00:00This is the new Merida Reacto, the Taiwanese brand's brand new all-aerobike.
00:06Now you might be thinking that it looks familiar and yes this is very similar to the prototype
00:11that we spotted at last year's Tour de France. Well it's now official and we've got all the
00:17stats, the claims and the build options so here's a first look at the new aero bike as well as
00:23our
00:23first ride impressions and thoughts on whether it can retain its crown of bringing performance
00:28and value for money together. Now I think it's fair to say that the outgoing Merida Reacto was
00:36getting a little bit long in the tooth. In fact it was released 6 years ago, that's more than
00:41double the life cycle of many of its competitors and long enough for it to be used for a win
00:46in
00:47Paris-Roubaix, Milan-San Remo and of course more recently lose its place with a world tour team.
00:53Yep, Bahrain Victorious, they're now on Bianchi bikes.
00:57Is this their loss though? Because naturally Merida says that its 5th generation Reacto
01:03is the most aerodynamically advanced version yet. But not only that, they say it's more than a
01:09one-dimensional aero bike and has been created to be one of the fastest and most versatile bikes on
01:15the road, renowned for its class-leading comfort and control as well as its ability to slice through
01:20the air. So first let's take a trip down memory lane and then see what this bike sets out to
01:26achieve.
01:29Here's the first generation Reacto which launched in 2011. Just 6.9 kilos that one. Then in 2013
01:36we've got some proper deep aero tubing and some lamprey Merida colours. This one in 2018 was the
01:43first one with disc brakes and I remember watching Vincenzo Nibali on that one. And then here we've got the
01:494th generation that launched in 2021. So what about this 5th generation then? Well Merida's engineers
01:57were set the goal of increasing tyre clearance to 32mm, yep, making it lighter without compromising on
02:04stiffness and basically make it weigh 6.8 kilos in race spec, maintaining the comfort levels of the
02:12previous Reacto and to break the magic 200 watt barrier when it comes to aero testing. More on
02:20that in a minute. So what are the main changes? Well unlike the Giant Propel which we showed you
02:25yesterday, there's a link up there, actually quite a lot of changes. The front view shows this V-shape
02:31handlebar, kind of akin to a Colnago Y1RS. The head tube is obviously much deeper, the seat tube now sort
02:39of
02:39shrouds the rear wheel much more, the seat post is thinner, it's now a zero offset option and 100g
02:45lighter than the gen 4 version and the bottom bracket area is much deeper. I could probably go
02:51on for ages. It's harder to go much further though without introducing you to some of the models. So
02:58at the top we've got 3 options although there is a whopping 10 in total. All of them carbon and
03:05there's
03:05no aluminium Reactos again just yet. So this one we've got the 1, that's got a 1x groupset on it,
03:13no doubt to reduce drag and help them hit their target and in their aero testing they've got this
03:19down to 196 watts which for reference is just about the fastest thing out there. That beats the likes of
03:28the stork, I think it even beats the simplon which yeah that is seriously fast. Then there's the 10k,
03:37this is the lightest one and then there's the team spec which is kind of a more rounded race option.
03:43Then we've got the 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000, you name it. There's a whole document of different bikes just
03:50to explain the range. There's seriously a lot, Merida hasn't held back. Basically what you need to know
03:56is that you can get the new Merida Reacto in a few different carbon layups with just about any
04:02groupset that you might want. The top ones have the V-shaped bar and then the lower spec ones get
04:09a
04:09more conventional bar. They all get storage space for a Di2 battery in the bottom bracket area, that's new
04:15and they all have the same geometry. So speaking of which, here's a geometry chart. Things to note,
04:22the chain stays have got slightly longer to accommodate those wider tyres but they're still
04:27pretty short. The seat tube angles and head tube angles are quite steep so expect this to be pretty
04:33lively on the road especially when combined with that zero offset seat post. There's no doubt what
04:39this bike is for, it is clearly a race bike, they haven't taken it, they haven't made it any more
04:44relaxed or
04:45anything like that. And then the stack and reach are about what you would expect from an aero road bike
04:53in 2026. They're not radically high like some but they're also not crazy low like the Van Riesel RCRF for
05:01example. So what is it like to ride? Well we sent Aaron out to have a go and he came
05:07back smiling. He says
05:09that it does what it says on the tin really, it's rapid and accelerates with ease and it's got a
05:14lot
05:14more urgency than the previous generation model. And well the overall ride feel was refined.
05:22He was a big fan of that new Goldwing cockpit, the steering is fast and he was impressed with the
05:28way
05:29that it climbed. And he also mentioned that the Reactor has always represented the value option
05:35amongst the best aero road bikes. But is that still the case? Well let's look at some prices.
05:43So overall the pricing has inched up compared to the previous generation but the range is still
05:49notably cheaper than many of its rivals especially when comparing the like for like builds.
05:56So like I said before the Reactor is available with two carbon levels. So the top five they get the
06:03the fancy CF-5 frame. So the frame is 11 grams lighter than the previous generation but the frame
06:09set is 108 grams less. And then the lower five bikes in the range get the CF-3 frame set
06:17which
06:19that will set you back 2,400 pounds for the frame set. Quite a similar amount or a little bit
06:24less
06:24than that new Giant Propel. So right at the top you've got the Reactor 1 that will set you back
06:3110,000 pounds
06:32or 11,500 euros. The 10k a little bit less same as the Reactor team actually 9,500 pounds or
06:4111,000 euros.
06:42Then we've got the Pro. It's still the fancy frame still the fancy group set as well as Shimano Dura
06:49-Ace.
06:50However this one doesn't get that nice gold wing bar. That one's 7,500. Then still fancy frame
06:58Shimano Ultegra 6,250 and then we're down into the lower five which have that CF-3 frame so the
07:05slightly heavier carbon layer and then they start from 2,400 pounds for this Reactor 4000 which has
07:14Shimano 105 on it. That one weighs 9.1 kilos though so it's not exactly a featherweight. So there's a
07:21whistle stop tour of the new bike. Let me know what you think down in the comments below as well
07:25as which
07:26model you'd go for or would you choose this or the Giant Propel that we showed you yesterday?
07:31Let me know in the comments, subscribe to the channel to stay up to date with all the latest bike
07:35tech
07:36and we'll see you next time.
07:56Bye.
