MERIDA NINETY SIX RC 9000

Merida are synonymous with making great value mountain bikes, but some people forget that they’re also top performers. While Merida pulled back from their investment in World Cup cross-country racing to focus on eMTB development, their new Ninety-Six shows that they didn’t stop working on their top tier full-suspension cross-country bikes. The Merida Ninety-Six RC 9000 is the top spec cross-country bike from Merida, with Shimano XTR M9100 12-speed, Fox Factory suspension and dropper post, and some lovely DT Swiss XRC 1501 Spline 30mm carbon wheels. It sells for $9999.99, so about $800 less than the similarly specced Orbea Oiz M Team we tested in December, and with a Fox Factory dropper post included.

We had the Merida Ninety-Six RC XT on test in our last issue, and for the most part this bike is the same, but with more of an upmarket spec throughout. A key difference that you may not notice on a spec sheet is the grade of carbon fiber used in the layup of the 9000 frame compared to the XT model, or the 8000 or 5000 models. The Ninety-Six RC 9000 uses Merida’s CF5 carbon fiber, which is a higher quality material, and a medium frame is claimed to weigh just 1695g. Merida have four grades of carbon