Merida Press Camp Part Three – Trail Bikes

Brand new from Merida for 2012 is the One Sixty, with you’ve guessed it 160mm of rear wheel travel using a virtual pivot point axle path. This is the largest travel bike that Merida have ever produced, but with more collaborative work planned with their sister company UMF Bikes, we should start to see some bigger, burlier bikes in their line up.

The test model had a spec to match it’s good looks with Kashima coated Fox forks and rear shock, full X.0 drivetrain and a Rock Shox Reverb Stealth dropper seat post with an internally routed cable to stop the frame from looking too cluttered, as well as keeping it out of harms way.

What impressed us the most about the kit on the One Sixty was the Truvativ AKA stem and BooBar handlebars. It’s such a refreshing change to see wide bars and a short stem as standard on a trail bike, and it straight away made for a great riding position.

The One Sixty was an absolute joy to ride, more than capable of handling anything we pointed it at on the test track. It’s a fast accelerating bike and handles great in corners and playful track jumps alike. Climbing was a bit of a chore, even with the seat post fully extended, but then again pedalling uphill is never that fun…

Merida’s design team worked hard to keep the frame weight an impressive sub-three kilos. Whilst the full build is quite hefty, most the weight is centred around the bottom bracket, aiding the bike’s performance in the corners.

We cannot wait for the specifications to be finalised and for the One Sixty to be released so we can carry out a full test and see what it’s really capable of, but if early indications are anything to go by, this is one very impressive bike.

Obviously 160mm of travel might be a bit too much travel depending on where you ride, so we’ve also got the One Twenty 300-D to present you with.

In issue 15 we tested the One Twenty XT-D Carbon, and whilst we enjoyed our time on it, we felt that the choice of brakes let it down. So we were pleased to see the 300-D equipped with 180mm rotor Shimano XT brakes. Problem solved!

While the frame of the 300-D might be aluminium rather than the carbon version we tested, it still weighed in at only 2.5kg (frame only) making it an ideal choice for all day trail riding as well as the odd race.

You can now view all the photos from the Merida Press Camp on our facebook page by clicking here, and of course, don’t forget to check out the full article in the latest issue of IMB.