his mini dh as a do everything bike, he had it set up so he could do xc rides etc and it still slayed the downhill sections,  maybe give him an email for tips on spec etc??

[big_tex_uk]

I have come from  Meta 6 to riding this.


Even with my Reign X 2010 running 36 Vanilla forks and a DHX 5 Coil shock it only weighs in at 32lbs. There is no way you will ever get a mini DH to that weight.

However, i have ridden a 2009 Mini DH and i think they rule. More DH orientated than the Giant and the suspension seems more capable.

I have my Giant built for all round use and love it but if i was going to have something for playing/jumping etc i would have the Supreme.
As a all round bike though i would always choose the Giant as it performs XC duties far better than the Supreme.

[Ant]

It sounds like you had your commie setup a bit wrong at the rear Ant, i have never had my feet come off the pedals due to trail chatter as you say it and certainly not from any larger hits(even up at fort bill i never for one min felt any of that) , maybe thats where the air shock fails and the coil rules? so maybe a coil shock with a ti spring is the way forward?

Yeh, that's the air shock for you, the small bumps aren't soaked up as well! Got the setup nailed, but it's just sometimes on very rooty courses where the feet sliding off syndrome comes into play. Oh, and i've changed from VANS to NIKES now as my riding shoe, and the nike 6.0s grip easton flatboys so much better than my old vans did.

And a DHX5 is on the shopping list once i start getting pay from my new job which started last week

[tank_rider]

I'm using an 09 supreme 6 as my do everything bike.  Have done some trail riding on it and it does corner really well, and pedals a lot better than I thought it would (better than my old giant vt xc bike that it replaced), however as has been said, it is damn heavy.  I put mine on a bit of a diet as soon as I got it and lost 3-4lbs off the stock supreme 2 spec (a lot of that was the stock tyres and tubes!) but it's still pretty telling when pointing it up hills, however I'm still running the stock 36t chainring which doesn't help.  With a dual ring or with a 32t ring fitted it should be perfectly possible to hit all but the steepest climbs all be it more slowly.  On the downhills though it absolutely rips, and on the jumps is very well behaved and feels soo planted.

I think a light (but still sturdy enough build for some dh use) would get you to about 34/35lb weight (with a coil shock), then if you had money to throw at it could get as low as 32/33, ti bolts, spring etc.

I'm 5'10.5 and ride the s/m which fits me pretty well, if I'm doing lots of xc work then I put a 90mm stem on it, then for AM and DH/jumping I use a 50mm.

My conclusion: It's going to need a bit more fitness than a lighter bike for the ups, but for trail riding and going down the ride is absolutely spot on and leaves me grinning every ride!  

I'd offer to meet up and let you have a go, but I'm not going to be riding for quite some time due to 2 operations in the new year

Here's mine with the seat fully up and ready for an XC rip.

[chuckie]

so would you guys think that the Meta 6 is closer to the Reign X then, as it seems the Meta 6 climbs and pedals better?

Comparing it to the Giant range


Glory = Supreme DH
faith = Furious or Supreme 6???
Reign X = Meta 6??
reign = Meta 55
trance X =

anyone had a chance to compare a Meta 6 to a Supreme 6??

[McMeta666]

RAF chris had a meta6 which he then traded in for a 09 supreme when he started to get more into downhill so hes probably the best peron to contact, though hes not been on recently

ive never ridden a supreme but the differences between the two as far as i can tell are

geomentry: the superme is slightly slacker than the meta6

sizing: supreme has small/med, large/Xlarge sizes only where as meta 6 comes in small ,medium, large and extra large

weight: from what i can remember the frames are pretty similar weights without shock but with shock the supreme is heavier and since the meta 6 pretty much limited to an air shock its lighter

shocks: like I said previously the biggest difference is that supremes are cappable of running piggy back coil shocks where as the meta 6 is limited mainly to air without piggy back and coil without piggy back(unless you dont care much for your warrenty)

[Ant]

so would you guys think that the Meta 6 is closer to the Reign X then, as it seems the Meta 6 climbs and pedals better?

Comparing it to the Giant range


Glory = Supreme DH
faith = Furious or Supreme 6???
Reign X = Meta 6??
reign = Meta 55
trance X =

anyone had a chance to compare a Meta 6 to a Supreme 6??

Nononononono...

Glory DH = Supreme DH
faith = Furious
Reign X = Meta 6/supreme 6??
reign = Meta 55
trance = meta 4

[chuckie]

so when do you choose a Meta 6 over a Supreme 6?

can a Meta 6 handle bike park abuse

which one would be comparable to a Nomad

[Russalf]

Id be really interested to know how well the supreme climbs compared to a meta 6, im currently due to send my meta6 back and im really tempted to get a supreme as a replacement, anybody been lucky enough to have compared?

[steveb]

I have TALAS forks on the front of mine and with them down to 100mm it climbs like my Super4, just slower as it's considerably heavier.

I have ridden both the Meta 6 and the Supreme, I've had a Supreme since they launched in 05, it was in fact my first Commencal, and I love the platform. They're heavy, but I weight 16stone so a few extra pounds is neither here nor there for a "big bike". I use mine for all round riding where the emphasis is on having fun on the downs. I've done week long day rides in spain with immense climbs and full on DH runs, it is perfect for it.

The only thing I'd add is if your going to use one as an all rounder, it'll take a while to get your legs used to the weight if your used to a Meta. When last year I decided I was going to try to spend the entire year riding mine for everything I spent the first three months riding it up and down big hills. Initially it was hell, but I got used to it and now I don't really notice the extra weight. Mine weighs about 37lbs.

I am very tempted by the new 2010 Meta 6 frame though. The carbon rear end deals with the flex issue (at my size I can flex the rear end of pretty much anything!), the weight is really low, and the angles are more or less the same as my 07 Supreme, but I don't think I could part with it as I'm just to familiar with it's handling.