alternate title, lewis discovers the bullshit normal consumers deal with

Really like someone of this level (sponsored rider) giving honest opinions on products that the general public buy themselves. 100% agree if you pay £5000 for a pedal bike it should NOT be missing a quality check…. Poor job commencel!!!!!

I have the same bike, same experience. Luckily I’m in Squamish and the shop here has been very helpful in solving the issue. They put the 4 spacers in which solved 80% of the issue. Brought it back and they took the linkage apart, identified the tolerance issue, only used 2 of the 4 spacers, applied some grease and put it all back together. Bike is silent and feels great now. Still lots of flex but I personally like that, especially when running a stiffer carbon wheel. I agree this shouldn’t have come out the box like this, but Commencal has been very supportive in making me happy, so points there!

I wish more reviews had this level of transparency. It’s far too frequent that heavier and/or aggressive riders spend their hard earned money on a bike that can’t withstand a season of riding without developing tolerance issues or defects.

I really appreciate these kinds of videos. Brands need to be accountable when they sell a faulty product to consumers. Because mountain bikers are so passionate, they're willing to put up with a lot to do their sport. I think the industry can get a bit lazy as a result. There are tons of great companies out there, and I don't want to suggest designing a bike to work flawlessly is an easy task, but I have had tons of issues on the level of the one you're experiencing here (e.g., shipping the wrong parts, missing pieces in install, lengthy warranties, strange failures, etc.). Yes, it may just be an 'honest mistake', or a 'minor problem' in isolation, but if you ride a lot, you tend to have half a dozen 'minor problems' a year coming from various products on your bike. This ends up equating to a couple months of missed riding time while things get shipped and replaced, a big frustration as a passionate consumer. I'm super glad to see more people bringing these issues to light. Hopefully this results in companies putting a bit more effort in QC and real world testing.

Linkage touching the frame is just bad engineering

I've had a Commencal Clash V1 for 5 years, done 4 race seasons on it and all I've had to do is regrease everything, bearings are still in great condition, no play or signs of wear. Its been absolutely bomb proof! Working in engineering we see stuff like this all the time, unfortunately it just takes one person to be having a bad day or someone going into work hungover, things get missed!

love the very direct feedback. Too many channels are protecting the sponsor brands even if there is issues.

Same thing with mine. I will say commencal has great customer service, as they should knowing they FU@KED UP. Sent my frame back and 2 days later they sent me a brand new one. ZERO issues with the new frame. Quiet as.

Totally unacceptable, wouldn't even waste my time. They better start making quality a priority or they will continue to lose business. Thanks for sharing Lewis.

My right ear enjoyed this.

I just got my Meta V5. I took the suspension linkages apart the first day because of issues with bearing grease on past bikes. Found that the lithium paste that they use was already starting to bind up in the bearing. Washed that JUNK out and replaced it with synthetic grease called “super lube” and it’s been amazing since 🤫. I’ve ran this grease in all of my bike bearings am super happy with the results

This guy is every brands worse nightmare

They 100% should have just replaced and sent you a new frame that's been properly checked. Specialized fully replaced mine after doing the same.

Good honest review! Cant wait to hear how the spacers change things!

I absolutely love this format bikes have so many manufacturing issues and no one talks about it. You only see it in MTB Forums. And someone like Lewis just notices stuff immediately. Please buy a Transition next :)

My friend's team races DH on commencals. They had snapped a few shocks before they realized the rear end is not centered right. They now run custom shock spacers for each frame that are up to like 5mm different thickness. Fast frames but kinda dodgy

I had my v4 meta sx get warrantied for alignment issues of the linkage assembly and got a new frame. Probably missed QC as well because they didn’t bat an eye once they got it back and looked it over, had a frame in the mail the same day they got mine in their shop.

i have the same issue... waiting for the spacer delivery . I already opened the linkage once, cleaned and greased the bolts and axles. the creaking sound went away, but returned after a couple of rides 😢. hopefully installing the spacers will help... The creak is really annoying

Interesting, i owned a few commencal bikes and never had any issues. Meta AM29 v4, Meta SX power Bosh, and now Meta SX V5, no creaking noises or any problems with linkage. But SX V5 has a bar just like a Supreme DH, which eliminat flex.

I own a 2023 Knolly Chilcotin. It devoloped a loud creak that i eventually and painfully isolated to the bare front triangle. Even working almost directly with Noel, the owner and engineer, the only solution was a crash replacement of the front triangle for $600. The replacement did not match my rear triangle. New front is blue, old rear is raw aluminum. The other option was a full v6 2024 replacement frame for $1,200. A great deal, but not in my budget. Crashing didnt cause this creak, but because of wear and tear on the frame, it was deemed a crash replacement. Just leaving this information in the ether.

