Not everyone wants or needs a $10,000 mountain bike (or a $26,500 e-MTB with gold leaf graphics…), though lately it seems that that’s the only kind of bike companies have been releasing. In a thoroughly refreshing turn of events though, we’ve just received a new trail bike from Merida that is both free of a motor and entirely devoid of any carbon fibre. Indeed with its sensible parts package and alloy frameset, we reckon this is quite possibly one of the best value mountain bikes we’ve come across in some time.
If you’re not familiar with the name, we won’t blame you! Merida’s full suspension bikes do have a habit of flying under the radar, which might have something to do with the company’s distinct lack of marketing compared to ‘sexier’ brands like Santa Cruz and Yeti. That’s a shame, because Merida has been putting out some seriously good kit over the past few years.
In terms of its designation, the One-Twenty slots into Merida’s mountain bike lineup as the versatile trail speedster. Aiming to bring together the efficient climbing performance of the 96 (the 100mm travel XC race bike) with the descending fervour of the One-Forty (the burly 140mm travel All Mountain rig), the One-Twenty is a straight-up trail bike. It rolls on 29in wheels and is equipped with 120mm of rear suspension travel with a 130mm travel fork up front.
[continued...]
From Flow Mountain Bike
Chris Southwood and Mick Ross are the co-founders of Flow Mountain Bike. Above all else, we are mountain bikers, passionate about all facets of our sport. We cut our teeth on Sydney’s trails and we’ve followed our obsession all over the world, on all types of bikes. Flow Mountain Bike exists to inspire; through our words, images and videos we want mountain bikers to find the inspiration to ride more, try something new, travel somewhere fresh, or make mountain biking more central to their life. Flow Mountain Bike is here to educate; we want to help mountain bikers make the right decisions by offering the best information, the fairest product testing and the most trusted advice. Flowmountainbike.com is the leading online resource for Australasian mountain bikers of all disciplines. With up-to-date news from Australia, New Zealand and around the world, new product information, race coverage and more, flowmountainbike.com is the ultimate local web resource that mountain bikers can count on.
