what about a commencal meta 5.5? with a longish fork like a Lyrik or fox 36?? you can even get a maxle upgrade for the rear to make it stiffer for quick descending and all that???
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 Recently bought an 09 lapierre spicy 316,bought it on a recommendation from someone working at Tredz Swansea.He's got one and he used to have an orange 5 which the frame cracked where the shock meets the front part of the frame.He couldn't talk the spicy up enough,I'm not a mtb pro but it climbs really well and I left an 18 year old whose a member of a cycling team and was on a specialized hard tail.Does what it says on the tin. 
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 what about a commencal meta 5.5? with a longish fork like a Lyrik or fox 36 I don't think the 5.5's are warrantied for forks over 140mm although my mate did run Fox 36's on his for a bit (looked a bit odd mind)
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I've used NWMB and they are good guys, had a hecklar but only kept the frame for 6 mths as i had problems climbing the peaks hills.
I'm currently riding a yeti 575 with fox 36s for the blasts down southhead and beat lane.
Frame from Royles in wilmslow but i did the build myself.
If you close to Whaley Bridge your welcome to a quick blast. its a keeper for me......
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 140mm is the norm for a Meta & suits it fine, Commie recommend 150 max
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I have 140mm fox vans at the minute on my meta and they feel like they could do with more travel - plus they tuck under a bit on bigish landings, but that could be the QR flex. I would happily swap the frame for a Heckler or Orange 5 though!
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Hi in your post you asked for "oppinions" So heres mine...... Coolness and street cred = Santa cruz Buying with your head I.E. bike for buck = the Orange 5 is well proven. a great bike been around long enough to have ironed out any problems and theres a version for every kind of rider - a bit long in the tooth maybee ? , were as the lappierres are very much the bike of the hour , just make sure theyve ironed out the BB problem mentioned earlier and youve got decent after sales service. And as for the trek , I recently Demo,d an EX8 and it was a joke , laughed my tits off for the first five minutes as i boinged around the trails , but started feeling seasick after half an hour on the silly bottomless suspension and had to hand it back. Just my oppinions tho , now go and buy that Heckler.
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....... but that could be the QR flex. I would happily swap the frame for a Heckler or Orange 5 though!
You can get the lowers upgraded to 15QR although it's not cheap, makes a hell of a difference tho. Why the urge to swap a meta for a 5?
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Funnily enough, I emailed Mojo a couple of days ago and they sell the lowers for £144 and a hope qr15 convertor is only 15 quid, so I ordered the lot! Hopefully the difference will be noticable. I got no real urge to change the meta frame as I only just got it and to be honest i think its really good - got the VIP frame with rp23, integrated headset and thomson post in merlins sale brand new for £623.
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 I love it, two people on here have cracked frames and therefore that is then a problem with Lapierre frames, I think you will find that the Spicy has been a very reliable frame with very few warranty issues.
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Its still not a good sign though is it? Just a coincidence?
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 I'm surprised that the chappie above thought the Heckler wasn't a good climber. People I know with Hecklers really rate them for both climbing and descending - I guess the 575 is a bit fancier though. To be fair I've not ridden one so I can't say if it's significantly better. What about all you top boys - which would you go for?
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Me, I'd go for a Meta just like the one I've got. Built it myself back end of 2008 & never looked back. Thought about a 5 but too many things on it I'd want to swap out, Heckler, looks great but I'd never ridden one, Yeti same there but too expensive. Saw a discount Meta frame (not as discounted as DN's tho) before having chance to demo a Heckler & just went for it.
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I have also ordered the rear Maxle for my Meta hopefully it will stiffen it up even further with the qr15 fork lowers - I just need that 27.2mm height adjustable seatpost to come out now and it will be perfect! Mind you those upgrades have cost me close on £250 quid so not the cheapest way to do things
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Done the Maxel thing, makes a fair difference.
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