Merida One Forty 6000 endurance test: Day of reckoning for the carbon all-mountain bike

When BIKE test editor Jan Timmermann took delivery of the Merida One Forty in the middle of last year, it was like a reunion between two old friends. Our tester's first own fully had also once been a Merida fully with a Marzocchi Bomber suspension fork. Back then, the lettering UMF (United Merida Freeriders) was emblazoned on angular aluminium tubes.

In 2024, the Merida One Forty with carbon frame looks much more professional and naturally more modern. An unconventional geometry concept combines short seat tubes with sweeping reach values. In order to give riders as much freedom as possible when choosing their size, a special, infinitely adjustable dropper post with an adjustment range of up to 230 millimetres is part of the geo approach.

Thanks to the progressive dimensions, we were able to test the bike in size L at 190 centimetres tall and were largely satisfied with the fit - but more on that later. Theoretically, thanks to the concept, frame size XL would also have been rideable.

Details of the Merida One Forty 6000 endurance test

• Range of use: All Mountain
• Front / rear suspension travel: 150 / 143 mm
• Frame material: Carbon
• Price: 5600 euros (reduced to 5199 euros during the test period)
• Wheel size: 29"
• Distance travelled: 1950 km / 55,000 m elevation gain
• Depth metres: 67,000 tm
• Height / weight of driver: 1.90 m / 80 kg

>> We have recorded our first impression of the Merida One Forty 6000 in its original condition here. <<

>> We have documented an interim result of the Merida One Forty 6000 after 1000 kilometres of endurance testing here. <<

Equipment (standard bike)

• Fork: Marzocchi Bomber Z1
• Shock: Rockshox Deluxe Select+
• Gear system: Shimano SLX / XT, 1 x 12
• Gear ratio / bandwidth: 32; 10-52 / 520 %
• Brakes: Shimano SLX four-piston, 200 / 200 mm
• dropper post / stroke: Merida Team TR II / 30-230 mm
• Wheels: Merida Expert TR II (Rodi rims on Shimano hubs)
• Tyres: Maxxis Minion DHF 3C MaxxTerra Exo 29 x 2.5" / Dissector MaxxTerra Exo+ 29 x 2.4"

Measured values

• Weight standard bike15.32 kg (BIKE measurement without pedals)
• Test bike weight after modifications14.12 kg (BIKE measurement without pedals)
• Impeller weight5461 g (series)
• Impeller acceleration4279 kg x cm² (series)

In the All Mountain category, the Merida One Forty hits the nail on the head. Unfortunately, the standard equipment is too heavy for light-footed trail action. In tough enduro terrain, equipment details such as the shock and tyres are limiting. A clear strength of the Merida fullys is the balanced handling. Despite the long reach, the riding position is compact. This is primarily due to the extremely steep seat angle.

Merida One Forty 6000: Mid-range all-mountain in endurance test

In the search for an interesting mid-range all-mountain bike, the Merida One Forty 6000 immediately caught my eye. With a well thought-out chassis, an interesting geometry table and a functional equipment list, the bike was quickly identified as a potential long-term guest. Initially, the Merida was mainly ridden on the many natural trails of the front Bavarian Forest. Enduring climbs were just as much the order of the day as long, rocky descents.

The One Forty was also repeatedly taken to the Geißkopf bike park, where it was familiarised with fast crushed sand slopes as well as the challenging trails of the Chilli Enduro Series. This was followed by a test period in which the bike was repeatedly taken out on the comparatively flat trails of the Bavarian Jurasteig and on varied tours in the Odenwald. It also had to endure a multi-day visit to the Leogang bike park. The Merida One Forty spent the final phase of the endurance test on the pre-alpine trails of Upper Bavaria.

Despite various other commitments and tests, the Merida One Forty covered 1950 kilometres and 55,000 metres in altitude under its own power in around nine months. In addition, around 12,000 metres of descent were added after lift and shuttle rides. The bike was ridden in all weather conditions, from the dusty summer through the cold winter to the wet spring.

The Merida was spared large loads of mud as well as occasional passages of salty meltwater. Regular after-work laps of between 500 and 1000 metres in altitude were part of the test bike's daily routine, which was occasionally peppered with extended laps of up to 2200 metres in altitude. During this period, the recommended retail price was reduced by Merida from 5600 to 5200 euros.

Riding characteristics of the Merida One Forty 6000

In practice, the progressive geometry approach does not fail to have an effect. With a long reach of just over 500 millimetres and a 64.8 degree head angle, the bike performs very confidently on fast and steep trail descents. The fact that the seatpost can be lowered by a full 230 millimetres in the short 445 millimetre seat tube allows plenty of freedom of movement over the top tube. Together with the balanced chainstay length of 436 millimetres, this helps with control on technically difficult trail sections.

