mountain bikes: Test: Merida One Twenty 8000 – Lively, agile and suitable for touring?

Test: The Merida One Twenty 8000 is also starting the 2019 season with "only" 120mm, but the frame and equipment have been given a trail-heavy makeover and the tame tourer has been conjured up into a lively trail bike.

Merida One Twenty 8000: frame and geometry

The Merida One Twenty - judging by the name - is not a new bike in the portfolio of the two-wheeler giant from Merida. The short-travel all-rounder also appears to match last year's model in terms of looks. On closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that with a few adjustments to the geometry and equipment, the former touring bike has been turned into a veritable trail bike that doesn't need to hide from other bikes of this type - although the 2019 One Twenty still does offers 'only' 120mm travel at the rear and 130mm at the front.

For the test, we took the One Twenty 8000, the second most expensive equipment variant for 6.799 euros. Like the top model, which is almost 2.000 euros more expensive, it comes with the extremely light CF4 carbon frame, which makes an excellent impression both visually and technically. For the rear end, Merida relies on the well-known, floating Full Floater, which promises a suspension that is easy to absorb, but which, thanks to the high pivot point, should not tend to teeter too much even on uphill sections. The damper comes in the modern trunnion mount standard and gets a comparatively large stroke out of a short overall length - the result is a lower transmission ratio and a theoretically smoother response. This is further supported by the ball bearing on the upper damper eye.

The routing of the lines and cables is also very nicely solved: They all run completely inside the frame, small metal plates are used at the inputs and outputs, which allow the lines to be clamped and thus kept under tension; No rattling!

Already touched on at the beginning, the Merida One Twenty 2019 surprises with an extremely modern geometry that has been adjusted in some points compared to the previous year. The shorter seat tube allows more freedom of movement and a dropper post with more stroke, the flatter steering angle and the longer reach ensure smooth running. But to keep the bike from losing its liveliness, Merida shortened the chainstays by 10mm.

Merida One Twenty 8000: Features

Yes, just under 7.000 euros is a lot of wood for a bike - nevertheless: With the Merida One Twenty 8000 you get a complete package for this price, for which the MTB fan has to put a lot more on the table with one or the other manufacturer. The performance of the X01 Eagle drive from Sram is at the level of the top group XX1 and the few grams of extra weight can definitely be coped with in view of the lower price; especially since Merida fortunately does not "cheat" and does not use the cheaper GX Eagle components for the shifter and the cassette like some other manufacturers. The Rock Shox chassis with the Deluxe RT3 damper at the rear and the Pike RCT3 with 130mm travel at the front may not win a trophy at the ice cream parlor, but it doesn't have to hide on the trail and can keep up with the crème de la crème - especially since in the travel range in which the One Twenty moves.

We were happy about the Code RSC brakes: At first glance, the grapple from Sram may seem oversized for a bike like the Merida, but thanks to the good controllability and the only minimal additional weight compared to the significantly weaker Guide brakes, the Code is also on an excellent choice for a short-travel bike and shows the new orientation of the once tame touring bike. The tires also point in a similar direction: The Minion DHR II at the front would also look good on one or the other enduro and thanks to the all the more easily rolling forekaster at the rear, the Merida doesn't get too sluggish even with these tires.

A highlight of the equipment in this price range is the FSA Gradient LTD wheelset, whose carbon rims have an inner width of 29mm and can also easily cope with wide tires. Solid standard fare is provided by the in-house cockpit with a pleasingly short stem and 760mm wide handlebars. The dropper post comes from Kind Shock: the tried-and-tested LEV Integra offers 150mm of adjustment from frame size M and is still one of the lightest dropper posts on the market.

Merida One Twenty 8000: On the trail

If you give the One Twenty the spurs, it willingly moves forward. No wonder, a 29er with 120 millimeters of travel can also be a marathon fully. That's not the Merida. Nevertheless, it climbs willingly, almost happily, towards the summit. This is due to the seating position, which all testers found to be sporty, the manageable weight and probably also the comparatively light wheels. However, the damper should be calmed down via the compression stage. You can also tell that things are going quickly because all testers got along well with the 32 chain ring, a gear ratio that was criticized on other bikes in the test field.

When you get to the top so well, you usually have to make compromises on the descent. That's not true with the One Twenty. Of course, the suspension travel of 120 millimeters at the rear and 130 millimeters at the front does not iron out bathtub-sized holes. Nevertheless, the rear end in particular is surprising, it is so powerful that the slightly longer travel fork has to fight. The Merida isn't super maneuverable, but it is surprisingly smooth and good-natured, more than you would expect from a 120mm bike. This is due to the length and the good rear triangle. The smooth running also gives you a good feeling, nothing rattles or rattles on the wheel.

When it comes to equipment, you stick to solid and proven components. The FSA Gradient Carbon wheels exude a bit of luxury and leave a good impression - in the past, some other carbon rims didn't really inspire confidence. With others, on the other hand, we had the feeling that they were extremely hard, it shook the seals out of the driver's teeth. The FSA Gradient knew how to convince on both points. The Sram XO circuit and the Code RSC brakes work perfectly, as does the Kind Shox seat post. There is nothing to complain about in terms of function or operation, everything does exactly what it should. We like the Maxxis tire combo, especially the Minion at the front provides security. The in-house cockpit is not particularly exciting, but functionally there is absolutely nothing to complain about. The only thing that bothered me was the rather narrow and hard Prologo saddle, which gives you a bit of a cross-country feeling.