HARDTAILS ARE FUN – FACT.
Whether you’ve been riding for years or you’re just starting out on your mountain biking adventure, a hardtail always packs in the most laughs for the money – and the Big Trail has always been about delivering the biggest grins of all.
For as long as we can remember, hardtails have been the backbone of Merida. The hardtail is for many, the first step into the
exciting world of off-road riding.
The last generation hit the trails on 29er wheels, with 140 mm of fork travel and progressive hardtail geometry. Loved by the international cycling press and hardtail riders alike, the Big Trail has made a name for itself and enjoyed great popularity.
However, similar to our short-travel full-suspension bikes, riders are looking to tackle even more challenging trails on their trail hardtails.
PROGRESSIVE GEOMETRY
As well as bringing the frame size into line with the existing MTB range, the Big Trail's already progressive geometry has been refined to further improve handling on steep and challenging terrain. Comparing size to size (e.g. the outgoing Medium to the new Mid), the reach has increased, as tests have shown how much impact this has on the stability of a trail bike.
In line with the extended reach, we have increased the stack, allowing the front wheel to be easily popped without making the bike feel too stretched. The seat tube remains short for a super low stand over height and is now straight for maximum insertion depth, allowing long-travel dropper posts to be fitted, even on smaller frame sizes. This gives the rider more room to manoeuvre over the bike; a huge advantage when the terrain becomes more challenging.
We’ve increased the seat angle from 75.5° to 76.5°, which is well ahead of other trail hardtails in the market. This increases the pressure on the front wheel on steep climbs resulting in a much more relaxed position, even on the steepest ramps. It also makes it possible to ride a bike with a longer reach as the length of the top tube is reduced, offering a more natural experience. This means that the bike doesn't feel too long when you're pedalling in a seated position and provides plenty of stability on rough terrain.
To further aid the stability on steep, demanding terrain, we’ve slackened the head tube angle by 1.5°, from an already progressive 65.5° to 64.0°. This, combined with a large BB drop (70 mm, up from 66.5 mm) creates the feeling of sitting in the bike rather than on top of it, providing plenty of stability and confidence when things get rowdy.
With key elements such as the steep seat angle, extended reach and other progressive geometry updates, the Big Trail now complements the new generation of Merida performance mountain bikes, offering very similar riding characteristics to the award-winning One-Sixty and One-Forty ranges.
YOUR RIDING STYLE DECIDES
One of our first bikes to feature an extremely low stand over height combined with a long insertion depth seat tube, the Big Trail allowed riders to up or downsize, choosing a smaller size with a shorter reach for agility or a larger size with a longer reach for more stability. This is now reflected in the Agilometer sizing, common to other Merida MTBs, offering X Short, Short, Mid, Long and X Long options.
The seat tube diameter has been increased to 34.9 mm so it can accommodate our travel-adjustable Merida Team TR II dropper post whilst boosting the strength of the seat tube, top tube and seat stay junctions.
Dropper posts vary by frame size; X Short is 150mm, short/ Mid are 170mm, Long is 200mm and X Long is 230mm.
Sizing has been brought in line with the rest of our MTB line-up making it easier for riders to switch between different models; a Long One-Sixty is comparable to a Long Big Trail.
29ER
Whilst a mullet set up is increasingly popular in the world of trail and enduro riding, our Big Trail sticks to its proven 29er hoops. Extensive testing showed that a 27.5" wheel may have a slight advantage on rough trails when hammering over rocks, the full 29" is the better all-rounder due to its greater bum clearance and the rider’s ability to move around the bike. It pedals better, has a more balanced weight distribution and remains very agile. We also found that the head angle had a more significant overall effect on performance than the smaller rear wheel. A 140 mm travel fork complements the set up.
ONE OF THE QUIETEST HARDTAILS
Trail hardtails are particularly sensitive to chain slap on rough trails. As a result, riding on a demanding trail can be a noisy affair. To make the Big Trail one of the quietest trail hardtails on the market we’ve gone the extra mile, developing an elaborate, highly effective chainstay protector. This is made from two different plastics; a hard one provides shape and rigidity enabling it to be fitted to the chainstay without glueing, and a softer material on the outside for more damping when the chain hits. In addition to the soft outer material, we’ve added air pockets to further increase the sound-deadening abilities. The rear of the chainstay protector minimises heel rub which can be an issue for riders with larger feet, particularly when using flat pedals.
