The rider’s ride

Merida Scultura V Team, £7,750, merida-bikes.com

The fifth iteration of the Scultura builds on pro-proven geometry that’s on the longer, lower end of fit but still isn’t going to break your back or, at this price, your wallet. Comparatively. It’s not cheap, but stacked against the competition this is a lot of bike for your buck: 45mm deep tubeless Vision Metron SL wheels weighing a claimed 1,372g; Shimano’s new Dura-ace 9200

Di2 groupset; integrated everything. The bike feels tight and responsive, from pedal stomps and bar-wrenching sprints to the crisp Shimano shifting, which sweeps through its now 12-speed cassette a claimed 58% faster.

The Scultura V has upped its aero game, Merida claiming it saves up to 10 watts of drag at 45kmh over the previous model, and the bike certainly possessed a wicked lick of speed, accelerating rapidly on descents and feeling like it was cutting into headwinds on my behalf. Handling was similarly reactive, but the standout feature on this bike is rear-end compliance. Merida claims it boosted flex by 38% (which from what I can see comes in large part from the flat-backed seatpost) and over some deeply scarred Greek roads the Scultura really felt like it was doing me and my backside a huge favour.