Merida Scultura Endurance Rival-Edition

The Merida Scultura Endurance Rival-Edition has allroad capabilities and is a versatile road bike with a relaxed position for longer adventures. But it does this while having the kind of angles and geometry it needs to keep the ride exciting. Comfort is also high on the agenda and a final positive is that the Scultura Endurance is reasonably well specced for the money.

> Buy now: Merida Scultura Endurance Rival-Edition for £2,799 from Leisure Lakes

Merida Scultura Endurance Rival-Edition: Ride

Aesthetically the Scultura Endurance Rival-Edition – which I'll call the Endurance from here on in – may look a little ungainly compared to many road bikes, thanks to its tall front end and heavily sloping top tube. But if you're looking for an upright position that is incredibly comfortable then the Merida could well be for you.

First off, the shallow drops are very usable, and if you are riding long distances, or just don't have the flexibility to ride a traditional road bike, then the Endurance would work well for you.

The rear end's comfort matches the front end's, not so much by the geometry but by the design of the very slender seatstays, which create a kind of leaf spring suspension that delivers a smooth ride.

Feedback and ride feel is muted a little by the tyres (more on that later) but the Endurance is a rider's bike. By that I mean the frameset transmits what the tyres are up to and its responsive to your inputs.

But the riding position doesn't mean the Endurance is dull when you hit the road. The angles are steep enough that you'll still be in quite an aggressive position in the saddle to put your power through the pedals, while the head angle keeps the steering quick enough for you to have some fun in the corners.

The front end tracks well, so you can easily deal with fast descents and there's sufficient stiffness through the lower half of the frame for it to be responsive out of the corners and when you're climbing.

It's not quite as nimble or quick to react as a full-on race bike, or even a sportier endurance model, but the Endurance is still far from being a slouch.

At a smidge under 9kg it is a little slow off of the line, but as a long-distance cruiser, high-end commuter or winter training machine it feels relatively efficient.

Overall, I really liked riding the Endurance. My testing took in a mix of country lanes and urban areas, and its tall riding position came into its own in the city, allowing me to see over the tops of cars while still seated and in the drops.

Merida Scultura Endurance Rival-Edition: Frame & Fork

Merida makes frames made from aluminium alloy and carbon fibre composite, the latter being offered in different grades depending on the price you pay.

Its high-end pro-level bikes use what Merida calls CF5, which is stiffer and lighter than the CF3 carbon from which the Endurance is constructed. But while CF3 is a little heavier, it also has greater durability and comes in at a lower price.

And frankly, this is the balance of the properties that most of us need.

The Endurance's frame is a very clean-looking affair, as Merida has followed the trend of running both brake hoses from the levers to the inside of the head tube through the stem. 

With the wireless SRAM Rival groupset used here there are no cables to worry about. Models in the range with mechanical shifting, such as the Endurance 4000, still run both hoses and cables into the head tube using a different stem, though they aren't completely hidden.

With no hose clutter the Rival Edition looks like an expensive bike, something that is boosted by the paintjob. Its metallic green detailing against the backdrop of the subdued grey looks smart, especially in the sun.

An integrated headset and seat clamp maintain the Endurance's smooth lines.

Key things to note are the impressive 35mm tyre clearance and that both the frame and fork let you fit mudguards, though their mounting positions mean that off-the-shelf fenders may require a bit of fettling to get them to fit.

Merida does offer its own 700c x 35mm Fender Stripe guards, which look like they could be tweaked to fit. The lack of a seatstay bridge isn't an issue, as Merida offers one that bolts onto the frame to pick up the guard's mounting point, shown in the pic below.

Even with mudguards fitted tyre clearance is still a pretty decent 32mm, making this Scultura very much a year-round bike.

This model also gets Merida's Disc Coolers, ribbed sections of alloy that sit between the frame and fork and the brake calliper, which are designed to draw the heat generated from heavy braking away from the components.

Excess heat can cause brake fade and warping of the rotors, though as we don't have the long mountainous Alpine descents in the UK it wasn't an easy thing for me to test their effectiveness.

The bottom bracket is a press-fit BB86 design.

Merida describes the Endurance as a sporty training machine, a fast, reliable commuter, a versatile adventure bike and a comfort-orientated road endurance bike. All of which require, or at least benefit from, a geometry that is much less aggressive than that of a race bike.

And that's something you definitely get with the Endurance!

The main differences compared to the standard Scultura are the much taller head tube and the shorter top tube.

The Endurance's 177mm head tube compares with 140mm for the standard model, and its 553mm top tube is a little shorter than the standard frame's 560mm.

The stack and reach figures are 584mm and 380mm for the Endurance, 557mm and 395mm for the standard Scultura.

To accommodate those larger tyres and mudguards, and to provide the Endurance's easy-to-live-with handling, it gets a 1,001mm wheelbase with 418mm chainstays, while the Scultura has a 990mm wheelbase and 408mm chainstays.

The angles are very similar, though, with both getting a 73.5-degree seat angle, though the Endurance's 73-degree head angle is 0.5 degrees slacker than the Scultura.

This geometry is what helps to give make the Endurance a bike that's fun to ride through the corners and at speed in general.

The Endurance is available in six sizes ranging from XXS to XL with top tubes spanning 515mm to 583mm, and there's a full geometry chart found on Merida's website if you want to see which size would fit you.

