A well-composed gravel bike that nudges into mountain bike territory
Words Joseph Delves Photography Patrik Lundin
Merida is among the world’s largest bicycle manufacturers and creates bikes for many well-known brands along with its own headline range.
Its original Silex gravel bike was released in 2017 and was a rebuttal to anyone who imagined the firm’s immense scale might result in timid design.
It featured radical mountain bike-inspired geometry that was longer and slacker than anything from other mainstream makers, but it suffered from builds based on narrow tyres, while the bike’s gangly looks didn’t help matters either.
As a result, the Silex at first didn’t gain the traction managed by some of its competitors.
This most recent redesign, however, sees the bike gain a rugged profile to match its already capable handling.
It arrives on wide 45mm tyres and, in the case of this top-end model, a wishlist build kit that includes Sram’s gravel-specific dropper post.
Given its adventure billing, it might have seemed slightly incongruous to see Matej Mohorič win the Gravel World Champs aboard the Silex last year.
That is until you look at what he did to adapt the bike, a process that included swapping down a frame size, ditching the dropper post along with every headset spacer, fitting an incredibly long stem, switching to narrower tyres and attaching a 2x road chainset.
So, despite nicking the rainbow bands ahead of more race-oriented bikes, the stock Silex remains geared for adventure.
Its latest makeover is the endpoint of a trend towards confirming this application while increasing its overall beefiness.
Over several iterations its tubes have gone from slender and swooping to staunch and squared off.
This latest version also features dramatically dropped chainstays that help accommodate wide tyres while emphasising how low the bottom bracket sits to the ground.
The head tube has been shortened, with the difference made up by the fork which, should you so choose, allows for a switch to suspension without messing up the handling.
The head angle has also slackened to a mountain bike-esque 69.5° for stable handling.
Tyre clearance has been upped to 45mm and you can now fit 42mm tyres with mudguards.
There’s also room for 180mm brake rotors front and back for extra stopping power.
Looked at in profile, you’d now be hard-pressed to tell the frame apart from a modern hardtail mountain bike.
Both frame and fork are dotted with numerous mounting points for all kinds of bikepacking luggage options, although there’s no native ability to fit a rear rack.
You’ll also find a magnetic Fidlock attachment for cage-free bottle retention on the down tube, should you want it. Cabling is handled via Merida’s Wire Port cable management system, which sees the control lines disappear into the headset.
There’s even hidden routing for a dynamo for lighting or charging devices in the back of beyond.
Claimed weights are 1,220g for the frame and 540g for the fork.
An adventurous build
The 10K is the no-expense-spared, luxury end of the Silex range.
At the entry level you can get an alloy Silex 200 for around $1,799 with a Shimano Sora groupset, but in the rarefied environment of the 10K model you get a top-spec combination of Sram’s finest gravel and mountain bike components.
This sees a 12-speed X01 Eagle AXS rear derailleur and 10-52t cassette operated by Red AXS shifters and backed by matching Red AXS brakes.
Paired with a single 42t front chainring, the drivetrain is pleasingly simple and provides a huge range of gear ratios.
A double click of the shifter buttons activates the Reverb XPLR AXS dropper post, which uses the same clip-on battery and wireless activation as the gears.
The whole system is extremely neat and you also get a built-in Quarq power meter.
Wheels are high-end and high-performance Reynolds Blacklabel G700 Pros.
These feature shallow depth and broad profile carbon rims.
Their low mass, torsional stiffness and vibration-damping properties give flight to the bike, a facet boosted by the speedy pickup of their Industry Nine hubs.
As an aftermarket purchase, they’d cost in excess of $3,000.
They come fitted with tubeless Maxxis Rambler EXO tyres in a 45mm size, which are the widest the bike will take and add serious off-road grip and plenty of float.
However, racers might want to ditch a bit of width and knobbliness to help up the pace.
Unsurprisingly, they also drag a bit on the road but that’s largely beside the point
. Much has been made of the Silex’s mountain bike-like geometry.
This is manifest in a high front end, lengthy top tube, low bottom bracket and slack head angle.
All sizes share an 80mm stem in the interest of consistent handling.
The result is a feeling of sitting on the bike rather than being perched atop, which provides an excellent basis for attacking technical terrain.
Its upright geometry also has the additional benefit of being easy on your back.
In fact, despite its radical billing, some elements of the Silex’s geometry aren’t a million miles divorced from what you’d find on a touring bike.
One upshot is that you should stay comfortable all day regardless of the terrain you point it at.
Given Merida’s talk about the Silex’s mountain bike capabilities, I was keen to get to mucking around off-road.
Two skids and a couple of bunnyhops later, I can confirm the Silex provides the most fun I’ve had out of a drop bar bike on mountain bike-style trails.
The geometry and grip from the tyres encourage ripping about, however the extremely light frame and wheels mean it outsprints a mountain bike in moderate conditions.
In this instance, the lack of front suspension is a plus, ensuring the bike feels taut rather than wallowing and doesn’t rob you of forward momentum. This is particularly noticeable uphill.
Downhill, the bike is a blast, with loads of grip and just enough give to be comfy.
I personally reckon the moment you start wanting to lower the saddle on your gravel bike remotely is the exact moment you’d be better served by a mountain bike.
Nevertheless, the Reverb XPLR AXS seatpost will be a hit with many riders and provides 50mm of confidence boosting travel that’s intuitively activated via the wireless Sram shifters.
More off than on
So, what’s the Silex for? There’s plenty of riding in the world where even an XC mountain bike feels overkill, but a gravel bike isn’t enough.
Roads like this are great on the Silex. It’s an example of how a couple of millimetres added to your tyres and a degree or two on the geometry can tip a bike into a whole new category.
Of course, this tipping of the balance affects other areas too. Unless you undertake a Mohorič style rebuild, the Silex is unlikely to win any races.
Its super-wide gearing is also best suited to sudden and extreme variations in pace and gradient.
However, it’s still competent enough on broken roads or well-tended gravel to allow you to switch off your brain, thanks to its steady handling and squishy tyres.
At the same time, those fancy Reynolds Blacklabel G700 Pro wheels and a lightweight build mean it’s never sluggish.
And while the Silex might not be a natural competitor, its extra capacity provides a similarly composed ride once loaded up.
This is an improvement over many gravel bikes that don’t have the tyres or handling to make loaded use enjoyable.
By comparison, you’d struggle to say the Silex is exciting to ride on the tarmac, even if a switch of tyres could still make it a passable super-tanker style tourer or sedate road bike.
Either way, it’s never a bike that lacks utility.
THE SPEC
Model Merida Silex 10K
Price $10,999
Weight 8.9kg (large)
Groupset Sram Red XPLR AXS
Deviations Sram X01 Eagle AXS rear derailleur, Sram XG-1295 cassette, Sram X01 Eagle chain
Wheels Reynolds Blacklabel G700 Pro
Finishing kit Easton EC70 AX bars, Merida Team CC stem, Sram Reverb XPLR AXS seatpost, Prologo Scratch M5 AGX saddle, Maxxis Rambler EXO TR 45mm tyres
Contact merida-bikes.com/en-au
