That new 29er Commencal you watched Amaury Pierron storm to victory aboard at Fort William, Les Gets & Lenzerheide, is now available to the masses. Yup, you and I can now go out and purchase the very same bike that went fastest at three World Cup races in 2019; the 2020 Commencal Supreme 29 Downhill Bike. Commencal revamped the Supreme, giving both the 27.5″ and 29er versions a suspension kinematic overhaul with a change to the location of the main pivot point to increase the bike’s agility. Let’s take a look at the five build options, including the World’s Edition, every one of which is endowed with SRAM’s Code RSC brakes, with 220mm rotors front and back.
What’s new for 2020?
2020 sees the Commencal Supreme, with its 215mm of rear wheel travel, receive a true makeover. Most noticeable of the changes is the new location of the idler pulley. On the new bike, the idler pulley sits a lot lower down the seat tube, now placing the chain line a good few cm below the seat stay. Commencal say this alteration was put in place to increase the bike’s pedalling efficiency. The seat stay protector has thus moved to the underside of the seat stay, and the chainstay gets some chain slap protection too. In addition, the suspension kinematic gets a complete overhaul, with a change to the main pivot location, said to result in increased agility. Commencal say the 2020 Supreme is stiffer on the whole, resulting in a bike with more precise handling characteristics.
The 2020 Commencal Supreme DH 27 loses the XL and XXL frame size options, with the range now limited to S, M and L. Despite the sizing nomenclature, the change is more akin to losing the original small and medium frame sizes, with the 430mm reach measurement of the 2018 “Large” now seen on the 2020 Small frame. The 2020 Large now stretches out to a respectable 500mm. The chainstay length sits a 430mm, consistent across the size range. The head tube and seat tube angles have both steepened up 0.5 degrees, now sitting at 63.8° and 66.5°, respectively.
2020 Commencal Supreme DH 29

