Merida One-Forty 1-B

Merida is one of the biggest bike companies most people have never heard of; while they probably make more bikes than anyone else on the planet, a large percentage of their work is done for other brands. With their design base in Europe, it seems completely logical that they would be swept up in the storm of the ‘enduro’ MTB scene, and for 2014 they’ve released the One-Forty B to answer that call.

Although it’s not the first time Merida has made a 140mm travel dual suspension rig, the One-Forty B is a complete departure from the One-Forty of old. It uses a new suspension system, completely revised tube shapes and geometry, and as you may have guessed from the moniker, the oh-so-enduro 650B wheel size. With a three model range starting at $2,599 for the 5-B and ending with our range-topping 1-B at $4,299, the price is certainly right for this lesser known brand to start getting more recognition Down Under. As the 130-160mm travel ‘do everything’ bike is rapidly becoming the go-to machine for many mountain bikers, Merida may well be on track to building the perfect beast to fulfil all your trail riding dreams.

One of the reasons Merida makes so many bikes for other brands is the quality of their workmanship, and the One-Forty B is no exception. Most of the frame welds are post-dressed for a smoother finish and the pivot hardware and machining is all top quality. From front to back it’s stiff and solid, and despite our test bike being a previously used member of the Merida Demo Fleet, it remained creak-free for the two months that we had it on test—with reasonable maintenance we’d expect it to remain that way.

Our large One-Forty B-1 came in at 13.5kg (3,250g for frame and shock) which is about average and completely acceptable, particularly in light of how solid the frame feels. Although there’s plenty of hydroforming evident in the varying cross sections of the main frame tubes, the relatively straight lines lend an understated and classic look that we really liked. That said, we weren’t overly impressed with slight upward curve of the top tube; it may create a clean aesthetic line to the seat stays but it does slightly reduce standover clearance—an extra 5-10mm here can be the difference between stepping off the bike painlessly, and going from a baritone to a tenor in the blink of an eye.

We’re also not sold on the bumble bee yellow graphics, and would have preferred if the One-Forty B had stuck completely with the tonal grey script it uses in other places. Black frames look great with grey, or white, or red highlights; anything else is just going to date. On a more functional note, the inclusion of bottle mounts will please those who like to get out for a quick pre-work blast while the threaded bottom bracket shell is easy to maintain and ensures compatibility with a huge range of cranks (although some may bemoan the lack of ISCG mounts). You’ll also find a direct mount for the rear brake and the front derailleur plus a 142x12mm Maxle tying the rear of the frame together.

Internal cable routing for both derailleurs plus the dropper seatpost keeps the frame lines clean, and the large exit port makes it relatively simple to feed the cables through the frame; we prefer to ride bikes than go fishing for cables. While locating the exit ports is easy, the outer gear housing is split into three separate parts. This provides more opportunities for dirt to infiltrate and makes cable replacement more involved than it needs to be. At least it wouldn’t be hard to modify it and run one continuous length of outer housing.

Parts Parcel

There’s no doubt that whoever did the component selection for the 140-B had their finger firmly on the pulse; there’s very little, if anything, that most riders will want to change. Stop and go is handled almost exclusively by Shimano XT parts; there’s XT front and rear derailleurs, shifters, cranks and brakes (including IceTech rotors and pads). The only exceptions are the chain which comes from KMC and the cassette is sourced from the equally capable and only marginally heavier SLX group. It’s also nice to see that the shifters and brake levers have been bolted together with Shimano I-Spec mounts, which goes a long way towards keeping the handlebar uncluttered. A bike of this nature begs for a dropper seatpost, and Merida have equipped the One-Forty B with one of the best; a Rockshox Reverb with ‘stealth’ internal hose routing. The 740mm wide bar and relatively short 60mm stem are perfectly proportioned to round out the cockpit on an aggressive trail bike.

