Merlin Malt G2X GRX 2021

The Merlin Malt G2X GRX is the third edition of Merlin's gravel bike, and gets some welcome tweaks to the geometry and a much wider spread of sizes – all without losing the neutral yet fun ride style of its predecessor. It still offers strong value for money, too.

I rode the previous version of this, the Malt G1X just over a year ago, and I really enjoyed it. Nothing has changed in that respect as the majority of the characteristics have been retained, but thanks to new geometry – focused mostly around top tube lengths – the Malt has become accessible to a larger range of rider heights. I'll get on that in a bit, though.

The Malt has neutral and balanced handling, which makes it ideal as a first graveller, or a bike for those who enjoy spinning for hours offroad without having to focus too much on what's going underneath the tyres. You can just kick back and enjoy the scenery.

That makes it sound a little dull, but in fact, it is the opposite. It's fun to ride because it's so controllable and easy to live with, which also makes it pretty efficient on those longer rides. That's only helped by the comfortable position the new geometry allows.

The steering is still quick enough to deal with the trails, though. It's not quite as sharp as the more race orientated gravel bikes I've ridden, but you can still chuck this thing about should you want to get a shift on.

The GX2 is no slouch through the bends either. There are decent levels of feedback coming through from the tyres, letting you guide it through corners on your desired line making subtle changes if necessary.

As a whole, the Malt is pretty responsive to subtle shifts in body position, which is exactly what you want off-road. Tiny tweaks here and there offset the terrain shifting around beneath your tyres.

This relaxed handling means the Malt isn't as lively as a road bike once on tarmac – in the dry, anyway – but it's not trying to be replacement so it's not exactly a big deal. On its standard 35mm Schwalbe G-One tyres, it rolls well enough it's not a chore through your gravel link-up roads.

Stick a set of wide slicks on, though, and it cruises at a decent pace and covers big miles in relative ease and comfort. Should you press it into commuting duties, its mild manners only help on wet, cold and greasy roads.

If you are doing a lot of road work, one thing to consider is the gearing. The 40/11T top ratio isn't that tall, and you find yourself spinning quite a high cadence on the flats and downhill. If you want a double chainring the Malt GX2 is available in a Claris build with a 50/34 chainset.

At the other end of the cassette though, the 40/42T combination certainly helps drag you up the climbs in the saddle.

At 10.18kg the Malt is no lightweight, but it doesn't feel that heavy out on the road. It's still quite lively, and acceleration isn't hampered unless you have to keep pulling away from a standing start.

Frame and fork

The GX2 gets a triple-butted 6061 aluminium alloy frame, and it not only gives a good ride quality but looks the business too. I must admit, I'm more taken by the green/grey paint job on this version than I was with the green/orange on the previous model.

Everything you expect of a modern gravel bike is here, such as flat mount brake calipers, 12mm thru-axles front and rear, and internal cable routing (for the front part of the frame, at least). There are also mudguard and rack mounts, to add to the versatility.

Merlin has also gone for a tapered headset (1 1/8' at the top to 1.5' at the bottom) to boost stiffness under steering and braking loads. It also allows for a larger diameter down tube, to beef up the lower part of the frame.

Bottom Bracket

The Malt GX2 uses a standard BSA threaded bottom bracket – good news for home maintenance – so you don't have to worry about the creaks that water and dirt can create with some press-fit options.

The bottom bracket area isn't exactly massive, and I can get a small amount of flex here, but only when mashing on the pedals.

Fork wise, it's a full carbon fibre job. It's certainly stiff enough to cope with hard braking, yet it gives a comfortable ride quality too.

Tyre clearance is plentiful, as it is on the frame. Merlin says the Malt can easily take 40mm tyres, and I had no issue getting a set of Zipp Tangente Course G40s in there, and they were closer to 42mm on a wide carbon rim. The Malt is compatible with 650b wheels too.

Frame sizing

The previous version came in four sizes, but they were all quite large. The GX1 I tested was a 50cm but had a top tube length 565mm, and that was the smallest you could go. That bike's short stem helped the reach a little, but shorter riders could still find it a bit of a stretch.

For the GX2, Merlin has shortened the top tube and lowered the front end a little, while also adding a 47cm frame to the now-five size (47, 50, 53, 56 and 59cm) range.

