Our employee Tobi was looking for a new bike for the 2024 season. The concept was simple: a mountain bike for everything. From the beloved Stuttgart home trails, hard enduro use, fair weather bike park laps, and flowing jump trails to long days in the saddle. But the very first question proved the true difficulty of the task: should he get a full-power e-mtb, light e-mtb, or will he have to earn the descents? A full-on enduro bike, capable trail bike, or even a downcountry bike? A full 29er, or should he try a mullet setup? Questions upon questions. It was immediately apparent that the selection has never been bigger, there have never been more bike categories, and it has never been harder to decide which bike to choose!

Last season, Tobi rode a 170 mm light e-mtb with 29" wheels, but was never quite satisfied with how the bike behaved in the corners. He would also have liked a longer dropper post with more than 170mm drop, but it wasn’t possible due to the frame’s limited seat post insertion depth. It’s because of this and his curiosity about trying something new that he wanted a new bike for 2024.

After a lot of pondering and several sleepless nights, Tobi decided to get a bike with a mullet wheelset, i.e. a 29er up front paired with a smaller 27.5" wheel on the rear. Why? Because Tobi has a background in BMX racing, and a 27.5" rear wheel already seems really big to him! Moreover, he doesn’t have the longest legs for someone of his size, he’s got a very active riding style, and he just wanted to see what this trend was all about. Despite the mullet setup, his new bike should be as close to a high-performance enduro bike as possible, so that it wouldn’t hold back at the races. Finally, he wanted to be able to fit a long-travel dropper post, so that he could fully exploit the freedom of movement offered by the smaller rear wheel, combined with a steep seat tube angle. It wasn’t an easy task!

However, a new release from Commencal and two emails later, it was clear that it would have to be the new Meta SX V5 frame. Equipped with two different wheelsets, it should serve Tobi well, catering to everything he plans to tackle in the new year while also being as reliable as possible. And since Tobi has always wanted to learn the fine art of wheel building, his two wheelset project came at just the right time (thanks to Haico Wheels for the wheel building internship!).

After the first rides aboard his new Commencal Meta SX V5, Tobi’s initial verdict was: “this bike is fun!” Having chosen to go for the mullet setup paid off thanks to the bike’s intuitive and agile cornering, yet the handling feels no less composed and confidence inspiring. Tobi also loves the flexibility of having two wheelsets, and he’s fascinated by how much easier his enduro carbon wheelset accelerates. Although we’ll have to wait for the 2024 season and its upcoming races to really find out how Tobi and his new bike get along, he could hardly be more excited and optimistic about the new year!