Over the weekend at the Roc d’Azur, Merida debuted two road bikes as part of a new Your Choice (YC) special edition series. Whether you are looking for the ultimate light weight mountain climber, or a premium aero bike to slice through the wind, Merida leaves the choice up to you.
Your Choice special edition Merida Scultura YC & Reacto YC bikes
Each rider has their preferences. Aero or lightweight? Classic rim brakes of more modern & powerful discs? The YC special edition bikes leave the choice up to you. Pick a superlight Scultura with rim brakes, or an air slicing Reacto with powerful disc brakes. Both bikes start off with a similar glittery black opal paint job then green & blue accents differentiate their classic or modern characters.
2019 Merida Scultura YC Edition lightweight rim brake climber’s bike
Merida calls the Scultura YC Edition the classic interpretation of a high-performance road bike – premium performance, but a high value-for-your-money build.
That means the Grand Tour-proven lightweight CF2 carbon frameset with its Sflex carbon seatpost, benchmark powerful Dura-Ace rim brakes, a Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 mechanical drivetrain, then FSA SL-K Light carbon cranks & handlebar, and Vision SC40 carbon clincher wheels.
The whole thing gets topped off with classy blue to green fade paint details that Merida says were inspired by winding mountain roads and rolling valleys.
2019 Merida Reacto YC Edition aero disc brake sprinter’s bike
The Reacto YC Edition on the other hand, is a fully modern reinterpretation of the ideal road bike. Now that we have embraced that #AeroIsEverything and the UCI & pros have come to the realization that better braking, is well.. better. More powerful, improved modulation & more consistent performance in any weather, disc brakes on aero bikes has been a major trend in this last year as they have started to be accepted racing in the pro peloton.
Still a top-performance, high-value build, the modern Reacto YC takes the more futuristic aero frame and builds it out with the latest tech.
Spec-wise, the build is similar to the other YC bike but dropping in a mixed Shimano spec to optimize economy & perfromance with the switch to the hydraulic+mechanical groupset. It starts with the aero Reacto CF2 carbon frameset then gets R8020 Ultegra controls with mechanical shifters & Ultegra hydraulic flat mount disc brakes. Then the derailleurs themselves are again Dura-Ace R9100, paired to an FSA SL-K Light carbon crankset, Vision Metron 4D Flat aero handlebar, and SC 55DB deep aero carbon clincher wheels.
The Reacto YC’s paint scheme echos the future theme, with the same color palette as the other bike of Your Choice, but here influenced by the look of sci-fi films – think Tron – and fictional spacecraft.
Exact pricing & availability on the special edition bikes is up to each international distributor. But based on previous releases from the brand, these bikes should already be available through many local Merida dealers, with global availability likely by the end of this month.
