Weirdly, Merida is one of the biggest brands on the planet, yet, not many know we do them! The range is vast, the spectrum covered is huge and if they haven’t a bike that meets the brief, or price point, it probably doesn’t exist!
Most of you reading this will know that we have two floors here at Scuderia. The downstairs, the beating heart, the workshop, the hybrids and the electric bikes, (yes we do that also!) and once you wind yourself up the “U” shaped staircase you would find where we keep the “curly handlebarred” stuff, the exotica and the “toys!!”.
Merida started out in 1972 with a point to prove! A chap travelled to the States and saw a sign in a bike shop saying “We dont repair poor quality Taiwanese bicycles”, well, how that’s changed! Thus, the rest, as they say, is history! Also, on a side note, a Lampre-Merida Team Car full of bikes was a sight to behold and one that will long live in the memory for me!
Everyday Analouge
So, lets start as you walk in the door. You’d be hit with that typical bike shop smell, which none of us here any longer small. The rubber and solvents, the lubricants and the thud of tools. But just inside you’d find the hybrids. The analogue (traditional) bike. No motor, no assistance, just good old human powered bicycles. That’s where Merida start for us. Bikes starting from £599 which would take mtb tyres, take smooth tyres, rim brake, disc brake and hardtail options. The get you to work, the transport the sunny Sunday up the Tarka machine. A favourite for us is the easy to ride and comfy Speeder models. These can be found on the link below.
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en-gb/bikefinder/tag/speeder-49/root/bikes-subcategory
But that’s not all we keep, next to that would be a Crossway, a slightly softer and just as easy to ride bike, a little more sedate but ticks the box of doing it’s job brilliantly! Other models such as BigNine and BigSeven’s can also be found in the line up from time to time.
Everyday Electric
Take a few more steps through the door and you’ll start to see bulkier, heavier looking bikes. Upon closer inspection you’ll soon find that its not a big heavy big, its an eBike, yes, the battery and the motor make it heavy but that’s only an issue if you have to lug it everywhere. Once riding, the weight disappears. Its like riding with a permanent tail wind, a pro sat next to you with his hand on your back! The electric bikes carried in store now are mainly from the eSpresso range, perfect for commuting, fitness or however you see fit if its hardpacked gravel or tarmac. We also carry an eFloat model which if you need to carry more than a single pannier is more than capable of. Both models can be found on the link below.
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en-gb/group/e-trekking-and-city-26
If you fancy a bit of the dirty stuff, so mud, grass and anything off road, we have the eBigNine models available. Generally we only carry the hardtail stuff and do anything proper bouncy to order. Motors and batterys are generally supplied by Shimano or Bosch, both have big plus’ to the range and you may even find the odd Mahle battery snuck into the range. More of these can be found on the link below.
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en-gb/bikefinder/tag/ebig-nine-60/root/e-bikes
Road & Gravel
Follow your nose a little deeper into the store and you’ll start to see the bright lights of a POS board. Follow those lights and you’ll find the “Piece de Resistance” of the store, of which there are many. As your head rises above the top step of the on brand staircase you are met with the glimmering reflection of LED lights bouncing off painted carbon pieces of artwork.
Right in front of you would be a range of Merida Silex. Their gravel bike. The mix of alloy frames and full carbon go anywhere do it all machines. Behind this row come the full road race and endurance road bikes.
Scultura, the lightweight climbing race machine as used by Bahrain Victorious for the last couple of years and next to these the Endurance models, the softer family member, the one with clearance for a bigger tyre, the shorter top tube and longer headtube. The one with mudguard eyes to meet the needs of a British winter, the bigger clearances for fatter tyres, 35mm to be precise. The magic carpet!
To the side of these, the full on, nutcase, mad as a box of frogs aero race bike. The Reacto. So fast it looks fast stood still, the sprinters weapon of choice. The full line up can be found below.
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en-gb/group/road-bikes-18?RootName=road-race
A big thanks if you’ve managed to read this far. Now, its not only my word to be taken for it, you will have to pop by and see it! The range will continually be added to when we can afford it.
