Pete takes delivery of the chunky Merida eOne-Eighty a bike he wasn’t convinced by at the launch, but will it fare better at home on his local trails?
Pete is more than ready to be surprised by the capabilities of the Merida eOne-Eighty, a bike that’s big on numbers. 180mm travel front and rear, 27kg weight and up to 1050Wh battery.
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Key features:
- Rockshox Zeb Select 180mm fork
- Rockshox Vivid Select shock
- SRAM GX Eagle 12-speed drive
- Bosch CX Performance Line motor
- Bosch Powertube 800Wh battery
- SRAM DB4 brakes
- Merida Expert TR II rims on Shimano TC500 hubs
- Merida Team TR II dropper
- £6,500.00 RRP
- Merida-Bikes.com
Merida launched the eOne-Eighty back in October in Girona alongside it’s more nimble counterpart, the eOne-Sixty. A big bike for big riding, the all-alloy frame housed a Bosch CX motor and 800Wh battery, with both wheels offering up 180mm travel.
The 700 model of the eOne-Eighty comes with Rockshox Zeb and Vivid dampers, both in the Select flavour. Power is provided by a Bosch Performance Line CX motor with 85Nm on tap. This is fed by an 800Wh Bosch Powertube battery. Drivetrain comes in the form of a mechanical SRAM GX 12-speed setup, the brakes too are SRAM, DB8s in this case with HS2 rotors for better power and cooling. Wheels and finishing kit are all Merida’s own and are solid, reliable units.
A higher than average stack height and short-ish reach is aimed at the kind of riding most riders will do on this bike. Riding where big reach isn’t critical as the bike is just so planted. At the launch, I didn’t find the bike to be planted or that good at eating the chunder, plus that weight… 27kg is two shy of half my bodyweight.
When Merida let me know I had one coming to test at home, I kept an open mind. After a good chat with James Scott, Merida’s Scottish rep, he indicated that some Bosch app tuning plus faster and softer suspension brought about a markedly improved ride. He’d experienced the same issues as I had and did some digging.
My experience could not have been more night and day between the first ride in Girona vs the first ride at home. All of a sudden this tank of a bike came to life. Yes it still needed some throwing around but it was far from the lifeless beast I had ridden in Spain.
Whilst running more sag and less rebound might be a recipe for disaster on most bikes, it was the opposite on the eOne-Eighty. I also bumped the Eco and EMTB up +5 on the app, and swapped Tour out for Auto which reacts to how you’re riding at the time. The bike was planted when I wanted it to be and playful when I needed it to pop. The SRAM DB8s are every bit the anchors required for this bike too.
The only minor complaint is that on drops where you might otherwise squash to keep the bike low, the eOne-Eighty requires a different approach. All that weight out front from the battery and the chunky alloy frame means you have to keep the front wheel higher or the bike wants to return to earth a bit too quickly.
I am happy that The Big Red One came alive at home, I did fear a repeat of the experience I had in Catalonia. It really is very capable even without the update to the Bosch motor, and the solid spec means there’s nothing left wanting when you’re sending it back down the hill. The speed will only rise from here.
