Mountain Biking

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Hmm good point about the external cabling. I didn't really like that either.
How long have you had your meta, and did you ride it before you bought?
Did you try anything else to compare it to?
 
Bike park wales yesterday was awesome as expected. Got 11-12 runs in which is nice.

Race face narrow wide with clutch rear mech didnt inspire confidence, dropped the chain 3 times so im putting my xo guide n tensioner back on for reassurance. 1st time its ever happened though i was riding the best i ever have done.

On a run of coal not dole i hear a weird rubbery noise and it scared the life out of me as i was flying. Stopped and couldnt see anything amiss so carried on. Got go the bottom and seen my back wheel was nearly off, someone must oc caught my maxle on the trailer and it loosened on the ride down :-/. No damage and no harm done, could have been a rear triangle killer and a horrible crash.

Seen someone go down hard and was hospitalised on the first run of the day! Near the top of sixtapod where the big berms start in the open before thd woods. I've had many near misses there as its so fast and ground is loose.

I'll sort some vids later when i can lift my worn out arms
 
Jono said:
Hey no worries - was pretty good, I did two laps and that was enough for me. I just wanted to go back to bed for a few more hours as soon as I sat on the bike :D

Nice little place, some fun sections (26, is it?) wish that bit was longer.
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I enjoy it. I can improve so much in terms of bike handling as I am still inconsistent.

I managed to clear my first tabletop yesterday; the back section of the red has a short section with some jumps which is where the tiny table top is. I don't know what I did but I cleared the landing by quite a distance. <3 6.5 inches travel.

I hear been having trouble with them because I haven't got a dropper yet and have just been riding the whole loop with my saddle up. Yesterday I managed to get it right though.

My biggest problem is the back end comes up much higher than the front normally, which is especially difficult with a saddle up. I don't really know how to keep the front when up other than blind luck.
 
oulton said:
I have never experienced this on my meta to be honest. Both bikes will be great and you will be happy with either choice. Personally the meta looks nicer and I'm not a big fan of the birds external cabling.
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Jono said:
Hmm good point about the external cabling. I didn't really like that either.
How long have you had your meta, and did you ride it before you bought?
Did you try anything else to compare it to?
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External cabling > Internal cabling.

The only company that does internal cabling well, is how Santa cruz did it on the new nomad (they built a sleeve on the inside of the frame). My Reign is OK, as the holes are large, but still a pain in the arse.

Apart from the extra ballache of actually threading the cable through the inside (there's a knack to it, or just buy the park tool internal cabling tool), we do a lot of muddy rides in the UK, meaning more crud getting on the inside of the frame.
 
Oh Mr Deon, I don't know which to get - still haven't got any prices back from Ben @ Bird... I'll ping him again now... But I want a new bike for my berfday in a little under 2 weeks. Because I am special and deserve one.
 
Haha, internal VS external wouldn't sway my choice of bike. It's just one of the things I'll learn to live with, My current bike has two awful design decision on it that I'm just living with i.e: Internal cable routing and frigging press fit BB.
 
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I was running with ~25% sag I think... and I have no idea how to jump properly, so when I was getting some air, I was landing really heavily. I never felt like I was out of control, really... which was quite strange, because my current bike (Camber with 120mm travel) really doesn't feel like it wants me to stay on.

Why is it so hard to get a decent demo on bikes?
 
Takes more than a few hours to get used to a bike.

What Bird would you be going for, if you did.

Also agree with external > internal. Bike maintenance is a PITA at the best of times I couldn't be bothered with that stuff. I'm also not one to overly care about looks too much.
 
There both going to be great. Both have great kit.

It all comes down to what geo you prefer between the two. You aren't going to be dissapointed with either though.
 
They are both great bikes, you can’t go wrong. So in this case, go with your gut feel. You must be leaning towards one more than the other?
I’ve learned through the years that gut-feel is, for me, probably the most important factor (the sum of all the factors you might say).

The one time I didn’t listen to mine, I bought a complete turkey i.e: I listened to weescott and Ichabod crane and bought that dreadful Tracer 2. I fooled myself into thinking I liked it, but when I was honest with myself, I realised I made a big mistake. Until this day, it’s still the one and only bike I owned that I didn’t like.


...either that or toss a coin.
 
Anyone use kevlar pads? I tried my friends yesterday and they were incredible compared to the sintered he had on before. Do they work as well in the wet? Any downsides to kevlar?
 
Well I'm from Yorkshire so I have short arms and deep pockets.
I don't MIND spending what is to me a lot of money on something, providing I think I'm getting the best value for that money that I can get.

The Meta has arguably better bits on it, for not much more than an Aeris, but then I've asked for prices with better(/more expensive) parts on than they fit as standard, and maybe it'll be more expensive than the Meta....

But then if anything goes wrong with it (touch wood it wouldn't) - I could at least go down and slap the guys at Bird with it.

I'm just incapable of making decisions when presented with two or more equally desirable choices.
The other thing is timing - Meta is in stock in my size. (or was last week)
I would like it for my berfday within the next two weeks... Not sure if/when Bird can build it.
 
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Forget about spec and money for a change and answer a simple question.
Which one of those, excites you more than the other just by looking at them ?
 
Then my recommendation would be the Meta.
Buy one through Bikeactive .. insist you get a better deal than is listed on their site, and then at least you have a UK point of contact, IF something goes wrong with the frame

http://www.bikeactive.com/commencal-bikes.htm

(they were able to work out some exclusive deal to still resell in the UK after Commencal's gone direct sales)
 
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