MERIDA ONE-TWENTY 7000
Merida have lead the charge in World Cup cross-country, bikes that have great bang for your buck, eMTBs and more. Their short travel One-Twenty trail bike range can be looked over – but it might just be one of the quiet highlights in their bike range.
The One-Twenty sits above the racey Ninety-Six, and below the 27.5” wheeled Merida One-Forty. As the name suggests the Merida One-Twenty has 120mm of travel, which is matched to a 130mm travel fork. And while there used to be 27.5” wheeled options with the One-Twenty, they have gone the way of the Dodo for 2021. The desire for more travel can mean some riders overlook many short travel trail bikes like the One-Twenty. Having spent a lot of time on the Transition Smuggler and Norco Optic over the past 12 months, jumping onto the Merida One-Twenty platform looks to be another bike in the same vein – but is it?
In 2019, we were lucky to review the Merida One-Twenty 8000, which by and large is the same handling bike as is on test here, but it had a full carbon frame
