80 -AMB
TESTED
With the ‘fun’ stuff finally out of the way, let’s go
downhill! Just before dropping in, it was time to
lower the RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper. The
action of the hydraulic lever was very smooth and
remained that way for the entire test. I’ve used
cable actuated droppers in the past and can see
the benefits of a hydraulic post, apart from the
slightly fiddly installation and maintenance, it was
a smooth action. Getting on the gas in the lead up
to and on the trail did highlight one problem with
the gearing. The shifts were good but the 32-tooth
chain ring was very small for a downhill oriented
bike. This is obviously a personal preference, but
for me, I would go for a 34t minimum to give me
a nicer gear to pedal at speed. Pedalling at 32-12
or 14, so right down the cassette, doesn’t feel that
great and also means it’s a long way to go back up
the cassette if you get surprised by a pinch climb.
Tipping into the first few corners on a new bike
can sometimes tell you all you need to know
about how it rides. With the One-Sixty, the first
few corners were lent into with a lot of speed
and confidence. The Maxxis Minions hooked up
great with their aggressive tread and their thick
side walls giving support when it was needed.
The Merida branded handlebar felt great and at
760mm it was a nice width that suited me. The
short 35mm stem kept me in a slack position,
which benefited the handling when it got steep.
Flat-out trails with rough rock gardens, roots and
braking bumps is where the long geometry plays
best. It keeps you planted on the trail and allows
you room to move around, if that is to your liking.
The suspension does a great job of aiding the
long geometry in keeping a stable platform. Both
the fork and shock are second tier offerings from
RockShox, which means less fiddly dials but still
great performance. Perfect for people not wanting
to spend hours adjusting their suspension before
riding. My settings were easy to pinpoint with only
a few adjustments away from the recommended
baselines. With some more time, I would throw
some extra tokens into the fork and shock for
more support as they did feel a bit soft even at
just under 20% sag.The extra room offered by the long geometry in
the rough stuff was good and meant you had the
room to manoeuvre, though it wasn’t really for me.
It certainly aided in stability and I was confident in
rough and steep terrain, but as I’m not very tall,
I felt a bit too stretched out even on the medium.
This made it hard to get over the front of the bike
when I needed to, such as getting through corners
or over obstacles. It also felt a bit cumbersome in
tight and twisty trails where you need to flick the
bike around and didn’t really pop over things as
easily as I would expect a bike with 27.5” wheels
and 430mm chainstays to do. That being said, I did
admire the merits of the ‘long’ One-Sixty. It felt
great to be stable at speed and the sections of trail
that played to the One-Sixty’s strengths showed it
as a very capable enduro weapon.The lack of agility in tight terrain due to the
long geometry was no doubt amplified by the
170/160mm of travel front and rear. This is
standard for a 27.5” enduro bike with 29ers
running 10mm+ less, though when paired with the
long geometry it doesn’t equal the kind of feeling
I would want to be able to tackle a wide variety of
trails. The tighter trails of Bright weren’t attacked
with the same agility as a trail bike of 130-150mm
of travel. This isn’t really a negative nor much of a
surprise, but it just means the One-Sixty is suited
to a particular style of rider and trail. Someone
that likes to be stretched out and attack fast
and rough trails all day will love this bike. This
fact showed itself when the test moved to some
downhill and enduro trails at Mt Beauty. The trails
were flat-out fast with massive holes and rock
gardens. The One-Sixty absolutely demolished“THE TRAILS WERE FLAT-
OUT FAST WITH MASSIVE
HOLES AND ROCK GARDENS.
THE ONE-SIXTY ABSOLUTELY
DEMOLISHED THESE TRAILS
AND MADE ME THANKFUL OF
THE LONG TRAVEL AND EXTRA
ROOM TO PLAY WITH...”