This one here is the 53cm, and has a 540mm top tube and 160mm head tube creating a reach of 382mm and a stack of 587mm. The head angle is 71.5° and the seat angle 73°, while the chainstays are 435mm long, adding to the stable nature of the handling.

Finishing kit

As the name suggests this Malt GX2 model is equipped with Shimano's gravel-specific GRX 600 groupset, albeit with GRX 400 brake calipers. It's a very good groupset with great shifting and plenty of braking power, even when the conditions are horrendous.

The benefits of GRX aren't just in the lower gear ratios and options of a 1x chainset – one of the biggest is the shape of the brake lever. Unlike the road versions, GRX is flattened where you rest your fingers, and on rough, fast sections this helps a lot to stop your hands slipping off the lever. Their shape works really well with flared handlebars, too.

The Malt has 160mm rotors front and rear, which gives plenty of stopping power, and as with all Shimano hydraulic systems they have massive levels of modulation to stop you locking up even on loose gravel.

There was a bit of squealing from the discs when they were new, but after a couple of off-road rides, they were bedded in and running smoothly.

The GRX chainset here comes with a 40T chainring and an 11spd 11/42T cassette, which is part of Shimano's off-road SLX range. Jumps between gears can be quite large, which can be noticeable if you ride within a very narrow cadence range like a lot of roadies do, but they're easy to adapt to over time.

The shift feels solid and precise even on the rough stuff, while the clutch-enabled rear mech keeps the chain taut, quiet and stuck to the chainring.

FSA supplies the seatpost, stem and handlebar. It's good quality and I wouldn't be rushing to upgrade any of it – everything just works. The Adventure Gravel bar has a good flare at the drops for stability at speed, and it's plenty stiff enough for efforts out of the saddle.

The stem and seatpost don't have the most exciting jobs in the world and basically, you don't notice them. They keep the handlebar and saddle firmly in place and that's all you want, really.

The saddle is a DDK. It's not my favourite – after using maybe 200 saddles over the years, I have a few – but neither is it the worst I've ever sat on. Take whatever lukewarm conclusions from that you will. There's plenty of padding and it's pretty supportive, though, so you might well get on with it.

Wheels and tyres

Schwalbe's G-One tyres are a very good choice indeed, especially if you're mostly heading offroad. Despite their knobbly 35mm widths they roll well on the road, plus they're very supple for a great ride feel. This All-Round RG model isn't tubeless, though so if you want to go down that route, be aware.

Offroad they work best on hardpacked gravel and by-ways, but as the weather gets wetter and the mud starts to blossom (pretty sure that's how it works), you'll need something with a bit more tread for grip.

The wheels are Merlin's GDA-1, designed for gravel and based around 32mm deep, 25mm wide aluminium alloy rims. These are strung to Shimano RS470 hubs featuring cup and cone bearings.

Both the front and rear wheel have 32 spokes for strength and stiffness, which mean they have stood up well to all the abuse of testing. You could drop a bit of weight by upgrading them, but as with the finishing kit, I wouldn't bother straight away as they are a capable set of wheels.

Value

The RRP for this build is £1,399, but that's been discounted to £1,199 and Merlin confirms it will remain there. A frameset can be had for £349.

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At that new £1,199 price it matches the Ragley Trig Gravel, but that's steel-framed so a bit weightier, and comes with a Tiagra 10spd groupset and cable-operated discs.

Meanwhile, Giant's Revolt 1 undercuts the Malt by £50, but also comes with a lower spec – and you're tied into their odd stem and brake system, Conduct, which mates mechanical levers (Tiagra in this case) with hydraulics integrated with the stem.

Conclusion

The updated GX2 takes everything good about the previous GX1 and just makes it better. The tweaked riding position feels great and makes the whole bike even more fun to ride, while you can't fault the build for its quality groupset and frameset at this price.

Everything else can be upgraded at your leisure, should you even choose too – nothing screams out for it.

For me though, the biggest thing is the Merlin Malt's versatility. It's gravel and adventure bike at the weekend, and a commuter during the week – all with just a change of tyres.

Verdict

Refined geometry makes the GX2 fast and fun on any terrain, and the spec list is quality for the money