JCW’S MERIDA EONE- SIXTY 8000 £5,850

New bikes may be hitting shop loors but JCW’s in no rush to upgrade

It’s that time of year when our longterm bikes start to be superseded by 2021 models. The new eOne-Sixty gets Shimano’s latest EP8 drive unit and a bigger 630Wh battery (on all but the smallest size), but otherwise Merida have seen no need to mess with a successful formula.

And that’s what this bike is. It may not have super-progressive geometry or an ultra-light motor, but almost everywhere I’ve ridden the eOne-Sixty – from tight and twisty XC singletrack to muddy, root-strewn death slides – it’s been perfectly at home. The only time I’ve felt even the tiniest bit held back by the bike, rather than my own skill and sense of self-preservation, has been on flat-out rocky pinball runs, where a bit more length (my XL bike only has a 480mm reach) would increase stability and confidence. A slightly lower front end would help on steep techy climbs too, but that’s a small niggle, all things considered.

The Merida’s all-rounder credentials were brought home on a recent ride in the Forest of Dean. While you’d expect an e-bike to be out front on the climbs and fireroad linking sections, I’ve found that they can hold you back a bit on flatter, tighter natural trails where pumping, not pedalling, is the key to building speed. Whether I’ve got more used to riding e-MTBs and have adapted my technique accordingly, I’m not sure. But I found myself flying along on the eOne-Sixty, getting cranks in where I could and working the bike through the dips and roots when that wasn’t possible. With a helping hand from the E8000 motor, I was able to power through these less-than-vertiginous sections, where the bike’s heft, active rear end and 65.5-degree head angle might, on paper at least, have left me feeling bogged down.

Once the trail pointed back down again, the relaxed front end, plush long-travel suspension and lowdown placement of its motor and battery weight left the Merida feeling composed and planted on the mix of flowy and more technical off-piste descents we rode. I got home that evening with fresher legs than the rest of the team, but still went to bed feeling like I’d had a decent day in the saddle, thanks to the extra workout of muscling a big bike around. www.merida-bikes.com