Australian Mountain Bike — December 01, 2017

http://www.ambmag.com.au - 81

ESSENTIALS

BRAND Merida

MODEL One-Sixty 6000

RRP $5,999

WEIGHT 14.07kg (listed)

FROM merida.com.au

AVAILABLE SIZES S, M, L

FRAME MATERIAL Carbon/Aluminium

FORK RockShox Lyric RC

170mm

SHOCK RockShox Super

Deluxe RCT 160mm

SHIFTERS SRAM GX Eagle

DERAILLEUR SRAM GX Eagle

CRANK SRAM Descendent 32

teeth with MRP 1x

chainguard

CHAIN SRAM GX Eagle

CASSETTE SRAM XG Eagle,

12 Speed, 10-50

BOTTOM BRACKET SRAM Pressfit GXP

WHEELS DT Swiss Spline

M1900 Boost

TYRES Maxxis Minion DHR

II TR EXO 3C 2.4”

front and Maxxis

Minion DHR II TR

EXO Dual 2.4” rear

BRAKES SRAM Code R

hydraulic disc,

200mm / 180mm rotor

STEM Merida Expert

aluminium, 35mm

HANDLEBARS Merida Expert

aluminium, 760mm

SEATPOST RockShox Reverb

Stealth, 30.9mm

SADDLE Prologo Nago X20

TESTED

these trails and made me thankful of the long
travel and extra room to play with even if I was
stretched out.

OUR TAKE

Merida set out with the One-Sixty to make ‘the
perfect enduro machine for today’s toughest
tracks’. They wanted a bike that would be
incredibly stable at speed and would inspire
confidence in the rider. For these points, I think
Merida hit the nail on the head as the One-Sixty
was a great feeling bike when smashing laps of
these kinds of trails. For taller riders that seek
room to move on the bike, the long geometry will
feel like home.

Away from the bike, Merida do seem to have
a ‘lesser’ tag to their name, and aren’t often
associated with making bikes for ‘true’ mountain
bikers – whoever they are! With the length issue
aside, the One-Sixty was an awesome bike with

a great build and excellent finish that could be

the dream bike for certain riders. Whatever these

perceptions are based on I would have to say from

my experience with the One-Sixty that they are

not well founded.

The One-Sixty 6000 tested here is the second of

three bikes in the One-Sixty line up. The top of the

range 8000 adds $1,000 from the 6000 model to

sit at $6,999 and includes upgrades to the Lyrik

RCT3 fork, Code RSC brakes and SRAM XO1 Eagle

groupset. As far as comparisons go, the 6000

looks like the pick of the bunch for most riders

that just want a burly enduro bike to ride shuttle

runs and mini downhill tracks on without fussing

with suspension. Is this bike any good then? I

would say a resounding yes. Sure, it didn’t suit

me perfectly, but I made do and had a heap of fun

seeing how far I could push it on fast and rough

trails. If a long and burly enduro weapon is what

you have always wanted, then give the One-Sixty

range a go!