Bro, you are a legend! Please keep on doing your review videos! 5k is for most of us big money which we have to save for quite some time. What a nightmare of a bike...

I had the shim the drive side drop out pivot on my 2012 sx, the rear triangles were never square after heat treatment and the bearing seat was cut too deep. Been perfect ever since, 0.8mm stainless spacer

Rear wheel steering: it’s the new thing 🎉🎉🎉

Unacceptable. Creaking is an absolute fail.. Thanks for the honest answer.

Have been shopping around online and was really considering a commencal for a full suspension ride.. This is the third video I've watched and everyone has mentioned the creaking out of the box. Now I've gotta start all over 💩 Thanks for the honest review.

They defo need that bracer to eliminate some of the flex. I feel like they just went with the easy justification for it. I've also had some damage on my frame near the linkage on my yt jeffsy (slightly different place), but so far, my Meta power sx has been pretty much perfect.

Really enjoying what you're doing here with the different bikes, interesting to watch. I buy too many bikes and they ALL have numerous problems. Mostly fixable, but still inexcusable as you say.

I built one of these from the frame up with top spec and it also creaked. Turned out it was the low pivot bearings that were completely siezed. They couldn't source them so I got an LBS to sort it, but Commencal did pay for it and send out the spacers.

Hey mate, another great video. My Focus Jam with similar suspension setup also made this noise, although id make a suggestion. A bike bike brand thats got a killer enduro that gets the job done, no nonesense. Not a media hype brand, Giant Reign Advanced. Keep it up mate! Hopefully you find a bike without these nibbling issues

A mate had a canyon and had nothing but problems...I bought a specalized hardtail emtb I am disabled so I obviously don't ride as hard as other people but so far it's been flawless

i had some creaking aswell - which was an easy fix with some grease in the lower black link. if you are missing those spacers i have in my linkage no wonder the bike wont work... no idea what went wrong at the assembly if this is really the case. bummer. i love my bike and its really great

Hey mate Check your lower linkage pivot bearings in the frame. My tempo developed a creak also. My bearings had clogged out the bearing boss in frame.

Jtech are actual legends, I was having loads of problems with my Druid suspension and they solved everything

I applaud your honesty! Rare in the world of influencers.totally unacceptable QC issues and invaluable info for potential costumers.

half wind out your linkage bolts and smush some grease ontpo the smooth bit and screw it back in, had the issue with my bike and the new bearing basically had no grease or poor grease thats washed out from wet uk rides.

I agree with Lewis taking about the creaking and flex but looking closer that's only on the normal v5 as the sx variant actually has a brace where he was talking about placing a brace

2021/22 Meta AM29 owner. That sound when climbing now makes sense 😅 always had an interesting Squeack just ignored it

Thanks for the info really helpful

Really appreciate the review, top job

just out of interest, have you actually had a mechanic strip the linkage? i find on alot of bikes out of the factory they are absolutely packed with locktite on the threads and alot of the bolts (despite checking the torque) are not actually tight enough due to the locktite drying and the torque setting being reached before the actual bolt load (that the torque specification is supposed to provide) is being acchieved. hope that made some kind of sense. if you think about torque settings of bolts, what they are actually saying is that "if you reach x newton meters of torque, then the load on the bolt will be correct (ie how much the bolt is compressing the linkage parts together)". if you assemble a brand new linkage part with new bolts and apply wet locktite then torque it correctly straight away, you may be acchieveing the correct bolt load at the time, but after a ride of so, the aluminium material will compress a little, and the bolt will actually stretch a little aswell (very minor ammounts, but this is a non negligable effect). then maybe your mechanic might have checked the bolts to the specified torque after a ride or so, but but because the locktite on the bolts is dry, the torque wrench may be reading the torque correctly, but due to dry locktite giving resistance to the threads, the actual compression of the bolt is not being accheived. I hope this made sense, but this is something I have noticed working on bikes over the years. or maybe i dont know what tf im talking about

before i bought my metasx v4, i watched a pinkbike review of the v5... they also complained about embarrassingly loud creaky noises. i wanted the v4 anyway it's been pretty good so far.

My 2021 Clash, had the most unstable rear. Turned out they machined the holes for the linkage bearings too large.

Need to try a Cannondale Jekyll Lew !! Build it up to your spec, and trust me you’ll love it. The mild high pivot system gives the best of both worlds. One thing is the size guide is a bit big. If it says your for a large, maybe get a medium.

It’s great that Lewis covers these issues. I have two top of the line Focus e-bikes and whilst they are beasts on the trail the noises are ridiculous, I’m forever pulling them apart trying to fix creaky headsets (plastic), linkages and motor mount bolts (2 of which have snapped). Not great for $23k AUD.

