Again, the biggest spec difference is the wheelset, this bike coming with Roval CLX 64 Discs at 64mm they're a similar depth to the Merida's DT Swiss PRC 1400 Spline 65s.įinally, Trek's Madone 9.9 is £9,500, exactly the same price as the Merida. Specialized's Venge ViAS Disc Di2 S-Works is £9,000, and that's a Dura-Ace build too. > Buyer's Guide: 15 of the best and fastest 2018 aero road bikes Like the Merida, it's an aero road bike with disc brakes, a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, but with Giant's own SLR 0 Aero Disc wheels. Giant's Propel Advanced SL 0 Disc is £8,999. The Dura-Ace Di2 version of the Oltre XR4 (rim brake only) is £9,600. It's the most expensive bike we're reviewed in 2017 and the same price as the Bianchi Oltre XR4 Super Record we tested last year (although that bike is now £10,600). The cutoff for 's Superbike of the Year – coming soon to a website near you – is £3,500, so this bike makes it with six grand to spare. The Merida Reacto Disc Team-E is well into superbike territory. If you don't have the odd £9,500 booting around to spend on a bike, the £3,850 Reacto Disc 7000-E comes with a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset and the £2,450 Reacto Disc 5000 gets the mechanical version of Ultegra. The gap this leaves is filled with a silicone rubber insert, but it's the fact that the carbon is moulded in this way rather than the properties of the insert that improve the Reacto's ride quality, according to Merida. The seatpost's carbon fibre is moulded in such a way that there's a notch that sits just below the clamp in order to allow more movement at the saddle (you can call it vertical compliance if you like). Merida has redesigned the Reacto's seatstays to improve comfort and its S-Flex seatpost now has a slimmer cross section than previously and a larger 'window'. The previous generation Reacto – Mark II – was noticeably more comfortable than many other aero bikes out there and the new version moves things further forward again. You can't focus your efforts on cranking out big watts if you're feeling battered and bruised in the saddle. With all this talk of aerodynamics and speed it's easy to forget about comfort, but that's an important consideration, even on a performance-minded bike like this. It's your call on this one, but don't just go for CF4 because you think it's more pro and then have your back and neck nagging you forever more that you should have chosen CF2. You can use headset spacers to raise the front end but you're never going to get a relaxed position here – this is a geometry that's used by the Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team in the world's biggest races, after all, it's not supposed to be an endurance/sportive setup. You have the feeling that you're in a race position the whole time – which is fine, as long as that's what you're after. I was happy with the CF4 geometry because it puts you into an efficient attack mode. The Reacto still has NACA Fastback profiles on all tubes apart from the top tube and the seatstays, but Merida has slimmed down the tube shapes for this, the third incarnation, lowered the junction between the seatstays and the seat tube, and now runs those seatstays closer to the rear wheel with a larger outward bend in the lower section, taking advantage of new UCI rules. Let's start with aerodynamics because that's what this bike is all about. Granted, £1,800 is still a lot of cash, but even with my rudimentary grasp of finance and economics I can tell you that it's a lot less than £9,500. The most accessible disc brake Reacto is the £2,450 Reacto Disc 5000 while the cheapest carbon fibre rim braked Reacto is the redesigned 4000 at £1,800. So what's the point in reviewing one? Well, this is the first of the new Reactos we could lay our hands on, plus a lot of the features you see here are common to other bikes in the range. Who the hell spends £9,500 on a bike? Not many people, that's for sure. Pros: Aero frameset, exceptional spec, decent level of comfort.The new Merida Reacto Disc Team-E is a fast and responsive aero bike that offers plenty of comfort alongside the all-weather capability of hydraulic disc brakes.
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