Merida onetwenty 6000/scott spark 930 or cypher onetwenty

[gemmerbal]

all good, no offense was taken

 

it is as you say, the additional costs getting the bike here is very unattractive. i hate the presenters of GMBN for having several Canyons each...

I was not knocking your suggestion at all, I love Canyons (I have 2). I was just pointing out that it is actually a lot more expensive than it first appears on the website.

[Danger Dassie]

Have ridden both the Merida 120 and Cypher extensively, I sell both. Can't really go wrong with either option, the 120 is truly an under rated and under sold bike here. Yet is the perfect market here.
​Very well balanced and dynamic bike with a number of design awards and can happily be built into a decent trail bike or for stage events. I'm not wild about the tyre spec, but that is very much a personal thing.
​My business partner did the Munga on his and loved  it.
​I've bought into the Titan brand with the Cypher Elite and am not regretting it a bit, was in Clarens for a week doing route checks and riding a training camp. She was flawless and passed with flying colours. Really good responsive handling on the rough stuff and descents with good traction on climbs, very rarely struggled to find a good body position on steep sections. Making a few setup changes but again, down to personal preferences. The highlight for me is the Shimano 12spd XT and updated Rock Shox setup.

[gemmerbal]

if the 120 is good enough for Jose Hermida/Joaquim Rodriguez, winners of the Epic Masters Cat in 2019, it should probably be good enough for most of us? albeit their iterations of the 120 probably weigh closer to 11kgs.

 

 

Have ridden both the Merida 120 and Cypher extensively, I sell both. Can't really go wrong with either option, the 120 is truly an under rated and under sold bike here. Yet is the perfect market here.
​Very well balanced and dynamic bike with a number of design awards and can happily be built into a decent trail bike or for stage events. I'm not wild about the tyre spec, but that is very much a personal thing.
​My business partner did the Munga on his and loved  it.
​I've bought into the Titan brand with the Cypher Elite and am not regretting it a bit, was in Clarens for a week doing route checks and riding a training camp. She was flawless and passed with flying colours. Really good responsive handling on the rough stuff and descents with good traction on climbs, very rarely struggled to find a good body position on steep sections. Making a few setup changes but again, down to personal preferences. The highlight for me is the Shimano 12spd XT and updated Rock Shox setup.

[Danger Dassie]

if the 120 is good enough for Jose Hermida/Joaquim Rodriguez, winners of the Epic Masters Cat in 2019, it should probably be good enough for most of us? albeit their iterations of the 120 probably weigh closer to 11kgs.

 

Exactly my business partners reasoning  ... Also that model, RC9000 come 120mm front and rear with a more XC driven build and spec. The other models are generally 130mm up front with a more trail friendly spec.

Weight, approx. 10.7kg ...

[RobertWhitehead]

Get a summer body and drop the 2-3kg's or upgrade the fork 

[mtbride]

Did Sani2c Adventure last year on my Large 120 800 (only change was to lighter tyres Rekon Race and Aspen 2.25s and ESI Extra chunkies). We ended in the top 15%, with a 15min puncture delay ... My bikes about 13.8kgs with XT pedals. So it can be done, sure a carbon 10kg dual would improve our performance, but I'm not sponsored haha

 

Think the weight is in the frame, it's quite a burly frame compared to a Spark I think.

Edited February 3, 2020 by mtbride

[Jehosefat]

Think the weight is in the frame, it's quite a burly frame compared to a Spark I think.

 

The "new" Spark is not particularly light. Mine (XL, 910) comes in at around 14kg last time I weighed it. It's more of a light trail bike than a full on XC race machine (120mm travel front and back, Fox 34 on the front etc.). Mine may be a bit lighter now as I recently changed from 2x11 XT to 1x12 XT and got new wheels (DT Swiss 240s hubs and XM421 rims).

 

The Spark RC is a bit lighter and completely XC race focussed.

[Me rida my bicycle]

I have never been on one of those but I like the look of the Merida 120 6000 it's not a common bike.

As a Scott rider I can't fault it except for when you are at an event because they are like ants everywhere, I have changed basically every thing on my bike to make it stand out from the rest.