I met the people at Commencal during an event last year and they were definitely cool and knew their stuff. I can't say so much for many other brands out there. I do however don't know why they wouldn't just send you a new frameset that they know is set up correctly and not just send some spacers. Most consumers are not going to be able to put the spacers in and being that they likely purchased consumer direct, no shop is going to do free work for them. I recently got a Canyon Spectral 125 and it started creaking right away. I found the issue, a plastic piece that is behind the bottom bracket where the brake and shifter cables come out. When the suspension compresses the plastic piece gets moved around by the brake cables and it creaks. I tossed a little lube around the edges of the plastic piece to quiet it down. Not ideal, but I have to say, the quality control is lacking a bit. Thankfully I have a full bike shop with all the tools I need in the basement so I can fix this stuff myself, but most people don't have that option. As the bicycle industry struggles, they actually need to up their game to keep consumers happy, but I am seeing the opposite happen.

Thanks!

Dude I totally trust you I'm shure you wont do this to gain views or likes. I had some bikes with factory problems like my actual Specialized Kenevo that with any water in the port turns off. The Slash Trek said there was a spacer missing, Commençal now say theres something missing in the link... That's sad for the sport all this brands making silly mistakes. Keep doing your reviews we all support your point of view specially because we see the rear end flexing and can hear the noise. 🤙🏻🤟🏻✌🏻

i have to same bike but the race version, had it for round about 6 months had no problems no noise. best bike i have had

Very nice review, lovin that format... And a shame of bike 🤦 surely that system will destroy your shock too.

Any chance of trying out a Bird bike at some point? I've had a couple of their frames over the years and still have a 27.5 Aeris with 170 front/160 rear, they're much more simplistic in their design than a lot of these other bike manufacturers are going for these days with suspension layout/linkage designs, but they're very good modern feeling bikes and they're all priced fairly well too being direct to consumer, just overall a solid company with a good reputation worth giving a try sometime! I can imagine they'd sort you out with any issues if you ever had any too, they're shit hot with their customer care/advice and can suit your build needs etc.

Great review, thanks for never pandering to big brands and always keeping it real, nobody on YT as far as I know are as honest. that flex in my opinion is far too much and I’d be gutted if I saved up all that money to buy this bike. In fact I have exactly the same issues with my £8k e-bike, wont mention the brand yet because they currently have it in for inspection and I want a full refund. Thanks again 👍

I just noticed that the meta SX V5 and the Tempo have the same rear triangle, and wonder if the TEMPO users are having similar issues or is just the long travel bikes.

My commencal meta came perfect out of the box a few years back. My Canyon, well, cables bent and twisted, dropper post not connected. ....

Can be a problem like 1000 other brand, i have take orbea wild h10 and after the first lap the battery was death... Now i wait the type chalk version of v5 finger crossed. ..

I have the commencal meta v4 ohlins edition and one of the best things is its stiff and does anything thrown at it, big jumps, tech downhill, bike park flips... the v5 really doesnt hit those marks for what i want... might have to get the clash instead for the next bike...

Paul Aston vibes with the Commencal drama.

Love the honesty lewis. Keep it going!

stuff happens i had the same issue with my yt capra and i contacted warranty and sent me a new set of all frame blots and bearings

I would have sent it back. Good job on not bashing them too much, you are a patient man.

Astonmtb commencal cracking confirme !

Try cooper grease on the BB thread

I had a 2018 Meta 4.2, and the same thing was happening - these bikes are just designed that way. I lasted a year with the creaking and then sold it. It was impossible to ride like that in the long run.

I got the meta sx . and the frame came dented. With faulty brakes and hoses were too short. The rest was fine. I double checked every bolt and raced it a few times and its still good but It also took 6 months to ship whereas my vitus only took 3 weeks. Unexusable quality control in my opinion. We pay a lot of money for crappy assembly

Lewis.. Do you run Maxxis Asagai's all the time on your bikes ?.. Love these honest bike brand vlogs

Every commencal frame ive ever worked on was misaligned, missing a spacer somewhere, creaked, cracked ir some combination of all of the above

Same bike and I already have the same scratches inside the right seatstay, even deeper already (after 2 rides). I already contacted Commencal, hope there is a solution for this as the bike rides really well..

Love my tempo, will probably get the new Sx v5 in a year or 2.

Canyon did the same with my creaking issue on my torque. They said it missed quality control lol. They offered to give me a $100 credit to take it to a shop. Turned out they didnt grease the pivot points and bearings lmfao and it didnt take long for me to figure that out. Now that the bikes greased it does ride pretty well but it makes me never want to buy another direct to consumer bike.

