Merida Launch Event 2018

Last week I made the 3 hour drive to Nottingham and attended the Merida 2018 launch event. As the quote goes, "Merida are the biggest bike company you've never heard of". They are in fact the 2nd largest bicycle manufacturer in the world and have been producing bikes for better known names for decades. These include Specialized of whom they hold a 49% stake and the Merida bikes roll off the produciton line next to those from the big 'S'.

Obviously at such an event it is the new bikes that attract the attention. Without doubt the most attention grabbing of these is the redesigned Reacto. The Merida design office in Germany has been busy, improving the aerodynamic efficiency by 5% while at the same time decreasing the weight to around 1kg. This makes the aero focused bike a consideration as an everyday bike, even if you live in the hills. 

Merida also claim the new Reacto is more comfortable. A large part of this is the S-Flex seatpost, which now has a bigger flexible 'zone', but also the seatstays have been re-profiled to increase vertical compliance.

The other fresh faced bike from the Taiwnese / German giants is the all new Silex. This is Merida's first foray into the, on trend, gravel bike market. I'll admit that from the initial photos I didn't think the Silex wasn much of a looker. However, the Silex was the star of the show for me! That long head tube which initially grated is growing on me. It has a purpose to. It raises the front of the bike to put the rider in a more stable, upright position increasing comfort and improving confidence in loose conditions. It also makes the front of the bike stiffer and improves steering compared to the stack of headset spacers that riders often use to raise the handlebar of their bike.

Swinging a leg over the bike I just wanted to ride it away. As a mountain biker it felt totally natural, this was a road bike made for me. Long top tube, low bottom bracket and short stem. It is a bike intended for unpaved roads and can take tyres up to 42mm or 2.25in 650B's. I can't wait to ride one!

On the mountain bike side of things there is a new One-Forty, which follows on the coat tails of the critically acclaimed One-Sixty. It looks agressive standing still, sitting on its 2.6in tyres. Given how I enjoyed riding the shorter travel One-Twenty last year I can only begin to imagine how fun this bike would be to ride.

As a XC racer there wasn't anything new for me. The carbon Big Nine remains unchanged as does the Ninety-Six full sus race bike. The aluminium Big Nine and Big Seven frame has been redesigned and looks hot with it's new shaped alloy tubing.