BradleyJReece

My brother’s trusty Commencal Meta 6 has finally given in to a lot of hard riding.  An aggressive rider at 6′ 4″ and over 220 pounds, he put this bike through its paces for a couple of years with flawless performance.  But like all good things, there must be an end.  Fortunately, the dealer from which he purchased the bike was able to help him with a viable replacement.

You can see in the photo below what has become a growing crack in the swing arm.

Here, we begin the process of tearing down the bike.

All of the parts will be transferred to the replacement frame, a 2011 Remy Absalon edition Commencal Meta 6 in XL.  The new frame has a few modifications including reduced weight, improved geometry, and updated tubing in addition to a really fantastic paint job.

The new bike begins to take shape as most of the major components get transferred to the new frame.

A bit blurry, but now it’s really taking shape as the red DT Swiss wheels are attached and the bike is prepped for installation of the drive-train.

Almost there!  Chain and derailleurs need to be installed and tuned with pedals adding the final and essential touch to get the bike moving.

Stoked!  It’s alive!  At about 11:00 PM we finally got the bike up and rolling with no major issues.

So far, my brother has ridden it twice–once on The Luge in Orange County, CA and a second time on OC’s San Juan Trail.  With a few minor adjustments to the shock (a Push tuned RP23) and some new bars, the bike is performing very well.  Nevertheless, my brother is convinced the original bike rides a little better.  Nah!

I am now in the process of reconditioning the older frame.  I am going to replace the broken swing arm, powder coat the whole frame red and then decorate it with an updated Commencal decal kit.  I will be transferring one of my other bikes to the frame with the addition of a few new parts along the way, most notably the fork–probably a Fox 36 or perhaps a Lyrik.

In any case, we’ll follow up with some ride reports later to compare the two rigs and see if my brother still likes the old one better.