2018 Merida One-Sixty 800 – First Impressions

The not-so-minor details

Product

Merida One-Sixty 800

Contact

Advance Traders

http://www.merida.com.au/

Price

3999

Weight

14300

Positives

Unbelievable kit for the money!
A fun paint job that reminds us what it's all about.

Negatives

We're sure there must be something...

As you probably know, Merida is one of the more prominent manufacturers of the bicycle in the world and make fantastic bikes with a reputation for great value. We’ve got the One-Sixty 800 on review and so far it’s raised some eyebrows amongst our camp. We loved the affordable carbon One-Sixty 5000 from a couple years ago but can this new top specced aluminium version cut it?

The One-Sixty is a (you guessed it) 160mm travel rig rolling on 27.5″ wheels and is aimed at the aggressive end of the spectrum, perhaps even at enduro racing.

Merida are on a roll this season, with their latest range of bikes ticking all the boxes.
On paper, the frame geometry looks to be more aimed at the trail rider than the enduro racer.

The unbelievable spec, it’s a SRAM smorgasbord!

What more could you want from this bike on this sort of budget? Umm, nothing… The build is impressive, it’s like a whole bunch of great SRAM parts fell off the back of a truck, and Merida were there to pick them and stuck them on this bike for our benefit. It even has a great pair of wide rims, a Torque Cap compatible front hub to match the RockShox Yari, dropper post, great Maxxis tyres and a fun and bright paint job. Tick, tick and tick!

SRAM GX Eagle, great kit for a bike at this price.
SRAM Code R brakes, mighty stopping power!

Up front, the One-Sixty 800 comes with some of the best stopping power in the game with the new SRAM Code R brakes. Out the back has the SRAM GX Eagle 12-speed for a fantastic gear range.

And for suspension the always reliable RockShox Yari fork and the star of the show the top shelf Super Deluxe RTC. This shock has all the adjustments; rebound, compression and even low-speed compression for greater control. Minds are blown!!

170mm travel RockShox Yari, a solid choice.
The top model shock from the RockShox catalogue, the Super Deluxe. All the dials to twiddle.

Not longer but shorter?

In a move against industry trend, Merida has shortened the overall wheelbase (from the 5000) and steepened the seat angle, we wonder what Merida is onto here. These changes would, in theory, make a bike climb better and be more nimble at slower speeds, however, it could possibly be at a sacrifice to its downhill ability, but we’ll find out on the trail.

Shorter in reach and steeper seating angle than the previous One-Sixty. Are Merida going for a better climbing bike than previously?

While we are shredding this Merida One-Sixty 800, it’ll be up against the Giant Reign 2 and Norco Range A3 in a sub $4000 160mm travel 27.5″ wheel bike shootout.

Stay tuned for a full review and the ultimate shootout!

It appears you're using an old version of Internet Explorer which is no longer supported, for safer and optimum browsing experience please upgrade your browser.