Pete uses a three-day enduro at the other end of the country as a suitable first run out for the Merida One-Forty 6000.
Having otherwise completed the non-motorised, full suspension range from Merida, and with The Merida EX Enduro afoot, Pete took the opportunity to get between the tape on the Merida One-Forty 6000.
Photos as credited.
Key features:
- Marzocchi Z1 Air 150mm fork
- Rockshox Deluxe Select + shock
- Shimano XT/SLX 12-speed drive
- Shimano SLX 4-piston brakes
- Merida Expert TR rims on Shimano SLX hubs
- Merida Team TR dropper
- £4,500.00 RRP
- Merida-Bikes.com
The Merida One-Forty was launched at the same time as the One-Sixty, revamping the geometry and frame layout to a much more modern silhouette. With a 143mm rear wheel travel and full 29″ as stock, you can run it as a Mullet if you so wish. Having ridden all the other full suspension Meridas outside of ebikes, the One-Forty was the only one remaining.
With that in mind, I headed south to put the One-Forty 6000 through its paces at the 2024 edition of The Merida Ex Enduro. Three days of taking in the very best Exmoor has to offer. Namely some punchy climbs and a host of well-worn and event-only freshies that would get me very familiar with the new bike.
The One-Forty 6000 is the base spec of the two carbon fibre models available, but is by no means short on solid kit for it. You get a Marzocchi Z1 Air fork offering up 150mm travel, a Deluxe Select+ shock managing the rear, Shimano XT and SLX liberally applied in the drivetrain, brakes and hub departments, with another liberal application of Merida’s own finishing kit. Tyres are a fast Minion DHF on the front and a Dissector on the rear.
Geometry
The One-Forty is available in XShort, Short, Mid, Long and XLong.
Reach on the Mid is 480mm with a seat tube of 425mm. Head angle is 65 degrees with a seat tube angle of 80 degrees. Chainstays are 437.5mm across the sizes, with the wheelbase on the Mid at 1232mm.
Opening moves
With the dampers having only basic adjusters, I set the sag, tested the rebound, wound the brake levers in and we were mostly set. Rebound seemed suitably fast out of the box. I still have to remind myself to bed the brakes in before going straight on in a turn even now, so that was the next task to take care of.
Out of the pits, the bike felt fast, the Maxxis rubber offering little in the way of resistance, although I did wonder how much grip they’d offer on what would very likely be slick trails. Almost immediately, the stiff climbs kicked in and the 80 degree seat tube angle made things very easy indeed.
On stage one, the One-Forty felt familiar enough to give it some beans, and stages I recognised from last year were dispatched with far more confidence. Slowly but surely I’d get the measure of the bike and build the speed through the weekend.
Stage 5 of the 10 we did on the Saturday was where my eyes lit up and I forgot what bike I was on. Steep, compacted, shaly turns had a mainline rut that wasn’t too inviting, preceded by some flat, blown out turns. I opted to go high on all of them and the bike came with me, no questions asked. As the terrain steepened, the bike almost encouraged me to mix the lines up despite the lack of grip. We were flying.
Despite a by-then horrific mid-stage climb on stage 8, the fresh loamers in between more than made up for it. I got caught by an ebike with OffRoad.cc’s Liam Mercer aboard on the climb, with him indicating that “I’d catch him in three seconds anyway”. Challenge accepted. I decided to put Liam’s theory to the test.
Any reservations about the bike’s ability fell by the wayside. The bike just wanted to charge. No fuss, no surprises. The One-Forty is proof positive that you don’t need slack head angles and mountains of travel to rally off road. Very much looking forward to getting to know this bike better on home turf.
