Redesigned Merida SILEX is more versatile and adventure-ready

Having linked up with Matej Mohorič to take the men’s title at the recent Gravel World Championships, the new Merida SILEX was an open secret. Now it has officially been unveiled and, in defiance of its race-winning exploits, Merida has stuck to the adventure-orientated spirit that underpinned the original design to produce a bike that is more versatile than ever before.

Read more: Did Matej Mohorič win Gravel World Championships on an unreleased Merida bike?

First released in 2018, the original SILEX was a pure adventure gravel bike and those capabilities have been bolstered by wider tyre clearance which is up to 45mm on a 700c rim, larger 180mm disc brake rotors as standard, plus the bike can now support internally routed dropper seatposts and suspension forks.

Aesthetically the old fork - a marmite feature which, in Merida’s own words, provided “love it or hate it looks” - has been replaced by a more typical design. It was this frontal area that garnered plenty of attention after the World Championships, with the shorter head tube giving the bike a more sporty look. While it may have performance benefits, it’s another of the adventure-focused parts of the design with its introduction bringing the bike in line with suspension fork standards.

© Merida

Versatility is at the heart of the new design

All of this off-road capability, Merida says, has been added “without impacting the handling and versatility” of the design.

Despite these additional features, Merida has tried to keep the design simple: “We’ve steered away from gimmicks and overcomplicated design features and focussed on what really makes a difference to rides.”

One of the notable omissions is internal frame storage which has become a popular feature adopted by many brands, but Merida has steered clear, instead introducing FIDLOCK mounts to the top-tier carbon model.

There are six models of the new bike available: the 10k, 7000 and 4000 under the CF carbon fibre range, plus the 700, 400 and 200 in the LITE aluminium range.

New SILEX: all-in for adventure?

Merida has been busy in the gravel market this year having already released the Scultura Endurance GR. That was designed to be the brand’s race bike, so it was a little surprising when Matej Mohorič stormed to victory atop the newest version of the SILEX which was traditionally its adventure option.

Considering the Slovenian’s decision, it wasn’t unreasonable to presume that the new bike had undergone a sportier makeover, something backed up by the refined frontal area of the bike. This includes the shortened head tube, which has a greater resemblance to its road bikes than the previous SILEX.

© Merida

The redesigned head tube gives the bike a sportier look but has a practical purpose

Appearances can be deceiving and, while they may have some performance benefits, the changes are firmly motivated by Merida’s desire to build on the SILEX’s adventure spirit by making it even more versatile.

For example, a shorter head tube generally provides a more aggressive riding position. In this case, it’s been introduced so that the bike is compatible with suspension forks. A key part of this is the adjusted fork length which also contributes towards this compatibility while also counteracting the reduced head tube size, resulting in a similar riding position to the previous design.

The head angle is also slacker to boost stability and off-road handling and, in a case of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’, Merida says that the geometry of the new bike is nearly identical to the old one, despite the refinements.

As well as supporting a suspension fork, the bike is now compatible with internally routed dropper seatposts which are popular in the sport and have even made the jump across to road riding - most notably, and coincidentally, at the hands of Mohorič when he won Milan-San Remo in 2022.

© Merida

Dropper seatposts have become a popular addition for gravel bikes

The fork can now also accommodate wiring for a hub dynamo. These are essentially small generators that can charge lights or other devices, and are widely used in ultra-endurance riding.

45mm clearance for any adventure

Manufacturers are always looking for new ways to improve their bikes, which often leads to new tube shapes. For the SILEX, this is the dropped chainstays which are new to the bike but have been used by other brands, including Canyon on its Grizl.

This increases the tyre clearance while ensuring 1x and 2x groupset compatibility.

The other important part of the tyre clearance equation is the seatstays which have also undergone changes to boost this important figure up to 45mm when using a 700c rim, or 42mm when using fenders. 45mm is on the chunkier end of the scale for those particularly arduous gravel routes.

© Merida

The SILEX has clearance for 45mm-wide tyres

Another sign of the bike’s off-road spirit, Merida has shunned more traditional 160mm disc-brake rotors for larger 180mm options as standard. This comes with an added weight penalty, but Merida says that “the increase in power is significant”. It’s sound logic as stopping safely is going to be much higher on your list of priorities if you’re laden with gear for a gravel adventure, at which point any extra grams are going to be meaningless.

The carbon CF models will additionally benefit from Merida’s DISC COOLER brake mount heat sink technology which, as the name suggests, cools the brakes to improve performance. If you want to downsize to 160mm rotors, these DISC COOLERS need to be removed.

More integration and FIDLOCK mounts

Even though the bike is adventure-focused, Merida has still taken time to make the bike’s appearance a little sleeker because, well, appearance still matters!

Through its WIRE PORT cable management system, all cables are routed through the headset leading to sleek integration and an uncluttered cockpit. The seatpost clamp is now integrated into the top tube too.

© Merida

Neat integration leads to a sleek appearance

The CF frame also benefits from a FIDLOCK mount on the down tube. FIDLOCK provides a range of on-bike accessories such as bags and this joins multiple other general mounting points on the down tube, top tube, seat tube, and forks, plus the bikes can accommodate mudguards.

The LITE aluminium has all of these mounts, minus the FIDLOCK variant, plus extra ones for a rear carrier rack.

Check out all of the bikes within the new range over on Merida’s website, linked here.

To keep up to date with the latest tech news, features and pro bikes, head over to the tech section on the GCN website, linked here.

Merida

Merida is a bike manufacturer based in Changhua, Taiwan. The company specialises in road and mountain bike bikes as well as a range of electric bikes. Merida’s original purpose was to improve the perception of Taiwanese-built bicycles.