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Updated Pro Bike Check: All-new Merida Silex of Gravel World Champ Matej Mohorič

New Merida Silex gravel bike of 2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohoričphoto by Cory Benson, c. Bikerumor
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Slovenian road pro Matej Mohorič won the UCI Gravel World Championships on Sunday aboard an unreleased, but not very hidden Merida Silex gravel race bike. We caught up with him an evening after the race in Italy for an up-close look at the new Merida gravel bike. And a quick chat a bit about why he chose a proper gravel bike over some to the endurance road bikes you’d find in the gravel peloton. And what spares he carried in case he had a mechanical…

Update: The Pro Bike Check Teaser of Matej Mohorič’s Gravel World Championship-winning unreleased Merida Silex is now an official Pro Bike Check of the all-new 2024 Merida Silex carbon gravel bike. Read on for his actual race bike weight. Then, click through for the full launch story details on the new bike!

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič’s unreleased Merida Silex

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on unreleased Merida Silex gravel race bike, race number
all photos by Cory Benson, c. Bikerumor

As is almost de rigeur for pro UCI gravel race winners these days, Matej Mohorič is first and foremost known as a pro road cyclist, racing for Bahrain Victorious. Over the last few years he’s won stages in all three of the Grand Tours, plus Milan-San Remo last year. But speaking to him, it seems Mohorič is very much an off-road rider at heart. And he was pretty excited for the opportunity to put his road racing chops to the test on gravel.

With that said though, the Gravel World Championships was his last planned race of the season. And he really didn’t expect to be fighting for the win. Mohorič said he went into his first Gravel Worlds just hoping to have a good day on the bike and finish near the front.

What about this new bike?

2023 Gravel World Championship winning Merida Silex of Slovenian Matej Mohorič

The trick here was that Merida had a new bike in the works. And he jumped at the chance to try it out.

Merida has released the full details just yet on the new bike. But the custom team paint job pretty obviously shouts that this is the replacement for their existing Silex. While that versatile gravel bike seems to have been quite successful for Merida over the past 6 years, its tall headtube looks were pretty divisive for anyone looking for a performance-focused bike.

What apparently convinced Mohorič to race this unreleased Silex vs. Merida’s fast gravel endurance all-road bike, or even the same Reacto that his ex-teammate Sonny Colbrelli rode to a muddy Paris-Roubaix win in 2021, was the long-wheelbase stability of the Silex.

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on unreleased Merida Silex gravel race bike, Bahrain Victorious

What’s new on the bike looks like pretty much everything at first glance.

But apparently, even through details like subtly more aero tube shaping, an integrated seatclamp, full internal cable routing, and dropped chainstays… the character of this upcoming Silex reboot was still about versatility. Not just racing.

Apparently, this is not really a gravel race bike. Luckily nobody told Matej Mohorič that.

Pro roadie gravel bike setup

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on unreleased Merida Silex gravel race bike, cockpit setup

The first hint that this is a pro road racer’s setup of what might be an average Joe’s gravel bike is that incredibly long FSA stem. And that fact that the stem was slammed.

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on unreleased Merida Silex gravel race bike, tweaked bars after mid-race crash

At first, I thought Mohorič subscribed to the weird ‘turn your levers in’ crowd on his 40cm wide bars.

But in reality, he just had a crash in the last few kms of the race when he was sprinting off the front for the win. And he couldn’t be bothered to try to mess with it when the brakes and shifting still worked and he had hungry racers closing in behind him.

How did Matej Mohorič customize his Gravel Worlds setup?

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on unreleased Merida Silex gravel race bike
a new rainbow jersey, a new unreleased Merida Silex, and Matej Mohorič with a new gold medal

I had a chance to chat with Matej, and much of his bike setup came down to the last minute. And literally building up the frameset with whatever road components the team had lying around their service course at the end of the road race season. In fact, his team mechanics got this Silex prototype ready just in the last week for him. They didn’t even have time to round up a Dura-Ace powermeter crankset. So, Matej raced Gravel Worlds just based on his heartrate.

Onboard gravel flat repair kit

Interestingly though, while most road pros are used to being followed by team cars with spare bikes and capable mechanics, Matej told us how he wanted to be more self-sufficient racing gravel. Of course, if he got a flat he wouldn’t likely get super fast mechanical support anyway.