For a rider 190 centimetres tall, we found the length ratio between the rear triangle and the main frame to be well balanced. The Merida is willing on the rear wheel and can be pushed through tight corners with ease despite the long reach. In fact, the One Forty regularly encourages you to pull away and has what it takes to be an absolute fun machine: jumps are easy, the powerful brakes with large discs invite you to nose-manual through switchback trails and with low air pressures in the tubeless setup, the choice of tyres was also convincing.

The Merida One Forty 6000 has a real sports suspension. The fork and shock do not release their travel quite as willingly as on other all-mountain bikes. Overall, the suspension character is more firm than good-natured and suits an active riding style.

Meanwhile, sensitivity is not a strong point of the simple suspension elements. On the other hand, the clear counter support in the suspension provides good feedback from the ground at all times. In other words, the Merida would rather crash into a berm at high speed than glide comfortably over a carpet of roots.

The small Rockshox Deluxe shock without a reservoir is unable to cope with very long, rough descents. In these extreme cases, which occur more often in the bike park or in alpine terrain than in low mountain terrain, for example, it runs hot and responds slowly. Ex works, a high total weight and, above all, the wheel weight inhibits the play instinct.

Once put on a diet, however, the bike mutates into a real fun guarantor. And if you want to build yourself a hip jibb-bike, the One Forty can easily be mounted on a mullet wheelset thanks to the flip-chip, further enhancing the reactive handling.

The only potential shortcoming in the geometry table is the head tube length. While all other dimensions fit well ex works, this is tight at 105 millimetres. While this may still be suitable for shorter riders, at 1.90 metres tall, the cockpit height had to be adjusted upwards so as not to put too much weight on the front both downhill and on tours.

Speaking of which: at 78.5 degrees, the seat angle is extremely steep. In combination with the low front end, this is too much of a good thing on flat climbs and longer rides on flat terrain. This quickly leads to a feeling of pressure on the hands. Apart from that, the riding position is harmonious for an all-mountain bike and also allows for long laps through steep terrain.

The firm and definitely efficient suspension of the Merida One Forty 6000 means that little pedalling energy is wasted in open mode. A lockout helps on long ramps on tarmac. As delivered, however, too many pounds spoil the fun of the sporty use of the carbon full-suspension bike. If you want to go on long tours, you would be well advised to do some weight tuning here and there.

The 520 per cent gear range of the Shimano SLX drivetrain is absolutely sufficient, even in alpine terrain. It's nice that Merida doesn't pursue a blender strategy, but - conversely - combines an SLX rear derailleur with an XT shifter. This means that the One Forty benefits from the more valuable shifting feel of the higher class.

Merida One Forty long-term test: Defects & tuning

Overall, the Merida Fully proved to be a robust colleague with a few isolated weak points. However, there were no catastrophic defects during the entire test period. Of course, the long period of intensive use has not left the Taiwanese all-mountain bike unscathed.

As we didn't change the wearing parts once, the tyres, brake pads, chain and cassette are now overdue for replacement at the end of the test. In the BIKE test laboratory, we determined a remaining pad thickness of 0.7 millimetres at the front and 0.8 millimetres at the rear of the brakes. The chain was at its wear limit at the end of the test, had elongated and was now sagging on the smallest sprocket. The pulleys of the Shimano SLX rear derailleur have run dry and have play, but still rotate willingly.

The Merida One Forty 6000 was not spared two annoying peculiarities of the otherwise highly recommended Shimano disc brakes. Firstly, the pads with cooling fins made a rattling noise that could only be reduced by bending the spring. Secondly, a wandering pressure point set in after around 1200 kilometres. The problem could not be eliminated even after repeated bleeding and mainly occurred on the rear brake in cool temperatures on steep terrain.

Merida supplies the aluminium rims of the One Forty 6000 without tubeless rim tape or valves, but with tubes instead. The result: the first flat on the front wheel after just 100 kilometres, the second after 300 kilometres. Ordinary inner tubes and the Maxxis Minion with its thin Exo casing are not a recommended combination for demanding all-mountain bikers.

The weight saving and puncture protection of a tubeless setup should be a massive advantage for the character of the One Forty. We immediately swapped the entire wheelset and opted for a luxury carbon version with a large inner width (Roval Traverse SL II).

The upgrade and conversion resulted in a weight saving of over 600 grams of rotating mass and therefore a real performance boost. The new wheels made it necessary to change to brake discs with a six-hole mount. Dächle-HD discs from Trickstuff increased the already good braking performance a little and titanium bolts helped to reduce the weight. Over the 1350 kilometres and 38,000 metres in altitude over which the retrofitted discs were fitted, their thickness was reduced from 2.0 to 1.8 millimetres.

