CYCLO CROSS CARBON TEAM DISC

Already in the previous year, MERIDA has introduced the CYCLO CROSS Carbon Team 2011 – a top-class cyclocross bike delighting with outstanding features such as effective elimination of crosser-typical “brake stutter”, surprisingly high suspension comfort, superb carrying characteristics and, of course, also extremely convincing STW data.

There’s not only the fact that our MULTIVAN MERI DA pro athletes use cross bikes during the winter months to optimize their riding skills or to maintain fitness by short, tough interval training units: In addition, José A. Hermida has already triumphed twice as Spanish Cyclo Cross Champion while Hannes Genze and Ralf Naef also absolve Cyclo Cross races with success. Therefore MERI DA is, like in all other bike disciplines, eager to offer only the best possible Cyclo Cross material!

Since autumn 2010, the UCI permits the utilization of disc brakes also during Cyclo Cross competitions. So from now on, we equip our professional athletes with an adequate second version of the CYCLO CROSS Carbon Team. “But it’s just not enough to furnish an existing frame with disc brake interfaces,” as Juergen Falke (MERI DA’s Head of Design) explains. “At least if the engineering objective is – like in our case – an excellent result in terms of function.”

Compared to a frame which is optimized towards utilization with conventional cantilever brakes, a disc-brake crosser’s fork does not have to master the typical “cantilever brake stutter” during deceleration. Instead, it must compensate the torsion forces that are generated by the disc-brake on only one side of the system. Thanks to its special fibre structure, the novel full-carbon fork of our CYCLO CROSS Carbon Team-D countervails this unilateral torsion while offering still far more brilliant advantages: The fork flexes sufficiently to provide excellent comfort while being not too rigid. This helps to find the “fast lane” and avoiding unintentionally aggressive steering manoeuvres. Result: Precisely controllable steering performance at maximum comfort even on roughest terrain – actively supported by superb brake control sensitivity previously unknown in terms of cross bikes! 

The two MERIDA carbon crossers also differ considerably with respect to their rear stays: The rear stay of the newly developed disc-brake version has been broadened by 5 mm to achieve a general width of 135 mm that conforms to the established MTB standard for rear wheel hubs. Only this precondition guarantees that disc brake systems can be mounted without a loss of lateral stiffness at the wheel.

As a matter of course, MERI DA illuminates the next CYCLO CROSS season also with a massive 1.5" X Taper head tube, superb BB suitability for swift sprints and a Monocoque carbon frame manufactured by “Anti Wrinkle” technology – not to mention the innovative “tunnel system” that hides all rearwardly routed cables intelligently underneath the top tube. This enables easy shouldering, excellent cable protection and trouble-free access for maintenance purposes.

For the next season, we offer both frame versions (cantilever brakes and “disc only”) to our pro riders – true to our principle that MULTIVAN MERIDA BIKING TEAM members choose the preferred barkes by themselves!

Also this 2011 MERI DA Team model is specifically equipped with a complete Sram drivetrain and ultra-light PRC components. Outstanding highlight: The extremely gracile seat post with a net weight of only 150 g and outstanding flexibility features – an impressive new benchmark for EN -certified seat post systems (clamping: Monolink) that delights all ambitious Cyclo Cross athletes with previously unknown comfort characteristics!