Merida are one of the largest manufacturers of bikes in the world, and the brand marries German design and engineering with Taiwanese manufacturing efficiencies to create some remarkable bikes for road cycling, road racing, cyclocross and mountain biking.
Merida were one of the first major manufacturers to adopt disc brakes for their top road racing bikes, and the Lampre-Merida team piloted the Scultura Disc Team, not unlike the one tested here, during the Spring Classics in 2016. Of course, the arguments for and against disc brakes in the professional peloton have been well-documented. But I was more interested in the ride of the bike as a whole. The Scultura platform has long been a high-performance road racing machine – but advancements in carbon-fibre technology and frame design mean this isn’t just a bike for the Pro Tour.
Your modern all-day road bike
Road bikes have been evolving. It has been years since there were only road bikes, mountain bikes and hybrids. Nowadays you have aero road bikes. Climbing road bikes. Comfort road bikes. All-road bikes. Gravel bikes. Adventure bikes. Gran Fondo bikes. Sportive bikes. Criterium bikes. Light-touring bikes. Cyclocross bikes. And more. Many of those bike ‘styles’ overlap, and sometimes it can be difficult to decipher exactly what the bike is – compared with what the marketing gurus say it is.
With the Merida Scultura Disc Team, you have a bike that has been designed in conjunction with a Pro Tour race team, to be a highly versatile road machine. With disc brakes. While Merida have the Reacto model in their range, touted for its great aerodynamics, the Scultura Disc Team has an updated tubing profile so that it’s not just a light climbing frame. Merida have fine-tuned the carbon-fibre layup and tubing so that it’s stiff laterally, as well as compliant. Flax fibres have even been incorporated into the carbon to assist with the vibration damping. And they have made the geometry appropriate for a disc brake (a longer chain stay length is required), but still agile and aggressive for performance handling. In short, Merida have made a bike that their new Pro Tour team, Bahrain-Merida, will happily reach for in the Spring Classics – but which will also suit the avid road rider looking to set a PB on their local circuit, or explore the hills and backroads around Australia.
Up close with the Scultura Disc Team
The Scultura Disc line up has three frames. The LITE alloy frame, the CF2, and the top CF4 frame – which we have here. The frame has a claimed weight of just 900g, which is impressively light. This model has more aggressive geometry, and uses a completely different carbon fibre and manufacturing process – meaning the frame is lighter, stiffer and more resilient. And yes, more expensive, than the more basic models. This bike is based on what the new Bahrain-Merida team rides, but in the nude carbon finish, which looks amazing. Colours come and go, but black is always the new black.
Much of the componentry is matched to what the Bahrain-Merida team use, hence why this is called the ‘Team’ model. So while it roughly has a Shimano Dura Ace group set, it is just the derailleurs and cassette that are the latest 9100, while the shifters are the non-series 685 hydraulic braking units, and the chain is a KMC model. The cranks are from team sponsor Rotor, in a semi-compact 36/52 arrangement, and the wheels are the fantastic Fulcrum Racing Speed Quattro – although I’d imagine the team runs tubulars, not the clinchers that come stock on this model.
Along with the carbon FSA handlebars and stem, Merida’s own carbon seatpost, Continental GP 4000S tyres in 25mm (although the bike can accept 28mm) and a Prologo Scratch seat post – it is a very nicely finished bike, and one that immediately gives the impression that it’s ready to go fast, go long, or just go where the road takes you.
Looking closely at the frame, it is finished beautifully. The raw carbon with a matte finish and basic white graphics looks great in all conditions, and the neat cable entry at the top of the down tube will be easy to route cables through – or wires if you opted to upgrade to Di2 at a later date
The fork has internal routing for the disc hose, and the drop outs are a 12mm through-axle type. The rear axle also has a 12mm through-axle, and both use the ‘RAT’ system, developed by Focus on the World Cup mountain bike circuit. Mountain bikes have long used through-axles for greater rigidity. They aid steering precision and the stiffness of the back end of your bike. You might not think that stiffness is required, but it does help foil disc-rub when out of the saddle. Through-axles tend to require either an allen key, or a lever built into the axle to remove them. They certainly aren’t as fast as a quick-release in terms of a wheel change in a race situation. So that’s why the RAT System was developed. With just a 90 degree turn after opening the lever, the axle can be pulled out and the wheel removed. Even away from the requirements of a professional race team, this is fast and easy. Whether you are putting a bike in the back of the car or changing a flat tyre, it’s fast – and the wheel is more secure when it’s in there. After a couple of times using the system it was second nature, and is one of the best systems I’ve used for through-axles.
The Shimano disc brakes use a flat mount, which is the road standard. With 160mm rotors, there is more than enough stopping power. Disc brakes really aren’t about raw stopping power though, as with a small contact patch on road tyres, even with the 28mms that can fit on the Scultura, it would be easy to lock up the wheel and skid. And there is no control in doing that. What the discs allow are better control in wet conditions, and greater modulation too. Additionally, the discs allow for different wheel design. Rims don’t need to be designed as a wear item, and all of a sudden carbon rims don’t have downsides with dissipating heat! The frame also needs to have some design changes.
