Commencal skin carbon v ????
Discussion
Hi All,
Looking for some advice please. Used to do a fair bit of mountain biking, then switched to roadie, so bought a decent (£1300) Monoc road bike 6 years ago. My mountain bike has sat redundant for the last 6 years, but I've recently been asked to do the Coast to Coast, and in training for this have dusted off the mountain bike and realised what I loved about biking: getting lost in the wilderness :-)
I'm therefore thinking of replacing the aging mountain bike (2001 Giant, £1,000 ish plus upgraded chain set, wheels, etc etc) and the road bike with one top notch, light hard tail mountain bike. I've seen the Commencal Carbon Skin 2012 for less than £1,400 (should be £2,300!!) and I'm seriously tempted, but the nearest commencal stockist is >150 miles away and I can't find a single review online. Has anyone ridden/owned this bike, or can anyone recommend something in a similar price range? This only weighs 9kg, which was unheard of when I last bought a mountain bike!!
I'll be using the bike primarily on cycle tracks and forest/XC routes (no extreme downhill etc).
Any help much appreciated
Looking for some advice please. Used to do a fair bit of mountain biking, then switched to roadie, so bought a decent (£1300) Monoc road bike 6 years ago. My mountain bike has sat redundant for the last 6 years, but I've recently been asked to do the Coast to Coast, and in training for this have dusted off the mountain bike and realised what I loved about biking: getting lost in the wilderness :-)
I'm therefore thinking of replacing the aging mountain bike (2001 Giant, £1,000 ish plus upgraded chain set, wheels, etc etc) and the road bike with one top notch, light hard tail mountain bike. I've seen the Commencal Carbon Skin 2012 for less than £1,400 (should be £2,300!!) and I'm seriously tempted, but the nearest commencal stockist is >150 miles away and I can't find a single review online. Has anyone ridden/owned this bike, or can anyone recommend something in a similar price range? This only weighs 9kg, which was unheard of when I last bought a mountain bike!!
I'll be using the bike primarily on cycle tracks and forest/XC routes (no extreme downhill etc).
Any help much appreciated
I have a Commencal super 4 so nothing like the carbon skin but i can give my opinion 
First up, I have to say its a lot of money for the bike, the forks are top end so the frame had better be bloody good because the rest of the components are average at best, I assume this is from CRC. Deore? XM117 rims? own brand hubs? Race face ride cranks? its certainly not what i'd expect on a £2300 bike but for £1400, well I guess it depends on the frame.....
The carbon frames are made in Taiwan by Kenesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesis_Industry who also make bikes for a lot of other brands so I wouldnt have an issue with it.Given its already <20 lbs and there is A LOT you could do to lower the weight should be so inclined, yes, its a nice looking bike and some choice upgrades will also really improve performance but you'll be spending another £400-500 over whatever period of time you choose
personally if you have the cash, I would spend £2000 on the Canyon instead which has all those nice upgrades already fitted albeit obvioulsy at a price. Again there is also the dealer issue but their 30 day test ride is pretty useful.
http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes/bike.html?...
First up, I have to say its a lot of money for the bike, the forks are top end so the frame had better be bloody good because the rest of the components are average at best, I assume this is from CRC. Deore? XM117 rims? own brand hubs? Race face ride cranks? its certainly not what i'd expect on a £2300 bike but for £1400, well I guess it depends on the frame.....
The carbon frames are made in Taiwan by Kenesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesis_Industry who also make bikes for a lot of other brands so I wouldnt have an issue with it.Given its already <20 lbs and there is A LOT you could do to lower the weight should be so inclined, yes, its a nice looking bike and some choice upgrades will also really improve performance but you'll be spending another £400-500 over whatever period of time you choose
personally if you have the cash, I would spend £2000 on the Canyon instead which has all those nice upgrades already fitted albeit obvioulsy at a price. Again there is also the dealer issue but their 30 day test ride is pretty useful.
http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes/bike.html?...
