A new Merida Reacto has appeared at the Tour de France. The brand’s aero race bike appears to have undergone significant revisions around the fork, head tube, down tube, bottom bracket and seat tube.
Last updated in 2020, the Reacto has been due a refresh, so it is unsurprising to see one at the Tour, where many brands launch, or at least tease, new bikes.
The Reacto has long been a popular choice for recreational riders, thanks to its comfortable yet fast ride. In fact, when I reviewed it in 2020, I was very impressed.
But five years is a long time in the world of bike design and racers, like Matej Mohoric, to whom this bike belongs, will always be looking for a little extra speed.
Merida may have delivered this with deeper and narrower tube profiles, taking advantage of the UCI changing the 3:1 tube depth to width ratio rule to the current 8:1 figure.
> Why the aero road bike is making a comeback
This simply allows brands to make frame tube profiles deeper, while keeping a narrow profile.
The seat tube profile seems to have changed, moving a little further from the leading edge of the rear tyre. Keeping material here so that the seat tube hugged the rear tyre more closely may have been deemed unnecessary.
If these considerations are being made, the Reacto may well be competitive with other aero bikes that get close to the UCI’s 6.8kg minimum weight limit.
A notable change from the old Reacto can be seen behind the fork crown where the fork flows into the down tube with a pronounced, angular line.
Bike designers usually use features such as this to direct or disrupt the airflow over the rest of the frame, so this could well be a feature born in the wind tunnel.
While the changes appear most evident towards the front of the bike, we’ll have to wait for Merida to reveal what gains have been made.
