Merida Launches UK Influenced 140mm Big Trail Hardtail
Hardtails are being released left, right and centre at the moment with everything from 10 grand special editions from Yeti to the super-slack-and-ready-to-attack steel Kona Honzo ESD. Merida has today thrown its hat into the ring with an update to its mid-travel hardtail, the Big Trail. Rather than stealing headlines with any particular number though, Merida's hardtail looks to be an affordable workhorse of a bike that has been well thought out for a lower price bracket.
The inspiration for this bike comes from the long-standing UK hardtail scene and Merida did things a bit differently when designing this bike. Rather than picking a market segment letting their engineers loose on the project from the get-go, they gathered their British dealer network with a Weissbier or two and asked them what they wanted to see in a trail hardtail. Taking that feedback on board, the Taiwanese brand's engineers went back to their German R&D base and returned with this new Big Trail frame.
Merida Big Trail Details
Frame: Aluminium
Travel: 120-150mm
Wheel Size: 29"
Head Angle: 65.5°
Seat Tube Angle: 75.5°
Price: From £800 (€849) to £1,500 (€1,599)
More Info: merida-bikes.com
Frame: Aluminium
Travel: 120-150mm
Wheel Size: 29"
Head Angle: 65.5°
Seat Tube Angle: 75.5°
Price: From £800 (€849) to £1,500 (€1,599)
More Info: merida-bikes.com
Merida's first change was to bump up the wheel size from 27.5" to 29" and position the Big Trail as an alternative to the brand's more XC focussed Big Nine hardtail. The Big Trail comes with a 140mm fork but has been designed to take anything from a 120mm to a 150mm fork giving you the option to use it for sprightly or more burly purposes. Simplicity and practicality are key with a hardtail and Merida has kept that in mind with a bike that has plenty of water bottle mounts, uses SRAM's UDH hanger and even comes with a saddle-slung multitool on the higher spec options. The bike comes with 2.4" tyres as standard but a 55mm chainline allows for up to 2.5", which should help keep the bike running through the winter muck. There's also room for a 150mm dropper on all sizes except small, which uses a 125mm dropper.
Double bottle mounts on the downtube are a big win plus there's another pair hidden under the top tube for further storage.
All models are specced with a 140mm fork as standard but you can up or down travel depending on your intentions
Merida has aimed for enduro capable geometry on the Big Trail. It's not the most progressive out there with a 65.5° head angle and 75° seat tube angle but it certainly has a dose of thrashability. Interestingly, Merida suggests that a rider can pick their size based on the kind of riding they want to do rather than their height, thanks to the low standover. They say, "The only question is if you wanna go crazy fast or super agile. If you are looking for increased stability at speed, take the longer (larger) size, if you are looking for agility, take a shorter (smaller) size." This means that riders would go up to a 475mm reach at the longest or downsize for something shorter if they want a different ride feeling.
Merida is well aware that hardtails are often the bike of choice for those on a budget and have done a good job bringing together a solid package for a new rider. The whole range makes use of features you might expect to see on more expensive bikes including tubeless ready rims, Boost front and rear and internal cable routing. There are even mounts for bike packing and a kickstand for added versatility.
The pricing of the Big Trail also reflects this with the 200 model coming in at £800 / €849 and the range topping out at £1,500 / €1,599 for the 600 that comes with a Shimano Deore 1x12 groupset and Marzocchi Z2 fork.
Big Trail 600 - £1,500 / €1,599
Big Trail 500 - £1250 / €1,299
Big Trail 400 - £1,000 / €1,099
Big Trail 200 - £800 / €849
More info, here.
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“If it’s influenced...”
There are more stiff aluminum hardtails than compliant for sure.
This one looks like its pretty vertically compliant in the rear. The small bit at the rear axle really adds a lot of flex compared to a true triangle. After riding an aluminum chameleon, I am a believer.
Ha ha, it was a premptive strike as I thought the grammar / typo police would be along soon ;-)
I’m not an expert in bike prices by any means, but I do know what parts have value. The fact that these bikes don’t come with a disposable drivetrain is a win, and should be factored in to price comparisons.
Yeah end of the day suspension, brakes, wheels and cockpit components are all more important than drivetrains, and If you have a habit of bashing derailleurs, it doesn’t matter what it is.
But... for those riders who keep it rubber-side-down, it’s nice to have something that will stay in tune, with solid pulley wheels, and won’t bend the cage on a mis-shift.
This is how it's done.
These are perfect bikes for people that want to get into the sport of mountain biking.
Would really only prefer a FS for park riding, but I do not ride a lot of park due to cost (time and money).
Yes it made me faster, the bike is more stable on, what I consider to be, steep sections and I can ride further but the technical challenge and feedback from the trail have been noticeably cut down for me. I kinda feel like I'm over-biking a bit but especially on the steep stuff the new bike feels so much more in it's element. (Really miss the granny gear for climbing though...)
