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2018 Commencal Meta HT AM hardtail mountain bike, back & better than ever in 27.5+

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It’s been less than a year since we saw the introduction of Commencal’s enduro hardtail. But keeping with their philosophy that a well-designed hardtail is better than a compromised full-suspension bike, the Meta HT AM gets some much deserved updates.

The bike was already a solid value with modern long, low & slack trail geometry when we saw DH master Gaetan Vigé shredding that bike. And now we get to watch Commencal Vallnord DH Racing Team’s George Brannigan get fast & loose in the woods (& luge?) on the new plus-sized bike.

2018 Meta HT AM aluminum 27.5+ enduro hardtail mountain bike

2018 Meta HT AM aluminum 27.5+ enduro hardtail mountain bike details

The new Meta HT AM sticks with a formula that worked well for the bike over the last year too. Long travel 160mm forks paired to a stout aluminum frame with bike park-ready geometry. Then, add in a few carefully thought out component specs. And you end up with affordable bikes, capable of being hucked down the steepest trails and dirt jumps for an all around good time. The big change this year is the move to 27.5+ compatibility with room for a 2.8″ tire, or to even opt for a 29er wheelset & up to 2.4″ tires.

2018 Meta HT AM Essential aluminum 27.5+ enduro hardtail mountain bike

The new Meta HT AM is available in two complete builds. The top Meta HT AM Essential in gun metal sells for just $1600/1600€ with a 160mm RockShox Yari RC fork, SRAM NX 1×11 & Level brakes, and wheels laced to 35mm internal Spank Oozy Trail 395 tubeless ready rims with 27.5 x 2.8″ Maxxis Rekon tires.

2018 Meta HT AM Origin aluminum 27.5+ enduro hardtail mountain bike

The even more affordable red Meta HT AM Origin adds just a hundred bucks over last year’s bike for just $1100€ with a slightly shorter 150mm RockShox Recon RL fork, upgrade to a the same SRAM NX 1×11 drivetrain (over last year’s 2×9), Tektro hydraulic brakes, and wheels with 35mm internal WTB Scrapper i35 tubeless ready rims with the same 2.8″ tires.

2018 Meta HT AM aluminum 27.5+ enduro hardtail mountain bike frame only

If you want to build up your own bike, that’s now an option too. The triple butted 6061 Meta HT AM will also come as a bare frame for $400/350€ in simple black or $420/370€ in shiny gun metal silver. The 31.6mm stealth dropper ready frame is Boost spaced and 1x only. It uses a standard threaded bottom bracket and an integrated ZS44/ZS56 tapered headset. The Meta HT AM comes in a four size (S-XL) range and is available from Commencal dealers & online now.

Commencal.com

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zigak
6 years ago

Option for front derr?

Dave
Dave
6 years ago
Reply to  zigak

Option for what?

i
i
6 years ago

no iscg mount? really?
I really want to like Commencal bikes, there’s just always some reason I can’t. Last time I was in the market for a DH bike, the Supreme looked good on paper but they didn’t make one big enough for an adult.

This, I could even live with replacing the Level brakes, and the fact that no one rides a bike like this without a dropper. But no bashguard option means it’s not really a mountain bike; there’s nothing “park ready” about it, it’s a hybrid with big tires.

Peter Hartman
6 years ago

The Origin price seems a little steep considering you can get a salsa timberjack from your bike shop for the same price.

Austin
Austin
6 years ago
Reply to  Peter Hartman

Those are pretty different bikes. I wouldn’t consider the timber jack park ready.

Mr Pinm
Mr Pinm
6 years ago
Reply to  Peter Hartman

Yeah, but the you’d have to ride a Salsa.

Seriously, well no I was serious about that, it’s not even the same bike. This has shorter stays, slacker ehad tube, and is more of a playful trail bike vs a xc bike with fat tires.

The Salsa is grea for bike packing and casual mtbing where your tires won’t leave the ground. The Commencal is a trail shredding machine for those who like to flick the bike around, jump off stuff, and have more of a playful riding style.

Toty
Toty
6 years ago

Very ugly and ineffective seems to have taken a step back in time, 3 highlights that I do not like:
1) the horizontal and obligatory pipes disjoined in the tube, that is a very delicate and very weak point;
2) very light and thin frame especially in the wagon area, it looks like a steel bike but it is not, to boost things the boost wheels that transfer all the twists on the thin wagon and even drilled (for the passage of cables) on the point of greatest fulcrum ….. very dangerous.
3) Lack of reinforcement beam of the vertical replaced by a small handkerchief that does nothing but move the breaking point.
I DO NOT LIKE IT FOR ANYTHING, HAS LOST THE CHARM OF PANZER WHICH WAS 2016-17

shane
shane
6 years ago

What is it like for climbing.

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