When adding disc brakes to a frame, the designers can’t just pop some mounts and hose routing options on and be done with it. They’re best to redesign the bike around the requirements. The chain stays on the Scultura Disc are 8mm longer than the Scultura, and Merida have also added something unique to aid with cooling the rear brake down. As the rear brake doesn’t get the same air flow as the front, they wanted to make sure the benefit of more consistent braking was evident even on the longest and steepest descents.
The disc cooler that sits around the chain stay helps cool the brake, reducing heat build up by a claimed 35 per cent. Along with the Shimano IceTech rotors, heat build up wasn’t a problem. Not even on steep descents in the hills behind a sun-drenched Brisbane.
Taking the Scultura Disc Team to the road
When clipping in and getting on the move, the rolling speed and agility of the bike is immediately apparent. Sure, the Fulcrum carbon wheels make a difference – but much of it is the hubs. High quality hubs roll like they won’t stop, and the hubs in the Fulcrum wheels have the internals of Campagnolo’s finest. They’re magic.
The CF4 frame has a slightly lower head tube than the CF2, but the very flexible riders may need to look at a lower rise stem. As with any high-end bike purchase, a professional fit should be done to make sure you are properly set up on your bike. I found the fit of the 54cm bike to be pretty much spot on for my 179cm height – although a 1cm longer stem would have made it absolutely perfect. Otherwise, everything felt on the mark. The FSA K-Force handlebars have a very comfortable drop and tops, and the shifters were set at the right spot on the bar. This isn’t always a given.
With the seat stays being so thin, and no brake bridge, the ride of the back end is surprisingly supple for a race bike. This is aided by the slightly longer chain stays and Merida’s own carbon seatpost – but primarily by refined design and an intelligent layup of a high-quality carbon-fibre.
The drivetrain is quite a mix of components, and while the KMC chain seemed a little rough at first, one ride in it had settled down and provided the smooth shifts that you would expect from Shimano’s Dura Ace derailleurs and cassette. The shifters aren’t the Dura Ace model, but produced sharp and precise results, even if the hoods are a little larger than the new Dura Ace 9100 units. I’ve used Shimano group sets on my own bikes for the past four years and everything falls into place as expected.
On the 54cm size I tested (which has a 56cm effective top tube) both seat and head angles were 73.5 degrees. This is a little steeper than my own bike for the head angle, and the bottom bracket drop is a little less as well. So while at first I found it a little more agile than I was used to (I’ve had my current road bike for four years), in just a matter of rides I was very comfortable with the Scultura, feeling as if everything was where it was meant to be.
This bike really comes alive on twisting descents, and changes direction with ease. While the steeper head angle means the bike responds directly to your input, the slightly longer chain stays create a mildly longer wheel base that aids with stability at speed. Add the surety of a hydraulic disc brake, quality Continental GP4000 S tyres and wheels that track precislely, and you have a bike that really can carve down mountain descents, or eat up the kilometres along twisty gorge roads.
Climbing out of the seat, the stiffness from the front axle, through the tapered head tube, and over size BB386 bottom bracket is readily apparent. The Scultura climbs with minimal effort, and the smooth shifting of the drivetrain makes the shifts required for gradient or speed changes effortless. There is no sluggish feeling when jumping out of the saddle to dig deeper – just a direct feel and sound of the Fulcrum carbon wheels on the road. At 7.35kg without pedals (about 100g lighter than the claimed weight), the Scultura Disc Team isn’t the lightest bike on the market. But Merida themselves admit that having disc brakes on a road bike typically adds about 800g, when you factor in the component changes and any relevant changes you need to make to the design. By no means is 7.35kg heavy, and at no time did I consider I was riding a weighty machine. With semi-compact gearing, a decent 11-28 range on the cassette and agile handling – the bike climbed as well as I could make it.
Perhaps my only regret with this bike was not fitting some 28mm tyres, which it is capable of taking. The larger tyre body would allow slightly lower pressure, a slightly larger contact patch and the ability to brake later into corners, and really push the limits of the bike – and my nerve.
Our Take
The arrival of hydraulic disc brakes for road bikes has been in fits and starts, constrained by whether the UCI will allow them for more than trial periods. But away from concerns about cut shoes, or concerns that your bike has sharp edges (chain rings, anyone?) the reality is that disc brakes do add an increased level of stopping power for when conditions aren’t perfect. On top of that, they allow designers to make wheels and frames optimised for their tasks, with braking power moving to areas that are typically already very stiff and reinforced.
The Merida Scultura Disc Team is one of a few race-performance road bikes with disc brakes on the market, a welcome addition to the endurance models with longer wheelbases and more upright riding positions. In short – this is an incredible bike to ride. My road racing consists of an occasional social criterium, and the rest of the time I would rather challenge myself in the hills, on the descents, and on backroads. If you love to push your limits, and that of the bike, then you may well fall in love with the Scultura Disc Team. I know I did, and it was difficult to return it to Merida Australia.
| MERIDA SCULTURA DISC TEAM | |
| Weight | 7.35kg (as tested) |
| RRP | $7,999 |
| From |
merida.com.au |