Fox CTD suspension front and rear keeps the wheels tracking the ground, and whilst the Performance series dampers may not have the flashy Kashima coating, we think they give up little, if any, performance to the more expensive ‘Factory’ units. Riders focused on descending might argue that it’d be better to forgo the fork’s TALAS travel adjust function and upgrade from 32mm stanchions to the substantially stiffer 34mm option, but for many riders the ability to drop the front end on steep climbs may well be of greater benefit—you can’t please all the people all the time!

We were particularly taken by the Sun Ringlé Charger Expert wheels; the 23mm internal width gives good support to wide tyres at low pressures, and the BST tubeless profile licensed from NoTubes means setting them up tubeless is an absolute doddle. They come pre-taped from the factory and we never burped air or lost pressure, even running tyres around 23-25psi. Their weight is reasonable without being exceptional, but they’ve held up well to our rocky and unforgiving trails. The 36 point (10-degree) clutch engagement of the freehub is a bonus too; it’s fast enough to ensure you can get some power down when ratcheting the pedals on technical climbs.

Lowdown Slacker

Mountain bike geometry has changed dramatically in the last few years; more capable suspension has allowed for much faster and more aggressive riding, and frame proportions have changed in keeping with that trend. The most pronounced alterations have been for top tubes and wheelbases to get longer, bottom brackets to get lower, and head angles to get slacker. Merida are clearly aware of the direction that MTB geometry is headed, because the One-Forty B’s 67-degree head angle would have suited a freeride bike five years ago, the 1,190mm wheelbase of our large (19-inch) test bike wouldn’t be out of place on a DH rig and at 326mm high the bottom bracket sits closer to the ground than on any other bike we’ve come across. It’s so long, low, and slack that it brings to mind the image of a dachshund being ridden by a dwarf—serious belly-scraping stuff!

One aspect of the One-Forty B’s geometry that confused us was the chainstay length; at 449mm it’s as long as the rear centre on many 29ers. Long chainstays add stability at speed, but they also make it harder to loft the front wheel and tend to make bike handling lethargic rather than spritely. With an outer wheel diameter that’s not really that much larger than an old-school 26er, we’d have expected to find a more compact rear end on the One-Forty B.

Merida suspension has undergone a dramatic transformation since the last time we saw it, moving from a linkage-driven single pivot to their new VPK dual-link design. Whilst we actually liked the old system, there’s no question that dual-link designs give engineers a greater degree of freedom when it comes to independently tuning specific suspension parameters such as leverage ratio, chain growth, axle path and pedal kickback.

The VPK equipped One-Forty B motors along smoothly even on rough sections of trail without suffering from masses of pedal kickback, it remains active under brakes and it feels exceptionally supple on small roots and other trail chatter. The only issue was that it seemed to blow through its travel too easily—at least that was our experience when we first hit the trail on the One-Forty. Even running 15% sag it seemed eager to slam the shock into the bottom out bumper on any drop over 50cm; not what you expect from an ‘enduro’ bike.

The problem was easily solved by fitting a large volume reducer to the shock’s air can. To our surprise it already had a medium size spacer fitted as standard—the way it behaved initially we expected to find no spacer fitted at all. It’s worth bearing in mind that air shocks get much more progressive as the base air pressure increases, so a rider weighing 80kg might not encounter this problem, but for our 65-70kg test riders it definitely needed the aftermarket fix. Once sorted out, we were able to run 25-30% sag, maintain all the positive characteristics of the suspension, and use full travel without any unwarranted bottoming out.

Be Quick

There’s a reason dragsters are about three times as long as a normal car and have just about enough ground clearance to slide a deck of cards under them; it makes them incredibly stable at high speed. The design team at Merida may or may not have modelled the One-Forty B off a quarter miler, but they certainly came up with the same formula.

Enduro races are all about screaming down the mountain as fast as you can and then mooching your way back to the top for the next run. Since the One-Forty B is an enduro bike, you’d expect it to be designed to maximise descending speed whilst being efficient enough to pedal back up without sapping all of your energy. There’s no disputing that the long, low, slack ethos of the black Merida makes it feel superbly planted when you point it down anything steep, and the supple suspension keeps the wheels tracking the dirt come what may.

