Carbon gravel bike with Shimano's excellent GRX825 Di2 groupset, Easton EC70 AX carbon wheelset and Shimano GRX820 hydraulic disc brakes.
Second generation of the Merida Silex.
The original was a ground up design that rather than take a road or cyclocross bike and re-jig the recipe, started with modern MTB inspired geometry; long top and head tubes and a short stem, offering nimble, confidence-inspiring off road handling.
It is fair to say that riding wise the original concept was incredibly well received by the press and consumers alike, at launch, it was hailed as the most comfortable and versatile bike Merida had ever made.
Over time gravel has developed and riding has evolved, splitting in to racing and adventure.
Silex remains all about the road less travelled, the spirit of adventure and camaraderie.
The Silex retains all of the key qualities that made the original so successful but becomes more off-road capable with a 1.5 degree slacker head angle and bigger volume tyres.
All frames have five sets of bottle bosses, the aluminium frame has rack mounting points offering multiple luggage carrying options for any adventure and has the ability to run internal routed dropper posts and even dynamo systems.
A week before its launch, Matej Mohoric rode to victory at the 2023 Gravel World Championships proving it is fairly handy off-road!
If we are absolutely honest, the looks of gen 1 were not to everyone's taste, the long headtube made the front end look awkward.
Gen 2 runs a revised fork design meaning you can swap to a suspension fork without affecting the geometry and visually the longer fork and shorter headtube look far more appealing.
To match the new off road capability all Silex models (with the exception of the 200) are equipped with powerful hydraulic disc brakes and 180mm rotors.
Calipers are mounted on the chainstay for better dissipation of braking forces using the flat-mount standard for a neat, flush fit.
On the carbon models calipers sit on top of CNCd aluminium Disc Cooler fins reducing operating temperatures by up to 35%; particularly important when running fully loaded.