So, in his bar ends were Muc-Off’s Stealth Tubeless Puncture Plug tire repair kit. With the clear silicone protective covers still in place. And Matej was quick to show how the removable QR axle tool he carried in his pocket could pull the serrated knife or plug tool out in a moment to fix a flat. Clearly, he knew what he was doing to enact a fast fix if needed.

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on unreleased Merida Silex gravel race bike, saddle bag with sealant and CO2 inflaters

Under his saddle was also a small saddlebag with a few CO2 canisters, a Muc-Off inflator and a small bottle of Stan’s tubeless sealant. Matej figured if he got a flat that he had to repair quickly on the roadside, he could squeeze in some extra sealant, stab a tire plug in, and blast some air back into it before the team cars would ever make their way to him.

In the end, he had no mechanicals for the entire race thanks to smooth riding and great luck. That ultimately helped him distance the competition. But he was clearly prepared more than we’re used to seeing from pro road riders.

Compact road gearing for gravel racing

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on unreleased Merida Silex gravel race bike, Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 compact drivetrain

Back to the ‘run what you brung mentality and a road bike build, his Gravel World Championship-winning Silex prototype was built up with a pretty straight-forward Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset with compact 50/34T gearing and an 11-34T cassette. No fancy gravel gearing required. But also plenty of speed from a road compact setup, even for elite professional racing.

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on unreleased Merida Silex gravel race bike, road pedals and dirt

A closer look at the non-driveside of the unreleased next-gen Silex reveals a good ‘ol threaded bottom bracket. And there dramatically dropped chainstays (under all the Italian gravel dust) to provide ample tire clearance and 2x chainring compatibility.

I also not unsurprisingly that Mohorič was racing gravel on road pedals. If you go fast enough, and never put your foot down, who needs walkable pedals, anyway!

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on unreleased Merida Silex gravel race bike, snack notes on 140mm stem

There’s nothing much more pro than a ludicrously long stem, with race notes taped on top.

Matej raced with this 140mm long FSA ACR stem with all of his cables hidden inside. And his team marked out where in the race they’d be standing roadside for a bottle hand-up, plus the one feed area where he’d get a musette full of snacks, too.

Actual gravel components too!

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on unreleased Merida Silex gravel race bike, 40mm Continental Terra Speed tires

About the only real dedicated gravel component outside of the unreleased Silex bike itself, were the tires.

Mohorič raced on a set of 40mm Continental Terra Speed tubeless tires. Presumably with Stan’s NoTubes inside, based on the spare bottle he was carrying in his saddlebag. And inside were some lightweight tire liner inserts. Mohorič didn’t know which ones they were. or even what color they were, as I tried to see if he might clue us in.

But he wanted the added security in case he flatted, since he was running the very lightweight carbon Vision Metron SL road wheels.

As a nearly last-minute build to be ready to race Gravel Worlds on the new frame, pretty much everything else on the bike except the tires is straight out of the Bahrain Victorious road service course, including these Dura-Ace brakes with 160mm rotors.

Of note, Matej raced with one of Merida’s removable QR axle levers in his pocket as it includes a 4mm/6mm Allen key for quick bolt tightening. But also a second one already installed on the rear axle to speed up a wheel change if needed. That rear one wasn’t in a very aero position either, based on the dust that accumulated during the race.

Doesn’t seem to have slowed him down much.

What’s next for Mohorič as new Gravel World Champ and with a new Silex coming soon?

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won anothe rgold medal and rainbow stripes in new discipline

The 2023 Gravel Worlds title wasn’t Matej Mohorič’s first rainbow stripes. He won Junior Road Worlds in 2012 & U23 Road Worlds in 2013. But both of those times he moved up in the ranks the season after he won those gold medals. So he never got to compete in a rainbow jersey. Now Mohorič says he won’t miss that opportunity again. And he will ride “at least 2 or 3 or 4 or maybe 12” gravel races next season to make sure he gets to show off a new rainbow kit.

And he seems pretty happy with the new bike. He even talked about what he would change with his race setup… Maybe a 2cm shorter stem. But with some negative rise to get the bars a bit lower. But that’s about it. And has already mentioned that he can’t wait until he gets one with a rainbow-themed paint job!

Coming soon… Here now!

Update: Yes, this is a new 2024 Merida Silex gravel bike

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on all-new 2024 Merida Silex carbon gravel race bike, 9.33kg actual weight, up close

Yes, we can now officially confirm that this is the all-new carbon Merida Silex gravel bike. No, it’s not a gravel race-specific bike. It’s more of an all-rounder. In fact, it’s also a pretty solid bikepacking bike too. It’s also not crazy lightweight. Read our launch story coverage for the full details now.