Merida Scultura Endurance Rival-Edition: Groupset

This bike's name is a bit of a give away, but this model is built around SRAM's Rival AXS groupset. This sits third in line below the range-topping Red, and SRAM Force, which is arguably equivalent to Shimano's 105 Di2.

It's a 12-speed groupset that is entirely wireless, with the shifters using coin-style batteries, and the front and rear mechs using their own batteries to power their motors. Overall, battery life is very good, but should one run out you can swap it with the other mech – something you can't do with Campagnolo.

You can also remove them from the bike for charging, unlike Shimano's latest Di2 that requires you to plug the cable into the rear derailleur. This isn't ideal if you have no electrical output where you store your bike.

As standard (you can change things in the app) the single button/paddle on the right-hand shifter drops the chain down the cassette while the left-hand one brings it back up. Press both together and it moves the front mech to the opposite position.

It's an intuitive way of doing things and works well. Shifting is quick and precise, while the braking is more than powerful enough thanks to the 160mm Paceline rotors and hydraulic callipers.

The gearing pairs a 48/35-tooth chainset with a 10-36T cassette, which gives a large spread of ratios with reasonably even gaps between each sprocket.

I never found myself over- or under-geared whether using the Endurance for a quick lunchtime blast or a steadier, longer, hillier route on a Sunday morning.

Merida Scultura Endurance Rival-Edition: Finishing kit

Away from the groupset you'll find a smattering of Merida components such as the easy-to-get-on-with Expert SLII shallow-drop handlebar.

Merida also supplies its own-brand carbon fibre S-FLEX seatpost that makes it easy to adjust the Expert saddle's angle and fore and aft position.

The saddle also houses a multi-tool underneath it. Neat!

The FSA SMR ACR stem has a channel at the bottom through which the brake hoses run straight into the head tube.

It's all decent enough kit that is comfortable and works well. And while they're components I'd be looking to upgrade and personalise in the future to exploit the quality of the frameset, I'd be in no hurry to do so.

Merida Scultura Endurance Rival-Edition: Wheels & tyres

The Fulcrum Racing 600 DBs are decent quality wheels that are ideal for training, or anywhere where you want to focus more on durability than performance.

Their 20mm inner rim width means they work well with the 32mm tyres fitted and for Endurance 35mm maximum width.

The 20mm-deep rims offer no aero advantage, but they are dependable and reliable. I tried the Endurance with some 45mm-deep carbon wheels, and these both improved the quality of the ride and shed a little weight, so these would be one of my first upgrades.

The Maxxis Re-Fuse tyres are a step up from the Maxxis Detonators on the Endurance 4000 I reviewed last year. They had a dead feel to them, offering no feedback from the road at all.

The Re-Fuses have a slightly better feel and are a bit more responsive and supple, though they are still considered a fitness/training tyre, so they don't really give a performance feel. But they are intended for multi-surface use, so you can also take in a bit of lightweight, hardpacked gravel as well as paved surfaces.

At 430g each they're about 130g heavier than a road-specific tyre of a similar size, and if you're only going to ride on the road I'd recommend upgrading to something lighter and with lower rolling resistance. Our best road bike tyres shows our top choices.

The wheels and tyres are both tubeless ready, with just tape, valves and sealant required for you to make the transition from tubes.

Merida Scultura Endurance Rival-Edition: Pricing & value

There are eight models in the Merida Endurance range, with the 300 and 400 made from aluminium and the rest constructed from CF3-grade carbon fibre.

The £2,250 Endurance 4000 comes with 12-speed mechanical 105, with the 6000 using the groupset's Di2 version. The price also jumps to £3,300.

Our test model is next at £3,600, with the 8000 having Ultegra Di2, Merida's own carbon rims and a £4,600 price tag. The top-end 9000 model comes with SRAM Force AXS and Reynolds ATR carbon rims. It costs £5,600.

Looking at the competition, an obvious choice would be Giant's Defy bikes. Mat recently reviewed the Advanced SL 0, which sits very high in the range and has a whopping £11,499 price tag – but the Advanced 0 with a build similar to our test bike is a much more palatable £3,299.

I recently reviewed the £7,000 Krypton Pro, Argon 18's latest allroad bike with a 38mm tyre clearance. It had a lovely ride quality and was light, nimble and a lot of fun. The Krypton range also features lower spec, more modestly priced models, with the Rival AXS bike with Vision Team 30 wheels costing £4,000.

Canyon's Endurace, as its name suggests, comes with endurance geometry and a similarly tall front end. I reviewed the range-topping £8,999 CFR Di2 that comes with a Shimano Dura-Ace groupset and deep-section DT Swiss wheels. Its CF 7 AXS model with a set of alloy DT Swiss Endurance LN wheels costs just £2,999.

You can check out these and others in our best endurance bikes buyer's guide

Conclusion

I'm a big fan of the Merida Endurance. The ride quality, which offers a balance of stiffness and comfort, is good throughout. A tyre upgrade would provide a big boost to performance, and if you have the funds, a set of lighter wheels wouldn't go amiss further down the line.

For the money, the finishing kit is where it should be, although if you shop around you can get similarly specced bikes for less.

Verdict

Lovely ride quality and ideal geometry if you want a more upright ride without sacrificing performance