[bURKeNSTiEN]

Hey Peoples,


Does anyone here have any experience with Merida bikes?

I see them at a fair few of them at XC races here and they seem OK but I have never ridden one or really heard much about them.

The reason being is that I can get an absolutely smoking deal on the 'Magnesium Elite' which is a full xtr sub 20 pound XC race weapon.

The deal is really to unbelievable to pass up but I want to hear if anyone has comments on things such as frame integrity, quality etc. This will only be used as a xc race / xc trail bike. no jumps, no drops.

I'm a little concerned about the weight, or Lack thereof. Specifically weightweenies lists the frame as 1200grams (2.6lbs)
This might be great for racing, but it will have to withstand some trail riding usage. I dont want to break it!
That said I'm not that heavy (158lbs) and have never actually broken anything before..

Anyone have info?

Thanks a heap

 

[sub6]

they don't have 'em here in the US, so I'm guessing 95% of the people on this board could never have even had the chance to see one.

You might want to ask on a Euro board, the Germans in particular seem to be pretty down with that MG stuff.....

2.6lbs is nothing to be scared of; that's what Giant claimed for their carbon frame (MCM) and I've been riding it for a long time now, it's holding up great. I'm 190 pounds too! I realize that they're two different frames so that may mean precious little but my point is don't let the weight scare you off by itself...

 

[Rik]

I used to work in a shop that sold Merida, and I'll tell you, they're damn nice bikes

Is this the green one? if so, GET IT! it looks so good, a real standout against typical mainstream bikes. I think they have a decent warranty on the Mg frames too, I know a few roadies that haven't had any issues, although that is somewhat irrelevant.
I had a Merida Matts race pro, which was top of the line before the Mg stuff, it was a sweet bike, I must say, their build quality on all their bikes is superb, and they're pioneering use of magnesium and doing well with it, so it can't be bad.

 

[bURKeNSTiEN]

thanks for the replies.

Rik, its the top merida, the green/blue one

I've just found out I might be able to get the same deal on Avanti, which would be crazy!
a Team Competitor would be nuts...

 

[indieboy]

i know of a bunch of companies that tried using mag as a frame material, lets just say those frames never went public b/c it's really hard to work w/ in terms of an entire frame. just basically really had to get the frame right

 

[Rik]

Merida have an entire factory in Tawian dedicated to working on these magnesium frames, they've been developed for a few years now, and the bikes have been on the market for a few years too, which tells me there hasn't been any drastic failures or any signs of weakness. We'll just have to wait a few years to see what long term durability is.

IMO, Merida > Avanti. But I'm a twisted sorta guy

 

[Ranger]

Servus!

The German bike mags have had good things to say about the Mg Merida frame.

It's a great bike for the money - you could do a whole lot worse! I say go for it! Only thing I would do is get a set of discs for it - I like having massive stopping power.