With the cranks sitting so close to the ground you feel utterly within the bike through any sort of turn; whether bermed, flat or off-camber it encourages some fairly lunatic cornering speeds. The Nobby Nics with their fast rolling and hard wearing Pacestar compound have excellent mechanical grip on softer soils where the tread blocks can bite in, but they can be treacherous on exposed roots or rocks—swap them out if they’re not going to suit your local trail surfaces.

The supple suspension and long chainstays allow the Merida to climb surprisingly well for something so gravity oriented, and we had no trouble scrambling up loose and steep pinches that give many other bikes pause. We did encounter a few dilemmas with larger steps; the long rear end made it harder to get the front wheel up and over big obstacles, particularly if the run in was slow or short. All said though, it’s a very capable climber on less technical terrain, and many riders may be surprised by what it’ll allow you to winch your way up and over.

Nonetheless, the reason you don’t see many drag cars being used off-road is pretty simple; ground clearance. We fully appreciate the benefits of a long wheelbase and low bottom bracket height, but for our trails and tastes Merida have taken things too far. With the suspension set with 25% sag and riding along in a straight line, the crank arms on the One-Forty B are lucky to be 10cm off the ground; add in a slight amount of bike lean or suspension compression and it makes pedalling on rough trails a game of Russian Roulette. It’s no longer a question of ‘if’ you’re going to have a pedal strike, but rather when, how often and how badly. On one familiar and rocky test loop we counted no less than 20 pedal or crank strikes whilst our two fellow riders had none. Instead of focusing on picking lines or finding extra little hits to pop off, I found myself totally consumed by pedal timing and wondering if that root was going to catch a pedal and catapult me unceremoniously over the bars.

Of course we also know that not all rides, or all riders, have a penchant for less than groomed trails. Merida has clearly designed the One-Forty B for a particular purpose. This is a bike that’s designed for descents where you’ll be carving rather than pedalling. If your uphill return is on smooth fire road, then there’ll be no issues. It excels on groomed bike-park style trails and pedalling free gravity fed descents, and if that’s how and where you ride it’ll suit you to a tee.

The issue for us is that the One-Forty B is so focused on this particular style of riding that it loses versatility on the type of trail that we often encounter. If you regularly ride on uneven, rutted and rocky trails, we think there are better bikes out there, but that’s not really what the Merida One-Forty B is designed for. As a dedicated enduro or park-style bike it works exceptionally well. The combination of well sorted components, super stable geometry and a very reasonable price make it an appealing proposition for those who want to carve turns all the way to the bottom of the hill as quickly as possible.

Thumbs Up

Excellent lateral rigidity

Long, low and slack

Well equipped for the money 

Thumbs Down

Too long and low for some

Lacks agility due to long rear centre

Specifications

Frame: Hydformed alloy VPK-Link

Shock: Fox Float CTD 140mm travel

Fork: Fox TALAS 32 CTD 15QR 140mm travel

Headset: FSA, 1 1/8 - 1 1/2

Handlebars: FSA Afterburner riser 740mm

Stem: FSA Afterburner 60mm

Shifters: Shimano XT

Front Derailleur: Shimano XT

Rear Derailleur: Shimano XT

Cassette: Shimano HG81 11/36 10-speed

Chain: KMC X-10

Cranks: Shimano XT 24/38

Bottom Bracket: Shimano

Pedals: N/A

Brakes: Shimano XT

Wheels: Sun Ringlé Charger Expert

Tyres: Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.35

Saddle: Prologo Scratch

Seatpost: Rock Shox Reverb Stealth

Weight: 13.5kg without pedals (19-inch frame 3,235g)

Available Sizes: 15.5, 17, 19 (tested) & 21-inch

Price: $4,299

Distributor: Advance Traders 1300 361 686 / www.merida.com.au