Merida Silex 700 review

Sitting in the upper end of the gravel range from Merida, the Silex 700 delivers a no-nonsense package of reliable components, parts and a geometry that brings a stable ride feel. Its geometry vaguely references mountain bikes, which makes for a really excellent ride feel, on road or off, blurring the line between road and mountain in a fast, fun bike.

• The best gravel and adventure bikes you can buy for under £1000
• Review: Bombtrack Hook EXT-C – capable and fun big tyred adventure machine
• Buyer’s guide to gravel and adventure bikes – everything you need to know

This exact model isn’t available in the UK currently, so my focus is mostly on the frame, fork and ride. Built from AL-6066, which has marginally better fatigue strength that more common 6061, the frame features some heavily manipulated and shaped parts – namely the head tube and main tubes, which are bold and striking, with a ‘is-that-carbon?’ look at first glance.

• Buy a Merida Silex 600 now from Tredz

This smooth look is achieved by a second pass over the welding. They are hydroformed into the specific shapes, with the triple butted tubing which produces a good strength to weight ratio. The frame is the same as the 600 but the 600 has a 1X drive chain. The deep glow black has a glitter in it, and the light blue offsets this – its a fairly understated look, but pretty cool.

This solid and shaped head tube keeps everything feeling tight and together, and despite what looks like a slightly too high head tube, only encourages you to ride in the drops more. This position of being in the drops is comfortable and gives the bike a stable, but quick handling feel – especially on more rough gravel, with potholes or large bumps. Riding on the tops is also good and stable, especially when climbing as I found my chest and arms are more open, and helping my lungs a little, as opposed to being more cramped in.

The rear stays are flattened and shaped to reduce vibration and minimise road and gravel ‘buzz’ – it is doesn’t have the cliched aluminium feel, but is no slouch to delivering forward momentum from stomping the pedals. I liked the whole feel of the ride – balanced, as in not surprising at any point. The shaped chain stays meant no heel clipping moments, which is a treat for me, as I usually scuff frames due to my in-turned cleat positions. The bolt through skewers on the Fulcrum wheelset keeps everything nice and tight – and that extra degree of togetherness on the frame. 

With heaps of clearance both at the chain and seat stays, it meant the 35c Maxxis tyres had tonnes of clearance, and you could fit larger size in and sacrifice a bit of clearance for some more offroad or more cushioning with some tread. The centre slick Maxxis Razzd felt quite thin initially, but help up well across the test period, with no punctures. 

The full Ultegra groupset was flawless, with the smooth Shimano shifting – the brakes also perfect and reliable. I’m not going into the rest of the kit, but it’s all own brand and perfectly reliable – the handlebars could have been a touch wider for a little more additional stability, but certainly no huge issue. The cabling is all internally routed and clamped in place to eliminate cable rattle. 

Up at the head tube, the high position and actual length are intentionally there to reduce the need for loads of spacers that some people opt for – you also get a far better-looking bike. The length of the top tube is slightly offset by the shorter stem and compact drops – which are both quite short but work well with the frame. I think you could get a flat bar on there, which would be an interesting experiment, as I don’t think it’d throw out the ride quality too much. 

The fork is quite unique looking when you examine it closely. Full carbon, and shaped with plenty of material – there are also rack mounts on the legs. The fork has great steering, with the 12mm through axle, and I felt they provided good damping on small vibrations. There are also mudguard mounts if required.  The dropouts are square shaped and I think this aids in the steering precision, and providing strength.

Immediately from the first clip in, it feels great, and more so sunk into the drops and pointing it downhill. This planted ride feel is down to the long top tube meaning I could work the bike around me, with plenty of room to move the bike around with just little movements, but without it feeling nervous. It’s a size large and perhaps a tiny bit tall for me, at 5ft 10” but the bike felt fine and it wasn’t a particularly large issue, save for the reduced top tube clearance. 

Out of the saddle, climbing was good on road, feeling surprising spritely for the larger tyres – the slick centre tread helping. On loose off-road climbs, the slight side edges gave a little more confidence, but are obviously limited if things get really muddy. On twisty fast single track or gravel paths, its happy with quick weight transfer, and the stability of the ride is helpful in that.

I really like the way Merida has thought about geometry and not been too afraid to move on the idea of how a gravel bike could be, or even more how a bike capable of doing a lot of things well. Saying the bike is capable and fun is underplaying it – this bike happily takes on gravel and milder offroad surfaces, and is fun and rewarding on smooth off-road trails where the geometry encourages you to explore beyond the capability of the tyres.

You might also like:

• How to prepare for your first gravel race – kit, bike setup and training
• Bikepacking basics: bike repair and first-aid kit