Merida Cyclo Cross 500 - all rounder

bold seagull

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/bikes/cyclo-cross/product/review-merida-cyclo-cross-500-49644/

Both reviews on here and on RoadCC give a good account of the bike, but not really much on it being a decent winter tarmac / sportive / club ride kind of bike, get some mud guards on it, a good ride around town for meetings etc.

I get the impression it doesn't have fixings for full mudguards - although I might be wrong?

This would be a bike I'd probably take up on the South Downs, family rides, winter road club rides, and perhaps some actual cyclocross training the club run during the week. There is one for sale close to me at a very good price, hardly ridden. I'll give it a ride of course, but nothing like a bit of advice to make an informed decision.

skyblue337

I recently bought one but have only really used it for off road and CX. It seems perfectly fine on road sections, hardly any different than a normal road bike bar the knobbly tyres.

Front mudguard attachment looks like a pain with a downward facing mount on the underside of the fork bridge and rearward facing mounts on the fork legs

bold seagull

skyblue337 wrote:

I recently bought one but have only really used it for off road and CX. It seems perfectly fine on road sections, hardly any different than a normal road bike bar the knobbly tyres.

Front mudguard attachment looks like a pain with a downward facing mount on the underside of the fork bridge and rearward facing mounts on the fork legs

Cheers, I bought it as it felt good, nice geometry for me. One thing noticeable that we negotiated on price a bit was that the cranks felt a bit stiffer than normal. Might be the BB but it might be that is how it is. Probably take it into the LBS to have a look. Anything you've noticed yourself on yours?

StillGoing

I looked at it for a winter trainer/turbo bike, but because the reviews and Merida's own definition of it made it a bit lardy, I opted for a Merida Ride instead. There's enough clearance for mudguard adapters, but no mudguard mounts, but then I don't use mudguards.