merida race lite 900 winter/ crit bike

explosifpete

Just built myself up this merida race lite 900, I've stripped the original 2300 groupset and put some veloce on it.
It will normal be rolling on some mavic askiums, shod with conti 4 seasons but for my first ride i wanted to use the wheels from my best bike so I was feeling the difference in the frame not wheels.

I was impressed, really stiff, fantastic handling (mostly due to a full carbon tapered fork I would guess) and not a harsh ride that i expected.
I was just gonna be for the winter but will be getting used in anger for a few crits next year
Not bad for a £600 bike (with a few upgrades :P )
sorry for the wobbly photos, taken on my phone with fading light

ju5t1n

I like that. Have you weighed it?

explosifpete

just a shade under 8kg with cages,pedals garmin ect, have a carbon force chainset coming its way which should help a bit as the 105 one it is running steel rings

explosifpete

rode the chaingang tonight on the merida and it done really well.
Round the corners its the best bike i have ever ridden, sprints well, not quite as well as my kuota kom air but still decent.
Only thing I didn't love was that there is quite a bit of feed back from the backend, even with a proper carbon post my back was aching after 90min of riding hard, but i was running 120psi so that wouldn't of helped.

Defiantly recommend the merida, ride is up there with the canyon ult al and cannondale caad in my opinion but yet you can pick these up for £450 atm for a full bike

Calpol

Pretty nice bike that. Paul Milne have the frames for £300 which seems ok for a new winter trainer. Sizing looks a bit odd though. The seat tubes seem short. 54cm for the 56cm TT. What size is yours and how do you find it fit wise. you have quite a lot of seatpost showing!. None the less is a nice bike.

explosifpete

It's the size you just describe, m/L
I'm 5'10" and it's prefect, exactly the same geometry as my Kuota

housemunkey

Something about that just looks right. Liked it from the off, nice build.

Calpol

explosifpete wrote:

It's the size you just describe, m/L
I'm 5'10" and it's prefect, exactly the same geometry as my Kuota

Thanks for that. I am 6'0 so I think I would be verging on the too big but I am going to add it to my shortlist. What wheels are on it. I think they really make the bike look pretty mean.

explosifpete

Could you not just get a size large?
Wheels are Reynolds assaults , so cost about twice the price of the bike :shock:

explosifpete

strange things have happened in my stable of bikes.
My Kuota Kom air frame has gone with the centuar groupset going on a older merida scultura frame with some superlight FRM wheels. This is gonna be my bike for long rides where I want a bit of comfort, windy, wet weather days.
I've enjoyed the race lite so much I've decided to make it my best/race bike as strength and stiffness are far more important than weight to me (not that its that heavy)
Frame is gonna be sprayed matt black and then given to an artist friend for a bit of a makeover.
Fitted an SL fork from the sculura sl
Athena calipers, chours 11 speed cassette, record 11 shifters and rear mech and a truvativ rouleur carbon chainset are waiting for it!
on and a new SLR saddle as my old one has finally given up after 4 years service
Think this will be the highest spec entry level bike ever!

pinno

Not my cup of tea but a decent looking/performing machine for £600. A lot of bang for your bucks.

I don't know what rubber you are riding on but on all my hoops I have 23mm front and 25mm rear with latex inner tubes. Then I can pump them up to the max without compromising speed and you get the extra comfort. They have a similar rolling feel as tubs with that combo.
You also get the extra couple of mm contact with the tarmac, which is always beneficial especially in winter.

John Clark1

That's sweet for 600 notes - where did you get it if you don't mind me asking. Very tempted as it looks so cool.

explosifpete

from the bike shop i work at 8)
£600 is full retail, they were available for about £450 but we sold out pretty quick.
As for comfort, i think it was just coincidence as it been pretty comfy since then

RideOnTime

smart blocks...

explosifpete

Lovely aren't they?
This is sainsbury gypsy proofing the old industrial estate they hope to build on

John Clark1

It is very cool - chapeau that man.

explosifpete

Frame is all stripped ready to be painted and all the lovely new bits are waiting in a box.
to answer a previous question, frame weighs 1.42kg in size 56 and the fork weighs in at 430grams

pinno

explosifpete wrote:

Frame is all stripped ready to be painted and all the lovely new bits are waiting in a box.
to answer a previous question, frame weighs 1.42kg in size 56 and the fork weighs in at 430grams

Don't put any green detail in the re-spray, it looks like a snot rocket gone wrong.

explosifpete

Might be a little be of green

FransJacques

Cool bike, that's the kind of great race bike for Hog Hill or the cyclopark. You're at no disadvantage in the race and you're not too scared to throw it into corners and ride the snot outta it.

Only thing is your bars are rotated quite far upwards making the drops at quite an acute angle. Do you ride the drops a lot? I imagine your wrists would be cocked upwards and could lead to a bit of discomfort? One option could be to ooch the levers a bit higher on bar (keeping your saddle to levers constant) then rotate the bars down a smidge to improve the angle of the drops. But I could be accused of being picky about these things.

explosifpete

They are flat now, but I do like them like that and yes I spend most of a race on the drops

explosifpete

back from the paint shop
probably should of waited so i could have the decals lacquered over

explosifpete

Put a couple more bits on it tonight.
Not sure about which chainset to go with, I have a truvativ rouleur carbon one but it doesn't look right, may swap it for the sram force one on my other bike

explosifpete

All finished and some lovely grainy photos of it
Looking forward to summers evenings riding it in anger :twisted:

Paul 8v

Shame you didn't line the wheels up as per the OCP guidelines

Looking good mate like an F117 Nighthawk, has this replaced the Kuota now then?

Need to get the Saturday lad to give that door a lick of paint

Paul 8v

PS No Essex geeza gold chain?

explosifpete

sadly I did line them up and then someone came in and moved it! and your right the door is filthy isn't it! must give it a freshen up soon.
Gold chain is now on the cross bike, this is running 11 speed so has a super thin one and yeah an entry level alloy frame has replaced a top end carbon one, but it good enough for the likes of me and the bike still only weighs 7.4kg with pedals and cages, this said if i built the KOM up with thes I would lose about 600grams making it almost weight weenie!

FransJacques

That looks really really great. Did you weigh the frame pre and post paint? Did you drop any grams?

Is that a Menorah or continental Christmas thing?

explosifpete

I weighed it before but can't remember what it weighed, think it was about 1450grams

explosifpete

Made a few changes to my race/blast abot for an hour bike.

It now sports a record 11 groupset with a super record ceramic titanium chainset and a athena rear mech (ti bolts and ceramic jockey wheels)
Zipp sl bars stem, bar tape and post, I did have a pro sprint bar on which i liked but wanted to keep matching
Contemplating a chris king rear hub as the reynolds one is mega noisy and not great for hiding in people's slipstream!

Paul 8v

Tit bolts? I never knew you were in to that?

Two bottle cages for an hour? Thirsty man!