[Mamil]

Durable / cheap / light .... pick 2

[MarcHD]

If I'm understanding you correctly to say you want to do Cape Epic and Enduro races - types of riding on vastly different ends of the spectrum - you are probably better off getting a second bike for Enduro and trying to make the current one a bit lighter.

 

Most obvious place to save weight is the wheels and tyres (rotating mass) and depending on your budget you could get a decent 2nd hand enduro bike and then spend the remainder on a set of carbon wheels etc.

 

While it's perfectly possible to race an enduro on an XC bike, it's not advisable at all as it won't be as safe, you're more likely to have a mechanical and most importantly: it potentially won't be as much fun!

[floatfox]

Scott Spark, Scotts new suspension and geometry is fantastic.

[Nicomrs]

The meridas weight is in the frame, no way youre gettingbit lighter, maybe a little bit.

 

I was thinking of getting the cypher 120mm for stage races etc and the as time passes on ill build myself a enduro bike.

[Stephan]

Have ridden both the Merida 120 and Cypher extensively, I sell both. Can't really go wrong with either option, the 120 is truly an under rated and under sold bike here. Yet is the perfect market here.

​Very well balanced and dynamic bike with a number of design awards and can happily be built into a decent trail bike or for stage events. I'm not wild about the tyre spec, but that is very much a personal thing.

​My business partner did the Munga on his and loved  it.

​I've bought into the Titan brand with the Cypher Elite and am not regretting it a bit, was in Clarens for a week doing route checks and riding a training camp. She was flawless and passed with flying colours. Really good responsive handling on the rough stuff and descents with good traction on climbs, very rarely struggled to find a good body position on steep sections. Making a few setup changes but again, down to personal preferences. The highlight for me is the Shimano 12spd XT and updated Rock Shox setup.

 

I am considering either the Elite or Scott Spark 930 as XC / trail bike combo.  The Titan is really good value for money, and from one test drive seems to deliver everything the Scott can.  The geometry of the Scott may have the edge .... very difficult decision.

[Danger Dassie]

I am considering either the Elite or Scott Spark 930 as XC / trail bike combo.  The Titan is really good value for money, and from one test drive seems to deliver everything the Scott can.  The geometry of the Scott may have the edge .... very difficult decision.

Tbh, difficult to go wrong with a bike these days. 

 

With a bit more time on the Cypher I can't say there is much fault to find and would have to really nitpick. It is a bit more 'meaty' than other bikes perhaps, but that's very relative and I'm not looking for Olympic race snake challenges. Although the team are having solid results.

Imho I feel the geometry is spot on, and with the adjustable chip is good for a range of riding. 

I see you're in the WC, the design centre is in Bellville (Forge) happy to put you in touch.

[Stephan]

Tbh, difficult to go wrong with a bike these days. 

 

With a bit more time on the Cypher I can't say there is much fault to find and would have to really nitpick. It is a bit more 'meaty' than other bikes perhaps, but that's very relative and I'm not looking for Olympic race snake challenges. Although the team are having solid results.

Imho I feel the geometry is spot on, and with the adjustable chip is good for a range of riding. 

I see you're in the WC, the design centre is in Bellville (Forge) happy to put you in touch.

 

Thanks, very helpful. Do you think the Cypher Elite is comparable to the Scott 930? I am looking for a more relaxed geometry - definitely not looking for podium results.  With meaty you mean bulkier?  

[Danger Dassie]

Thanks, very helpful. Do you think the Cypher Elite is comparable to the Scott 930? I am looking for a more relaxed geometry - definitely not looking for podium results.  With meaty you mean bulkier?  

Short answer, yes.

The Cypher isn't as relaxed as the Spark, but overall the two are quite close and the Cypher has a bit more adjustability. 

 

Not bulkier, but I think the frame carries slightly more weight than some of the bigger brands. Of course the trade off is cost, plus I'd say the designers decided to slightly over engineer areas of the frame to handle more abuse.

For example if you look at the yoke/linkage there is generally more material and double load bearings.

So there's a weight penalty, but at the same time at better wear ratio on bearings.