For me, I find that 70mm of drop at sag is great for 2.4-2.5" tires and 175mm cranks. I still have plenty of pedal strikes and run my bash guard into step-ups occasionally, but nothing too bad. Going to 75mm of drop and 170mm cranks means I sit into the bike a bit more and have a similar amount of pedal strikes, but my bash guard takes a beating. At 80mm of drop, there are plenty of trails around me that get dangerous.
Looking to build up a hardtail.
I already have a long travel full-suss so it will be a 2nd bike used for less demanding trail riding where a hardtail would be more fun than my sometimes too-capable full-suss and probably a bit of pleasure riding (cycle path etc - there's something wrong to me about using a burly enduro sled for going to get icecream or cake). I'm also useless at manuals and jumping etc so something that would help with this would be great.
Will be looking for an Alu frame for budget reasons - Justifications for a 2nd bike were slightly spurious. I'm aware a built bike would be ultimately cheaper than self-build - But part of the justification was learning to put a bike together for maintenance purposes etc.
My favourites at the moment are the Ragley Marley or Mmmbop and the Nukeproof Scout. Quite like the look of the Commencal Meta HT. Anyone got any thoughts on these?
You can also check out hardtailparty on YouTube. He’s reviewed dozens of them and often comments in these articles.
www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=112056&pagenum=1614#commentid6894218
you'll get some sound advice.
Hope you're enjoying it. If the Patrol is anything to go by, the hardtail must be a hooligan to ride (in a good way).
As i'm not in a rush to buy, i'll keep my eye on CRC etc to see if anything comes up on sale as per your advice.
One question tho, the article mentions that those angles are static, but then the geometry chart seems to be based around a sagged fork length.
Not sure what you mean buy that, they were popular before either of those came around.
I also love hardcore hardtails, but have some doubts on the real size of the market.
2 or so years ago there were a handful of cult models, now every brand seems to be releasing one
I think their popularity will wane to a degree in the next few years. Like plus tires they're a bit over hyped but do a few things well and will live on in their niche. A year or two ago you'd get the impression from fans that the hardtails are just as capable as enduro bikes and you just have to change your technique a bit. Those type of comments have faded somewhat as riders realized what should have already been obvious. So like plus tires, the hardcore hardtails kinda were viewed as a way to get full suspension performance at a lower cost.
For example some people rode randonneur bikes 50 years ago, some people rode CX bikes not long ago. But I don't think a few years ago anyone would have predicted that gravel bikes would explode. I'm sure some people buy gravel bikes because they're trendy, but for some people they actually work really good.
Yes, its likely that cheaper fs bikes have taken a chunk out of the market, but I would say that it won't be long before people realise they don't need a fs bike that spends half it's life in the shop for bimbling about on trail centre blues and reds, or hacking about on the moors in the woods where the hardcore hardtail is at home.
But then again I could use also one proper DH bike, one full on Enduro, one light short travel trail bike, one 24" dirt jump bike or 22" BMX, one aero racing bike, one non aero racing bike, one titanium racing bike (I always wanted one), one gravel bike, one commuter bike and several e-bikes.
For starters.
Capability of a bike is wholly dependent on the rider's ability.
I'm not sure who this Merida is for. Hardtail aficionados won't buy it, they'll splash out for that new Honzo or, idk, a Stanton or Cotic or something. For everyone else from entry level riders to more advanced but on a budget, a full sus bike for the same money is just a better choice in every way.
Those who really have to go for a hardtail because of cost are in a different price bracket and will be looking at a Vitus Nucleus or Sentier for half the price or less, or a Nukeproof Scout for a grand.
[EDIT] After looking again, the two base models of this kind of make sense. Still not exceptional value for money but at least below the minimum price of a decent FS. For the top two, I stand by the above.
It's just that the two higher models price-wise creep into a space where I'm not sure a hardtail will be most people's choice in the first place and for those that want a higher end HT, is Merida "cool enough"?
I'm fairly sure they're the only brand here in the entire country here that has a store where you can go and demo bikes.
The "cool" remark was a bit tongue in cheek, but IMHO these days people who buy more expensive hardcore HTs for the price of entry level FS bikes tend to go for different brands and often steel frames. A £1500 HT will rarely be someone's first/only bike. As I said before, different story with the £800 and £1000 models because that won't get you a proper full squish.
People with more money than skill on 10k yetis etc just don't like it when a 3k Merida or Giant beats them down the trail.
11-Speed for 1299€?
12-Speed Deore for 1599€?
No-Group Shimano brakes?
This is a really, really bad joke...
Sure, they don't have the snoot factor, but they work, and work very well.
You'd be surprised
I tried them and honestly it feels like the TRP Spyres on my gravel bike have better power.
Oh and then they go and cover everything in running water.
So rocky waterfall riding. It’s a thing.