Monark Posted June 10, 2011 Posted June 10, 2011 If anyone can point me to one I would appreciate it... cant find anything...
wapad Posted June 11, 2011 Posted June 11, 2011 If anyone can point me to one I would appreciate it... cant find anything... I think there is one in the may/june bicycling mag I had the pleasure of using one whilst in Namibia I have an Anthem 29er I found the bike very capable and as in the mag I found it a good climber well specced The brakes were OK but the ride was good the only drawback for me was that for a large the seatpost was to short to get to my correct height I weigh 100kg and ran the tyres at about 1.8 bar and that was fine( it already had a tubeless conversion) the spec was good for the price Being on a full suss the ride was hard at first but adjusted quite quickly and really enjoyed the bike enough to persuade me to get a hardtail as a future project I think I had the bike at about 13 kg which is heavy but at the price point thats what you get the other thing that surprised me was no tapered head and std QR upfront although to be fair never felt it I had a total jol on the bike and the tracks in Nam(WDH) were great
Monark Posted June 13, 2011 Author Posted June 13, 2011 Anyone else? I cannot seem to find the article on the Bicycling website... Anyone?
wapad Posted June 14, 2011 Posted June 14, 2011 Anyone else? I cannot seem to find the article on the Bicycling website... Anyone?Its in the 29er shootout article so it compares with all the others
Tankman Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 If anyone can point me to one I would appreciate it... cant find anything...
Monark Posted June 19, 2011 Author Posted June 19, 2011 Well I have ridden approx 100km since collecting the bike and the jury is still out. It is coming on the Dusi Mfula as well, a mate and I will be sharing it (I will be on my Anthem and he will be on the 29er). First impressions are all good though, the bike climbs very well (expected from a HT though) and eats up flats with ease. Once you get your cadence right and you are on a flat the bike just seems to start rolling with very lttle effort and you can maintain a very nice pace. The riding position feels stretched out due to the 110mm stem but is comfortable. I might try a 100mm stem in the near future just to compare but am concerned that it might cramp me up a little too much. My average heart rate was lower by 6 bpm over the course than when I ride with my 26er. No major difference but this morning my legs feel a little 'tight', I attribute this to the nearly 2kg extra that I had to pedal around in comparison to my Anthem. The bike descents effortlessly and I felt that this is where the bike came into its own... The SLX/XT components are good but the brakes could be better. The initial bite from the 180mm rotors (front and back!) is 'distant' and takes some getting used to. The front shock is great but wish that it had remote lock out! The wheelset comes with stock Deore hubs and eventhough they might not be 'top of the range' they seem to roll well. I have swopped out the stock riser for my carbon easton riser and have already shed 120g. The white FSA bar is HEAVY!! I have also added chunky foam grips. I plan to drop the rear rotor to a 160mm XT rotor with XTR pads. The seat (Prologo) is very hard and quite narrow... might swop it for a fizik similar to the one on the Anthem. All in all the bike is a competent all rounder. It climbs and descends very well but can handle some rough stuff. My major gripe is the weight... Merida could have really applied themselves a little in this department. Lets see what the scale says once the rotors and seatpost get swopped out...
Monark Posted July 14, 2011 Author Posted July 14, 2011 Right, she now has a 160mm XT rotor on the rear running XT sintered pads. The brakes have been bled and she now stops sweetly. The brake performance improvement is so great that I have completely put off my Hygia brake upgrade! (Leigh's Cycle Centre in the Pav did a wonderful job setting her up) I have also added a Fizik seat and she is now much more comfortable to ride. I have put some more mileage on the bike and I am beginning to love it. I have forgotten how 'pure' riding a hardtail is and just how much fun it is to hop over everything. The bigger wheels (notwithstanding their 2.35kg mass) roll beautifully and despite the bike's mass (12.5kg) you can flick it through corners and it is very compliant. Despite reviews that 29er hardtails do not turn into corners well I have found the opposite to be true. The riser bars are awesome and provide for ultimate control. For added comfort I have increased the front fork's travel from 100mm to 120mm as per the owner's manual. The Rockshox Recon Gold is a good fork for the money and the extra 20mm of travel has not gone unnoticed. I have landed some nice drop offs with the bike and have punished the drive train in water and yet she is still perfect. The white paint gets dirty very very easily though.
Pusher Posted July 14, 2011 Posted July 14, 2011 Right, she now has a 160mm XT rotor on the rear running XT sintered pads. The brakes have been bled and she now stops sweetly. The brake performance improvement is so great that I have completely put off my Hygia brake upgrade! (Leigh's Cycle Centre in the Pav did a wonderful job setting her up) I have also added a Fizik seat and she is now much more comfortable to ride. I have put some more mileage on the bike and I am beginning to love it. I have forgotten how 'pure' riding a hardtail is and just how much fun it is to hop over everything. The bigger wheels (notwithstanding their 2.35kg mass) roll beautifully and despite the bike's mass (12.5kg) you can flick it through corners and it is very compliant. Despite reviews that 29er hardtails do not turn into corners well I have found the opposite to be true. The riser bars are awesome and provide for ultimate control. For added comfort I have increased the front fork's travel from 100mm to 120mm as per the owner's manual. The Rockshox Recon Gold is a good fork for the money and the extra 20mm of travel has not gone unnoticed. I have landed some nice drop offs with the bike and have punished the drive train in water and yet she is still perfect. The white paint gets dirty very very easily though.Nice feedback.
Monark Posted July 15, 2011 Author Posted July 15, 2011 BigBen, nice build! The matt black frame looks wonderful! That is the 1800D Lite frame if I am not mistaken. What does she weigh? Your thoughts?
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now