Commencal has arrived... 2009 Bikes Now in Stock

Commencal has arrived...

Chief bike buyer at Evans Cycles, Joel Natale is inundated with approaches from brands to stock their bikes in our stores.  It's a tough job deciding what's a fad and what is a genuine technical advantage, what our customers need and ensuring value for money.  It's his job to be picky and select what to put on the shop floor.  Every now and then a product range hits all of Joel's buttons and the latest to do so is Andorran bassed Commencal.  Here's Joel's introduction to the brand and the range:

Over the last 8 years something very exciting has been growing in mountain biking and I’m very glad to finally be able to introduce it to you. For the few of you who remember mountain biking 10 years ago, when sponsorship was at it’s biggest – Rob Warner drove a Ferrari and Nico Vouilloz ruled the world. Around this time a French brand Sunn, who’d been massive in BMX started pushing the mountain bike envelope. These bikes blew most people away, they are still regarded as some of the finest racing mtb’s ever produced, far ahead of anything at the time, under Nico they went on to rule.

However, post millennium, things changed in mountain biking. The boom in mtb sales had ended in the mid-nineties but the money had continued to roll in. After the dot-com crash in early 2000, a lot of companies were forced to look at their revenues in a serious manner. This sea-change in the economic outlook saw-off many formerly strong bicycle manufacturers and seriously affected the entire market – Sunn was one of the fallers.

Out of the ashes of Sunn though, Max Commencal set about building a new brand. Their first bike, the Supernormal was released in 2000 and was voted mtb of the year by Velo Vert Magazine. It was a further four years till the brand went international. Off the back of a former Sunn rider, Anne-Caroline Chausson Commencal began to create a stir on the world mtb scene. This is also the year that the chief designer from the Sunn days, Olivier Bossard developed the first incarnation of the Supreme DH. A year later the now notorious Meta frame hit the market for the first time and suddenly a racers brand was the coolest product on the market. From then on the history is fairly well known. Cedric Gracia joins in 2006 and in 2007 the Atherton family join creating the Animal/Commencal team which as gone on to lead the world in ’08.

What has been most exciting for me is the way Commencal has created their own niche in the market through well designed and spec’d bikes, fantastic styling and a super strong marketing. The bikes are akin to a more mainstream brand like Apple in their bold and unique styling combined with an effortless cool. Moreover, you can buy this product, guilty in the knowledge that the reason you want it is the styling but comfortable with your conscience as you know it’s as good as, or better than, anything else that’s available – just read the reviews.

Finally then, it’s actually time to look at what’s available this year from the guys and girls in Andorra. Well, the good news is that their bikes start at a very reasonable £360.

Click here to view all Commencal Mountain Bikes

Or check out below for our highlights of the types of Commencal mountain bikes now in stock:

Cross-Country

Including the Normal and Normal Disc (a 9 speed hydro disc bike for £500 – almost unheard of in ’09). The Combi series with a Combi Disc, Combi Deluxe and the full suspension Combi S at £1100.

Commencal Normal 2009 Mountain Bike - £389.99

Commencal Normal Disc 2009 Mountain Bike - £499.99

Commencal Combi Disc 2009 Mountain Bike - £599.99

Commencal Combi Deluxe 2009 Mountain Bike - £899.99

Commencal Combi S Mountain Bike - £1099.99

Enduro

The Super series is new for ’09 bringing a lighter rear-end to the well liked Meta 4. The Meta 5.5 is “the kind of machine which the pioneers of the sport probably fantasised about while waiting for their runs down Mount Tamalpais on their rigid klunkers”. The enduro line is completed by the longer travel Meta 6.

Commencal 5.5.2 2009 Mountain Bike - £1899.99

Commencal Super 4.1 2009 Mountain Bike - £2499.99

DH and Freeride

The ever popular and super successful Supreme series contains bikes from £1800 for your privateer to the Supreme Team at £5k for the Pro and there’s even a rumoured Atherton Team Replica later in the season… There’s also the Furious line of park bikes, designed with Cedric Gracia as a do anything bike.

Commencal Supreme DH Team 2009 Mountain Bike - £4999.99

Jump and Street

The absolut series brings bikes right down to £360 with the MaxMax rising to £900 with the Absolut CrMo. Each one has the same attention to detail expected from the brand, for instance the Absolut CrMo comes with a cable front disc brake – on the basis most customers won’t want it and a hydro rear brake for proper stopping.

Commencal Absolut MaxMax 2009 Mountain Bike - £359.99

Commencal Absolut CrMo 2009 Mountain Bike - £899.99

Commute

Well, I’ve not actually seen these bikes yet but I’m already excited. The spec and price look spot on and if the bike is only half as stylish as the rest of the line it should quickly become one of our most desirable bikes – look out for more information on the Babylon series coming soon.

Well, there you have it: a little history, a few bikes and an inspirational brand.