To cater for personal preferences, we switched to a different saddle (Selle Italia SLR) and a cockpit with more rise (Funn Equaliser stem, Syntace carbon handlebars and Odi Troy Lee Designs grips). The change also saved a few more grams of weight. While experimenting with the stem height, I crashed and twisted the handlebars as a result. The slightly taller stem left an unsightly scratch in the top tube, which fortunately had no structural impact on the carbon frame. Unimpressed by many rain rides, the headset bearings still run smoothly. However, the cables routed through the bearings rub in the head tube and tend to rattle when turning.

The hexagon spanner integrated into the rear thru axle also contributed to the unpleasant background noise. After just a few rides, it rattled loudly due to its poor fit and was removed. Despite a lot of dirt, the Race Face bottom bracket still rotates smoothly and without play. However, the screw of the axial adjustment ring no longer grips so that it cannot be fixed - a known problem with this plastic component.

The factory-fitted Fidlock bottle is a matter of taste. We didn't really like the practical but over time rickety holder. The handling of both Fidlock bottles tested was suboptimal. The supplied model required a lot of manual force to squeeze water out of the mouthpiece at cool temperatures, while the plastic of the bottle we ordered was too soft, so that water escaped from the side of the lid if it was accidentally pressed. An adapter allows conventional bottle cages to be fitted to the frame of the Merida One Forty 6000.

Merida equips the One Forty 6000 with a huge amount of accessories. There's a multi-tool under the saddle, a spanner in the axle, a spare inner tube on a frame mount and a tool bag with an air pump and tubeless repair kit in the down tube storage compartment. For bikers who don't have any of these things at home, this is a brilliant purchase, as they get the full package straight away. For everyone else, the question arises as to whether the bike would be cheaper without all these little things or whether the resources would perhaps be better invested in equipment details such as a higher-quality wheelset. Either way, the concept puts a lot of pressure on the weight. A whopping 603 grams can be saved by getting rid of all the additional gadgets.

Together with the lightweight tubeless wheelset and the slightly higher quality components, the weight was reduced by a full 1.2 kilos during the test. For all those who value light-footed handling, it is a pity that Merida does not offer a minimalist, reduced version of the bike. At 11,699 euros, the lightweight top model One Forty 10K costs more than twice as much as our test bike. If you are looking for further tuning potential on the 6000 model, you could fit a lighter fork and a heavier but more potent shock.

The long dropper post did not cause any major problems in the test. Although it developed minimal lateral play early on and the coating rubbed through at the front, it continued to function perfectly. Overall, the Vario post with all accessories weighs just under a kilo. The frame is also prepared for an integrated Eightpins system, which is around 300 grams lighter. However, this upgrade is very expensive.

While the bearings of the rear triangle still rotate smoothly, those in the shock tower run without play, but are rough. This could also explain why the system now tends to creak under heavy lateral loads, for example when cornering. When the front shock absorber bolt was first fitted, it appears that thread locking compound got onto the surface, so that the bolt is now caked in the hole.

One of the most serious problems only occurred towards the end of the endurance test, when the seemingly undersized Rockshox shock began to act up. On hard impacts, such as landings on the flat, the compression control lever jumped out of position. In the centre between open and closed, the shock has a strange amount of play, is hard and insensitive. While this phenomenon only occurred rarely at first, the incidents are now becoming more frequent. Although the compression lever itself has a lot of play, a purely mechanical problem can be ruled out. The only solution here is to send the shock to a service centre. Meanwhile, the Marzocchi fork continues to work inconspicuously and is free of bushing play.

Conclusion from BIKE test editor Jan Timmermann

In terms of frame quality and equipment, the reduced purchase price of the Merida One Forty 6000 is fair compared to the competition. Thanks to the formidable geometry and the detailed chassis, it's worth investing some money in tuning at one point or another. The first area to tackle should be the high wheel weight. Then the Merida will become a fun playmate and enduring tourer with sports suspension. After the radical diet, I really liked the uncomplicated handling of the Merida One Forty. In continuous use, the Taiwanese all-mountain bike performed averagely with minor technical problems but no total failures. - BIKE test editor Jan Timmermann

Pro

• confident yet playful handling
• Versatile all-mountain potential from tour to bike park
• Richness of detail and equipment package
• Long vario stroke

Contra

• High weight ex works
• overloaded damper
• Small but annoying flaws in durability: rattling parts, tyre puncture protection, shock absorbers