Merida Big seven 20 (2022): ChooseMyBicycle Expert Review

Merida Big.Seven 20 is made from 6061 aluminium tubing which is made using “TECHNO FORMING SYSTEM” that is, it uses metal dies to form the tubes to required shape. It looks like a conventional hardtail MTB frame. The one we tested was of size M and being 175cm tall it felt snug and easy to ride out of the box. The bike comes with quick release for the wheels and seat post clamp, which makes fixing flat and adjusting seat height for different occasion of riding easier. As usual most of the components are made in house at Merida. The bike comes with two bottle cage mounts and mounts to add a rear fender if needed. Here we get to see a basic spring-loaded suspension with preload adjustment which has 100mm travel and a front fender mount is also available. This setup is very basic and is good for leisure riding on normal roads but don’t be fooled it lets you go bonkers in a trail and where there are no roads. The handlebar has a 15mm raise along with the stem having a 6deg angle to make the riding position upright and comfortable.

When you look at the bike in person it will attract you to ride it. The colour combination of white with purple decals makes it eye catchy. The top tube angle is low enough to drop the seat down for down hill riding. The bike gets internal cable routing which gives it a clean look.

The gearing on the bike is of various combination but works well. The bike received was equipped with 2X8 gearing setup. From the front, the gear shifting is done through trigger shifters from Shimano. The front derailleur is Shimano Altus, and the rear derailleur is Shimano Acera. The crank is Shimano M315 comes with 36-22 chain ring and the cassette is from sunrace with 11-32 gearing. The transmission is linked with KMC Z8 chain. This setup works well with smooth and fast shifting. The gear combination makes it easy to ride on difficult terrains. During the test ride the low gearing helped in climbing a rough gravel patch with ease. The low gearing torque helped us to ride without and wheel skipping. One more gear up on the crank could have made it a good commuter.

The brakes are named as Power, these are hydraulic 2 piston callipers which are paired with Shimano’s RT10 160mm rotors. These brakes are little pressure sensitive is how we felt while riding it a slight pull on the levers doesn’t do much of stopping but reduces the momentum slightly. To bring the bike to a halt the levers needed a tight squeeze.

Big Seven 20 gets a 690mm wide handlebar, which creates a perfect triangle with your body to keep the ride very stable on worst riding conditions. Its not easy to do quick turns with this setup. The grips provided are rubber based and gives you confident to ride hard. The suspension from SR Suntour the XCT is an entry-level spring-based suspension with lockout and preload adjustment. While using low pre-load setting on the suspension, shocks bottom out in roughest situation. Maintaining a pre-load or locking out the suspension based on the terrain is to be kept in mind.

The wheel set is 27.5-inch (650b) alloy and is 17mm wide which can hold max of 2.25 inch (57mm) wide tyre. The tyre which was on the bike are KENDA 27.5x2.2. This had exceptional grip on all surfaces tested and made the ride smooth giving good cushion during the ride. When tested to ride on loose sand the bike performed well.

The Merida sport comfort saddle added to the soft riding experience.