With a roughly 1200g frame & 540g fork, Mohorič’s race bike weighed in at a real 9.33kg complete on our scale.

2023 Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič won on all-new 2024 Merida Silex carbon gravel race bike, 9.33kg actual weight

That’s with his very road-oriented build as outline above with pedals. And with spares under his saddle, tubeless tools in his bar ends, liners in his tubeless tires, and an empty bidon in his bottle cage. Still, 800g lighter than my Silex 7000 test bike with mechanical GRX and alloy wheels.

I’m sure Mohorič raced against plenty of lighter and more aero bikes at Gravel Worlds. But it seems that the bike’s stability combined with his fitness, bike handling & race tactics worked out quite well in the end!

Merida-bikes.com

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Robert Miskines
Robert Miskines
11 months ago

He was prepared! That bike is so cool!

nooner
nooner
11 months ago

None of this sissy 1X crap. Real gears for real cyclists. Congrats.

fitness
fitness
11 months ago
Reply to  nooner

Sissy? Seems like 2x is the more lethargic sissy way out since it has more options overall. 1x would limit gearing options. That said 1x is great for gravel

Jon Einar Visser
Jon Einar Visser
3 months ago
Reply to  fitness

1x is sometimes even bad for mtb. 2x is where it’s at. I’ve done a mtb race where a 1x definetly is not worth it. Some fast road sections where you go 60kph. A 38 mtb ring with a 10 sprocket has you spinning at 105rpm, while my gravel bike with it’s 48-11 only needs 100rpm.

I also can install the same cassette on my bike as mtb as if I wanted, and use a 34 ring. 34-50 is where it’s at for professionals. Paired with 11-36 cassette and you can basically go anywhere, no large jumps that a massive 10-50 cassette has, which has you sometimes spinning or grinding, but not comfortable rpm. Or you loose speed. It’s a race…

threeringcircus
threeringcircus
11 months ago
Reply to  nooner

I wouldn’t call it sissy, just smart. Also underscores the utility of any standard road groupset. GRX, etc is great, but hardly necessary for gravel riding. After all, gravel roads are roads.

Oliver
Oliver
11 months ago

Looks like an identical copy of the Huizhou FlyBike (Carbonda) 707. In fact I’d guess it *is* a 707. I suspect this may never be released, and also explains the disruptive camo paintjob, as they don’t want it too easily recognized. Merida just don’t do a raceworthy gravel bike.

Ashok Captain
Ashok Captain
11 months ago
Reply to  Oliver

Well spotted. Interesting post. Gotta check. Cheers.

Mr Dk
Mr Dk
11 months ago
Reply to  Oliver

Fork even has the water bottle attachment like the 707. I say 100% match. Would love to hear more about that story.

FritzP
FritzP
11 months ago
Reply to  Oliver

Do mfg’s selling chinacarbon frames like this do their own carbon spec? Cause that frame weighs a chonky 1200g. Wouldn’t Merida want to sell an actual race weight bike?

Anthony
Anthony
11 months ago
Reply to  Oliver

At first glance, they look similar, but don’t all “modern” bikes? This bike has both chain stays dropped, the FlyBike looks like only the drive side stay is dropped. The rear derailleur cable port is in a different location. Rear fender mounts are in different locations on dropout. The size of the drop seatstay/seat tube/top tube junction is smaller on this bike, but maybe that’s a size issue. TheyFlyBike fork has a distinct transverse bolt fender mount bubble on the back side of it. The camo (disruptive) paint job is a common disguise on prototype bikes and cars, check out Kasia’s bike.

Mr. Plunger
Mr. Plunger
11 months ago
Reply to  Oliver

He knows too much. Take him out.

Nick
Nick
11 months ago

Paint job is sick

Steven
Steven
11 months ago

When I see a bike like this I wonder why the manufacturer didn’t just go one small step further and put in mounts for fenders. It just seems like they are turning their backs on a potential market segment. It wouldn’t be much trouble, they wouldn’t need to change the basic bike they made at all, just have some way to add fenders. I’m not trying to single out this bike or this manufacturer, I see it from most manufacturers.

AK_Ben
AK_Ben
11 months ago

“Matej raced Gravel Worlds just based on his heartrate.” *gasp!*

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