Merida Ride 100 - First Ride Impression

Merida Ride 100

 

This is what the Merda Site says about their Ride series of bikes “Cobbled passages and poor roads range among the greatest challenges for road racers. Therefore our R&D experts have created the RIDE for elite athletes looking for some comfort. Our UCI WorldTour TEAM LAMPRE-MERIDA appreciates how the RIDE takes the edge off bumps and smooths out vibrations… Their construction also allows for tire widths up to 28 mm.” 

About 3 years ago when riders started considering road bikes for India there was lot of scepticism going around. Many started off with cyclo-cross bikes before the racing scene became competitive enough to consider true road bikes. It is really pleasing to know that now we have come to a stage where there are different categories of road bikes available.

Specs and Aesthetics 


Notice the internal cable routing



The bike comes with Shimano Claris Brifters, Shimano Claris FD, and Shimano Sora RD

The Merida Ride 100 looks too good a bike on paper for its price. It comes with Carbon forks, tapered head tube, internal cable routing, stylish curved top tube for a very sweet price of Rs 51,000.  The matt finish paint and subtle graphics provides a very classic look.

The Ride

I took out our demo bike for my training ride to see how good it was on the road. The ride was from Hi-tec railway station to Icfai Business School & back – about 60km of reasonable good roads with occasional bad patches and a few climbs.

I had not read the Merida website on the rationale behind these bikes when I took it for a ride. But I am glad I did not, because the design philosophy was very apparent and I sure was not influenced. For an Aluminium framed bike, it was very good in handling patchy sections and absorbed the vibrations quite nicely. The power transfer was smooth and the bike is balanced pretty well when you climb out of the saddle. Both the wheels have 32 hole hubs and the lacing of spokes look cool.

This was my first ride on a Claris brifter and I had no issues in shifting. The brakes though didn’t have the bite and wasn’t confidence inspiring.  The saddle was little too narrow to my liking, but it could be just a matter of personal preference.

SnapShot

What I liked

• Fameset - Handling "desi" roads and excellent vibration damping
• Endurance geometry
• Expensive looking features and looks

What I thought could be bettered

• Brakes – adjustability
• Mounts for rack and mudguards

The Verdict

This is an ideal and very nice looking “first” road bike for any rider. Bad patches near your home before you reach nicer roads will be much easier on this bike. Also the slightly relaxed geometry and carbon forks will make it an ideal brevet horse as well. There is clearance for 28c tyres.