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TECH NEWS

WorldTour 2017 bikes: Bahrain Merida’s race rigs

New team will race on Merida Scultura Team, Scultura Disc, Reacto Team and Warp TT

The new Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team will kick off its racing career this weekend at the Santos Tour Down Under on a very classy looking fleet of bikes from Merida.

Riders, including four-time Grand Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali, will get to select from four different models this season depending on the discipline, course, conditions and their individual preference.  

Read our guide to Merida’s 2017 road bike range here. 

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The Scultura Team is designed to be lightweight and comfortable. 

Check out our review of the Merida Scultura 6000 here. 

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The Reacto Team is designed to be aerodynamic. Merida has included numerous aero features to reduce drag. It is built around Merida's Fastback tube profiles that are based on the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 0028 airfoil.

The tail of the profile is cut square, the idea being to maintain airflow stability without causing turbulence. This also keeps the weight down and allows Merida to keep the tube dimensions within the UCI's limits.

Read our review of the Merida Reacto 5000 here.

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Team riders will ride the Warp TT in time trials. Like the Reacto, this bike uses NACA Fastback tube profiles.

The riders will be able to choose the Scultura Disc (we don't have pics of this model yet) for racing on poor roads and cobblestones. Lampre-Merida riders rode this bike in Paris-Roubaix last year before the UCI suspended the use of disc brakes in the pro peloton. It’ll be interesting to see what the take up is like for the cobbled classics this year now that discs are again permitted.

Check out our Merida Scultura Disc Team review here. 

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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5 comments

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handlebarcam | 7 years ago
1 like

Nice-looking kit, shame about the links to torture and dictatorship.

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davel | 7 years ago
0 likes

I've got a couple of Merida bikes: a Reacto and a CXer.

Good bikes. These look good in these colours. Really wish they hadn't joined up with the Bahrainian outfit.

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steviemarco | 7 years ago
0 likes

Very 'Wiggins' looking colour scheme.

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Rapha Nadal | 7 years ago
0 likes

Agreed, looks great!  The kit doesn't look too shabby either.

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peted76 | 7 years ago
0 likes

The Scultura Team model is a fantastic looking bike!

 

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