BIG.TRAIL 500

 

You like your trails demanding, and you don't shy away from pedalling to the top to have another go. The BIG.TRAIL 500 is your ticket to ride, with trail geometry, long travel forks and dropper post.
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Trail riding is your passion and you love the simplicity of a hardtail as well as the way it connects you to the track. The BIG.TRAIL 500 is your perfect companion, featuring a playful yet stable geometry that will deliver confidence and inspires you to go that little bit further. Chunky 29er tyres, a long travel fork and a long dropper post increase that confidence and capability even further.

We often associate 'trail fun' and 'trail capability' with more and more full suspension travel because long-travel bikes are getting more capable on the way down and on the way back up again. At the same time, the trail hardtail has developed quietly in its shadow. After being absent from this segment, we returned to the trails with a bang onboard our BIG.TRAIL. Our trail hardtails took the bike press and trail riders by storm and have managed to perfectly combine a modern trail bike geometry with long-travel forks and chunky 29er wheels for amazing corner grip and comfort. Bikeboard.cc confirmed that we 'nailed it', while MBR, IMB and many more confirmed that the BIG.TRAIL is firmly at the top of the trail hardtail game. If you haven't heard or you're not yet a proud owner of it, then welcome to our BIG.TRAIL which offers simplified and hassle-free trail fun in spades. Available from S to XXL giving our BIG.TRAIL ample size and reach options.

  • Durable double butted aluminium frame
  • 140 mm RockShox fork
  • Modern trail bike geometry with long reach, slack head angle and steep seat angle
  • 29er wheels specced with 2.4" trail tyres and clearance for 2.5"
  • Extremely low standover height paired with long travel dropper posts
  • Multiple fixing points for bottles and other equipment, internal cable routing

Awards & Media

  • material: aluminium
  • 29x2.5" max. wheelsize
  • 148x12mm axle standard
  • BSA bottom bracket standard
frame size S, M, L, XL, XXL
color SPARKLING GOLD (BLACK)
  • 140mm suspension travel
  • Tapered
  • 42mm fork offset
headset MERIDA M4455
  • material: aluminium
  • 780mm width
  • 20mm rise
  • material: aluminium
  • 35mm diameter
  • 0° stem angle
  • 50 mm
grip MERIDA COMP EC
shifter front Shimano SL -MT500-IL
shifter rear Shimano Deore M5100
  • 30.9mm diameter
  • 0mm setback
  • S: 125mm travel seatpost - M/L: 150mm travel seatpost - XL/XXL 175mm travel seatpost
seat clamp MERIDA EXPERT
pedal VP VPE-891
chain KMC X11
chainguard Mr. Control CH-CM1
  • 32 teeth
  • 170 mm-S, 175 mm-M up
  • 11-51 teeth
  • 11 speed
  • 29mm inner width
  • material: aluminium
  • Tubeless ready (tubeless tape and valves not included)
  • 29x2.4"
  • fold
  • TR EXO Dual
  • 29x2.4"
  • fold
  • TR EXO Dual
  • 110x15mm width front hub
  • 32 spoke holes
  • Centerlock
  • 148x12mm width rear hub
  • 32 spoke holes
  • Centerlock
  • including removeable lever, 6 allen key
spokes Black stainless
Bike Frame Geometry Image
Frame Size S M L XL XXL
Tyre Sizes 29" 29" 29" 29" 29"
ST seat tube [mm] 380 410 430 450 470
TT top tube [mm] 579 600 622 645 670
CS chain stay length [mm] 435 435 435 435 435
HTA head tube angle [°] 65.5 65.5 65.5 65.5 65.5
STA seat tube angle [°] 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5
BD bottom bracket drop [mm] 66.5 66.5 66.5 66.5 66.5
HT head tube [mm] 95 100 110 120 120
FL fork length [mm] 550 550 550 550 550
R reach [mm] 415 435 455 475 500
S stack [mm] 636 641 650 659 659
WB wheel base [mm] 1150 1172 1196 1220 1245
SH stand over height [mm] 716 723 725 728 730

Technologies

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X-TAPER HEADTUBE

Steering precision is vital to safe and confident handling, and the X-TAPER HEADTUBE allows us to significantly boost this precision. A larger headset diameter at the bottom paired with a smaller one at the top helps to deal with the strains modern riding and equipment can put on the headtube, all without adding unnecessary weight. It allows tapered forks to be fitted with ease and delivers precise and confidence-inspiring steering.

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SMOOTH WELDING

This is a process we use to give a nice flat finish to our welds instead of the scaled, 'stack of coins' effect TIG welded joints often have. The welder uses the welding torch to go over the joint twice, helping to smooth out the filler material. It takes a lot of skill to do this, but it delivers strong and smart-looking frames that have the appearance of a carbon fibre frame at first look.

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INTERNAL CABLE ROUTING

On the majority of our frames, we run the gear and brake cables and hoses through the frame. The cables enter and exit the frame through smooth sockets, or we use one of our other systems like SMART ENTRY or WIRE PORT to be routed through. Running the cables inside the frame protects them from the elements, gives a clean and neat look and can offer aerodynamic advantages.

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DOWN TUBE EXIT

DOWN TUBE EXIT is a feature seen on some of our frames with internally routed cables. By slightly overlapping the downtube where it connects to the bottom bracket, it leaves a small space that allows cables to exit easily. This means they are easily accessible for routine maintenance or replacement, but it prevents excessive movement and noise that can cause wear and distraction.

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RACELITE 61 ALUMINIUM

We use a minimum of 6061 grade aluminium on all our bikes. It’s particularly well suited to being shaped with our hydroforming and technoforming processes, which allow us to vary the wall thickness to create double-butted tubing and complex frame shapes. It’s also an alloy that welds easily, and once it has been carefully heat treated to maximise strength, it means we can create strong and lightweight bicycle frames for you to enjoy.

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TFS - TECHNO FORMING SYSTEM

Manipulating the tube shape and thickness greatly impacts the appearance, weight and functionality of our aluminium frames. One technology that allows us to do that is TECHNO FORMING, where plain aluminium tubes get mechanically formed by using an external form and an internal metal core. The result, beautifully shaped tubes with varying wall thickness, ready to be used to create our technoformed aluminium frames.

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F-MOUNT

Being able to turn your bike into an all-weather commuter that has mudguards and other fittings can be a real plus, in particular when riding on wet and perhaps muddy roads and tracks on a regular basis. To make fitting easy, some of our bikes are F-MOUNT equipped. These integrated fittings mounts make adding mudguards fast and simple. Please note that some bikes require model-specific mudguards.

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K-MOUNT

When using your bike in an urban environment, where you might not always have the option to use a specific bike stand, a kickstand is an ideal solution to park your bike safely. Some of our bikes come with a neatly integrated K-MOUNT, which makes fitting a MERIDA kickstand (or any commercial kickstand) easy. And if you don’t want to have a kickstand and prefer the clean appearance of your frame, the K-MOUNT is neatly tucked away underneath your chainstay, difficult to spot if you don’t know it is there.

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C-MOUNT

Similar to our F-MOUNT, where various fixing points for mudguards are part of the frame offering, the C-MOUNT equipped bikes have the fixing points for a rear rack already integrated, making fitting fast, simple and reliable. The C-MOUNTS are an additional feature that improves the day-to-day versatility by adding loading capacity to your bike, ideal for commuting and shopping trips. Please note that some bikes require model-specific rear racks.

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