Merida’s new Mission gravel race bike is a distinct departure from the ‘bigger tires is better’ crowd. This isn’t a ‘ever-chunkier American-style gravel’ bike, but rather more of an embodiment of the mixed-surface ‘all types of roads’ ethos that makes gravel bikes the most versatile dropbar bike option.
Instead, the Mission feels a lot like an aero road bike that can fit fatter tires for real mixed-surface capability. And they’re intentionally not super wide tires, either. Their Silex already has that covered. In fact, with a road race-inspired fit & geo, and conservatively-measured 40mm tire clearance, this really is a lightning-fast bike that you can ride on any road surface.
2025 Merida Mission aero carbon gravel race bike
While many new gravel race-oriented bikes keep growing longer to expand ever-wider tire clearance, Merida said they had already done that. In fact, their adventure-ready Silex bikepacking gravel bike was already raced to a UCI Gravel World Championship title just before it launched a couple years back. They didn’t need a new race bike for the roughest gravel courses. They wanted a quicker gravel race bike for the smoother tracks and faster races. Anyone who followed this year’s Gravel Worlds knows what that means. And Merida racer Matej Mohorič placed a solid 3rd on this new bike.
What you get is a bike that feels more road than gravel, but can still handle plenty of the rough stuff.
So, what’s new?
For the new Mission, Merida decided to fill the gap between their all-road-ready Scultura Endurance and the adventure-ready Silex. In between, you get what looks (and feels) like an aero road bike. But with 40mm of official tire clearance suited for UCI Gravel Series racing.
(Not so secret sidebar: Mohorič races the bike on 45mm tires, but not those ultra-wide Zipp gravel wheels.)
What’s really different here is a more road-oriented position on the bike and road-leaning geometry.
Compared to the Silex, the Mission’s frame Stack is a full 38mm lower and Reach 21mm shorter, to give the rider a lower, more aero and more race-focused fit on the bike with a more conventional longer stem. Combine that with a 2.5-degree steeper headtube at 72° (in M), 11mm shorter chainstays at just 419mm, 69mm shorter total wheelbase, and 3mm higher BB – and you get a much more responsive bike that still delivers all-terrain abilities to a capable rider.
Mohorič described it to me like this, “The Silex is more of a mountain bike-oriented model with longer wheelbase and slacker steering angle. It appeals both to [gravel] beginners AND advanced mountain bike riders looking for a hardtail view. The new Mission is for riders coming from the road and all-road style, who still want to go off-road, but faster… I don’t think it is significantly slower than a road bike.“
Tech details
- aero CF4 hi-mod carbon frame and fork, made in Taiwan
- fully integrated internal frame storage through the headset
- internal frame storage with Fidlock closure
- removable seatstay bridge for full-coverage fender compatibility
- 2 standard bottle mounts (2 position on downtube)
- toptube bag mount, plus under toptube tool cage mount at the seat cluster
- round 27.2mm seatpost, with internal wedge clamp
- threaded BSA bottom bracket
- 1x & 2x compatibility, for mechanical and electronic shifting
- flat mount disc brakes, with special Merida disc coolers
- UDH and 12mm thru-axles
- 40mm maximum official tire clearance
- 6 sizes available (XXS-XL)
First Riding Impressions
I got the chance to ride the new Merida Mission several weeks back at the tail end of Sea Otter Europe on new and familiar gravel roads outside of Girona. The bike is undeniably fast and responsive. It’s the quickest-accelerating gravel bike that I’ve ever ridden, and up there with the snappiest of road bikes too. But it doesn’t feel like it sacrifices much on off-road worthiness either. Sure, the 40mm tire rating sounds limiting. And you certainly wouldn’t pick this if you are looking for an adventure bikepacking bike.
But in reality, this is truly a bike for fast gravel riding and the mix of tarmac-to-dirt that most gravel rides entail. And really, that tire limit feels quite conservative, even on the widest of gravel wheels. I expect many buyers will ride this bike with 45s for gravel and something like 35-40mm wide for all-road.
Stay tuned for a more detailed ride review coming later today.
2025 Merida Mission – Pricing, options & availability
The all-new Merida Mission gravel race bike is available starting today from your local dealer in a wide range of configurations, a couple of colors for each spec, and in 6 sizes. Since they position the Mission just as a race bike, Merida only offer the bike in their top-tier CF4-level carbon. But pricing is still quite affordable, with complete bikes starting from just 2700€ with a mechanical 2x Shimano GRX groupset, low-profile Shimano alloy wheels, and a classically-styled tanwall build kit that tips the scales at a real 10kg.
From there, the Mission 6000 retails for 4080€ with SRAM Rival Xplr AXS & alloy DT G1800 wheels. The Mission 7000 at 5520€ with GRX Di2 2x, 25mm internal Reynolds ATR carbon wheels, and a 1-peice Merida GR Team carbon cockpit. And the Mission 9000 at 6000€ with Force Xplr AXS with power meter & 32mm wide Zipp 303 Xplr S wheels.
And it all tops out at, again surprisingly affordable, 8400€ for the top-tier Merida Mission 10K that I tested, considering its premium spec and light weight. You get a SRAM Red Xplr AXS groupset, a power meter crankset, ultra-wide Zipp 303 Xplr SW wheels, and Merida’s sleek one-piece cockpit – all weighing just 7.72kg without pedals.