Sounds to me like Commencal is trying to ascribe a design fault as a manufacturing defect. I had a 2019 Meta TR chain stay snap at the weld where the brake caliper is mounted. This was also blamed on a manufacturing defect in the weld, rather than as a design fault which would have required a replacement of all frames.

BB is still pressfit ?

my right airpod loved this

Great vid, really informative. Good work :)

Discouraging to hear others are experiencing the same thing. Sounds like a design flaw - fortunately recoverable.

I bought a Canyon Spectral 27.5 Fabio Wibmer edition last summer, the bike came to me in a terrible state, derailleur was set up so it was unusable, dropper cable was to short and broke, brakes were leaking fluid, and cables were poorly routed and cut. Canyon did pay for my local bike shop to fix everything, but for a new bike i was expecting more from Canyon. I imagine issues like yours and mine happen with most manufacturers, which is not great for us consumers

I would agree that quality control and build quality in general is poor these days. I have a 2021 Trek Slash that needs pivot linkages greased every 8-12 mths or it creaks like crazy and tolerances seem poor, compared to my 2012 remedy that was silent and didn't need any linkage greasing for 2.5 years.

Wondering which brand you think does the best job in terms of quality? I really appreciate the honest feedback.

No issues here with a V4 Meta SX.

What happened to the nukeproof giga you had a year ago?

This is fantastic content. I am in the market for a proper dh bike and I really appreciate your honest reviews and flaw finding skills. It quite remarkable how some of the boutique brands are perhaps not that well build. I like the honesty afterall it prevents is from buying a pile with hard earned money. Maybe you should become some kind of freelance test rider? keep it up 👍

I was looking to buy a Meta Power SX Signature this month... Not any more, this is a risk that I personally won't take on an $8000 bike. I will look into other brands. Thanks for sharing.

hey dude, How tall are you and what size did you choose?

The only honest bike reviewer on the internet. Well done again. Bike company are taking the piss charge us the earth and sell us a load of shit. Ebikes are even worse . Thanks for the great content

Really interested to hear your thoughts on the ochain

It makes you wonder how many others have missed QC. Now to wait for the update on the spacers and as others have said, good on ya for your honesty and genuine review. Hope you get it sorted buddy 🤘❤️🌈🕊️🌍

wondering if your bike was assembled in Asia, the EU or UK.

As a rider looking for the best quality for my buck, thank you!!

It's my comment. Thanks man for putting that up on the video. Made my day 🙏🤘 (Needless to say a great video and keep it up. You rock)

V4 is great.. still available brand new..

Creaking or bolts that get loose are common in bike from different manufacturers, the issue being some kind of misalignment due to uncontrolled manufacturing tolerances and/or poorly designed bolted joints. And in my experience manufacturers would say "just put some grease/loctite in there and tighten the bolts to spec, that happens sometimes, not a big deal". When you don't notice and keep riding, parts get damaged and the customer is blamed. Just shows you how immature the bike industry is, imagine something like this happend in your car. Think about how challenging it is to design the bolted joins in a car or plain, and they have figured it out. Or actually, they just follow the well-known design rules and standards. so Santa Cruz Megatower/Nomad next?

So far the Santa Cruz was the only bike that was dialed with quality engineering and that’s why Iv owned many. They are Second to none !!

Main pivot bolt needs geasing

I have similar problems withy canyon....

I got a Tempo , , i had a cracking issues , and i figure out where it come from , it was the dropper post in the frame , after grease the dropper and reistal in the frame the cracking sound disappeared .... the thing is , you have to know you bike limits just by looking at the frame , ex the seat tube is thin , its not tapered at the bb , so its not for enduro or hard cornering , its just an adventurer bike , never trust manufacturer claim

Totally agree. My neighbour bought one a few weeks ago, I've build it up (I'm a bike mech.), next day guess what.... it was creaking. Took a few things apart and re-greased, a week later..... again. I've never seen such poor quality from a brand that's supposed to be high end. Even worse Commencal's customer service is not as nice and prompt with normal consumers. Very probably because Lewis is a pro athlete, his reviews are seen a lot quicker and can influence more customers then a normal consumer, Commencal has jumped to help him so quickly. We don't get the same treatment. Conclusion: a big NO for Commencal this time!

Wonder how compliant bike and super stiff wheels feel

how come rockshox doesn’t supply reverb to you🤔😅 and yeah the linkage problem on meta are nothing new… the rubbing is a problem for a while now

Not Great ....Try a Cotic , Starling,Orange etc next time to see is there any difference between a handmade UK bike or a Mass produced bike ?

Seems like there’s some calls to Knolly and Devinci in order 🤷🏽‍♂️

Bought a new Tempo just recently and there is a small bolt rattling in the rear triangle disc side part of the frame...it makes me super crazy that this is what I get, honestly for crying out loud what in the f.