One of the highlights of this week's IceBike trade show was a prototype version of the carbon Meta 5.5 frame that we exclusively revealed Commencal were working on earlier this year.
The frame has been two years in the making and has identical geometry to the popular '09 aluminium Meta 5 (if it ain't broke...) so it looks like it’s going to be an absolutely stunning trail ride. It’s been developed by the same people who made Commencal's Skin carbon hardtail race bike.
Whenever carbon is mentioned the issue of weight is not far away, and the new frame weighs a claimed 2.6kg with shock – that’s a 0.7kg weight saving over the alloy model. The carbon frame will be on sale in the UK in early September.
Also new for 2010 is a carbon swingarm on the Meta 6 and a new slopestyle bike which will be more compact and have less travel than the Furious. Details were scarce, but we’ll keep you up to date with this.
The Babylon is a new bike in the Commencal range and marks a departure for the mountain bike company. Based on the Supernormal frame, the 700c wheel Babylon is a commuting machine which can take panniers and mudguards. It will be available in November/December in the UK.
The Babylon commuter in white with Commencal's distinctive decals