2018 Merida reactor da ltd Vs 2015 tarmac sworks red

Zone1090

Should I buy a brand new Meridia Reactor DA Ltd orA used 2015 tarmac s works red with power for same money? Meridia has full Dura ace group except for direct mount ultegra brakes.

StillGoing

I have the Reacto 4000 frameset but stripped everything from it and rebuilt it with my own choice of components. I'm running Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8050 with a Rotor 3D24 crankset and P2M. Wheels are Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon SL and bars 3T Aeronova. I've slummed it a bit with the brakes retaining the 105 Direct mount brakes.

The brakes work fine with Shimano levers, not so with my previous SRAM Force 22 set up. Having said that, the rear brake is a pain to set up being under the BB/chainstays, but the Ultegra version is supposed to be much improved.

As a ride, I can't fault it. Despite Merida being one of the biggest manufacturers out there and producing a lot of the frames for Specialized, I don't see many of them around when out riding. Given the choice you have and having had SRAM group sets on all of my bikes before the recent switch to Shimano on the Reacto, I'd have the Reacto.

StillGoing

For the Reacto and an easy life with the rear brake, if you’re using 25mm tyres, make sure the brake track of the wheel is 25mm. Makes wheel removal far easier.

Zone1090

Thanks. I had s works before they became popular, and I really like my 09 tarmac pro sl SRAM. But can't fit aero wheels in it. Everybody here has s works it would be nice to have something different. But I don't want to go backwards with performance. Really looking at that Reactor.

StillGoing

Aero wheels are no problem on the Reacto and if needed, it can double up as a TT bike. Lampre Merida at one stage used the Reacto as the single frames for the sprint, mountain and TT stages of Grand Tour races. They just swapped the bars and wheels for the TT.