New Bike: Merida One-Sixty

Seems that Enduro mountain bike scene will still be the most popular, which can be seen in the amount of new enduro bikes recent. This scene is not only for the big brands, but also for not so popular but surely a good brand. Merida is one of them, maybe an underrated bike but still build good bikes. And for the 2017, they already released a really stunning bike, the new One-Sixty. The new One-Sixty provides all new geometry which is really different with the older model. Combining the carbon material in front triangle and aluminum in the rear, the new One-Sixty looks better. The One-Sixty 2017 is available in three models, the One-Sixty 5000, One-Sixty 7000, and One-Sixty 8000, and this article will talk about the last one, the One-Sixty 8000.

Merida One-Sixty 8000 Details:

• Carbon frame with an aluminium swingarm, Merida "Float Link" suspension

• Wheel size: 27.5”

• Rear-wheel travel: 160mm 

• RockShox 170mm Lyrik fork

• RockShox Super Deluxe shock

• Sram X01 Eagle 12-speed drivetrain

• Sizes: Small, medium, large

• Complete bike weight 13.8kg (30.4 lbs)

• MSRP: £3,300 to £5,500 (not available in the US)

On their previous bikes, they build the suspension system with the VPK, but for this new One-Sixty 8000, they made it more simple with Float Link Suspension. But this suspension system firstly used on their cross country bike. It said that Float Link suspension is better than VPK in certain point, such as the Float Link will be easier to be tuned from both end of the suspension. It also makes the frame lighter, beside the carbon material also.

As said above that the new One-Sixty 8000 is combining the carbon and aluminum for the frame, it also uses the internal cable route like another new bikes today. The internal cable runs out under the bottom bracket, with the protection from a bash guard.

Beside all of that, the new One-Sixty 8000 derives few recent features such as metric version for Rockshox Deluxe suspension. Merida builds the new One-Sixty 8000 as longer, slacker, and lower than the previous model, and most all modern enduro bikes adopt those three geoetry. The new Merida One-Sixty 8000 will be available in three sizes, from small to large. (For now) It's not available in the US. More about the bike, visit Merida Bikes.

photos: Ben Winder - pinkbike.com