Thanks Pablo, that's the kind of info I'm after! The frame alone retails for ~£1k, and as you say, the forks seem decent too. When I have bought bikes previously, I have ended up with an ok frame which I have then spent a fair bit in upgrading (XT group set, hope hubs etc) but its a long time since I've been properly up on what is good and what isn't. Problem is "you can't polish a turd", so I'm feeling it might be better to get a special frame and fork with reasonable components which I can then upgrade if I feel the need. Your point about it being incredibly light to start with (even with the suspect components) is what made me think it could be the right bike for me. If you were wanting to upgrade the wheels/group set to match the quality of frame and fork, what would you be buying?
The other bikes which caught my eye are the vitus rapide 1 and the Ghost Htx lektor 5800 (2011).
All of these bikes are on CRC, you're right. I'll take a look at your suggestion!
Has anyone had dealings with CRC, and if so, how was the experience?
The other bikes which caught my eye are the vitus rapide 1 and the Ghost Htx lektor 5800 (2011).
All of these bikes are on CRC, you're right. I'll take a look at your suggestion!
Has anyone had dealings with CRC, and if so, how was the experience?
CRC are fine, have used them a lot with no issues. When I bought my road bike I bought a high end frame and spec'd bits I could afford as and when with a view to upgrades later. It does make more sense than getting a lower end frame and upgrading the bits in time.
All the bits on the skin are functional rather than desirable but those upgrades aren't necessary for a while. I bought my commencal in a sale from merlin and I love it, its a totally different bike to the skin being alu and full sus but I don't regret it. Like the skin its a really nice frame but the spec wasn't all that special. I haven't seen another one on the trails in three years though which is nice!
It's so fast on singletrack though that when I do upgrade parts it will be even better.
As I said if you have the cash I'd go for it, you should be able to size the right frame from the geo on the website.
All the bits on the skin are functional rather than desirable but those upgrades aren't necessary for a while. I bought my commencal in a sale from merlin and I love it, its a totally different bike to the skin being alu and full sus but I don't regret it. Like the skin its a really nice frame but the spec wasn't all that special. I haven't seen another one on the trails in three years though which is nice!
It's so fast on singletrack though that when I do upgrade parts it will be even better.
As I said if you have the cash I'd go for it, you should be able to size the right frame from the geo on the website.
Thanks for your help everyone. I went to a bike shop yesterday and saw a nice Focus Limited Carbon at a bit over the budget and would have probably bought it if they had any left in stock! Went away and looked again last night and the Cube recommendation seems a good one: the Reaction GTC Pro and the GTC SL both look good so I'm hopefully going to go and drool over these at a different shop on Saturday! Hoping to see the Reaction Pro (I.e. non carbon) to see if the extra money is worth it? Also I'm a little concerned now about carbon framed mountain bikes from looking on the Internet. For what I use it for (cycle tracks/light XC stuff) I'm hoping there's not too much risk?
The top end Cube hardtails are very good. I have the Ltd edition race and while it isn't carbon it is plenty light enough. Any cube (hardtail) around the £1k mark will have good kit on.
I would say for the kid of riding you do that a carbon frame would be fine. Do try the cubes though as they have a very XC setup which can feel a little clumsy if you aren't use to it. That said, a couple of cockpit updates and it's fine.
I would say for the kid of riding you do that a carbon frame would be fine. Do try the cubes though as they have a very XC setup which can feel a little clumsy if you aren't use to it. That said, a couple of cockpit updates and it's fine.
No way does that Commencal weigh 9kg. That is if it's sporting the kit in the description, pretty low end stuff that you'd expect to see on a bike selling at well under a grand. Funny though as one description gives a Fox fork and the other an RS Recon gold which is a lot lower down the pecking order likewise with the drivetrain. I'd say there maybe is a Commencal carbon bike at that weight just not this one - the one with Fox/XX parts maybe. The discounted price is also more than I'd pay for it now.
The Cubes and Canyons mentioned above are all good bets if you're looking at maximum bang for your buck. Cubes especially have a decent range of carbon stuff.
The Cubes and Canyons mentioned above are all good bets if you're looking at maximum bang for your buck. Cubes especially have a decent range of carbon stuff.
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