Distributor in the spotlight – meet Mátyás Jurecska

In our fourth and final stop with the team at BikeFun, we got together with Mátyás Jurecska, the most enthusiastic MERIDA fan we have ever met. He provides technical training for the many MERIDA shops in the two countries BikeFun looks after (Hungary and Romania). Mátyás also supports the sales team in the Budapest-based concept store and loves representing the brand at events and out on the trail. And that is where he also spends lots of his spare time, riding and racing his ONE-SIXTY and BIG.TRAIL. Or at least he used to, but after the day of our interview, we are pretty sure he will have other, more pressing things to be doing with his time. Read on to find out what we are referring to…

Who are you and what is your job role?
I am Mátyás Jurecska, and I am one of the mechanics in our MERIDA Concept Store here in Budapest. This involves working on warranty cases and general bike repairs. I also handle most of the technical training we offer to our dealers. In the winter, they come here to the concept store for training, and once or twice a year, I go to Romania to teach our dealers there. More often, the training will be on new developments, for example, on the motors in the MERIDA e-bike range. I also get involved in sales in the concept store.

How long have you worked at BikeFun, and how did you get to your current position?
I have worked here for the last seven years, since the concept store opened. For ten years prior to starting here, I worked in a local bike shop in the bottom of Mátra, where I live and where Tamás Kovács (BikeFun’s MERIDA Product and Marketing Manager) asked me to join the BikeFun team. It is the highest mountain range in Hungary, so I have an hour commute each way to get into Budapest, but I don’t mind as I love my work, and I love where I live. So, I have worked with bikes for my entire career. 

What is a typical working day like for you?
Most days are different; I usually start by answering e-mails, then the day can be determined by who comes into the shop and who needs help or advice. The best kind of day for me is when I can purely focus on fixing or servicing suspension, as I am never happier than when doing this!

Does your interest in cycling help you in your day-to-day role?
Absolutely, I think it is fair to say I am bike-obsessed; the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing at night is reading about bikes in magazines or online. I fell in love with mountain biking as a kid; the mountains were calling me even then! I didn’t enjoy school, so I stopped studying and went to work at the local bike shop. I love the lifestyle of being a biker, being outdoors in nature, and being in the mountains. I love working with bikes, and I hope this comes across to customers and dealers. My bike knowledge from my own experience is invaluable for my work, and I guess gives people confidence when I teach them, as I ride the bikes and work on them as well.

What sort of cycling is popular in Hungary?
In the 1990’s MTB was very popular, but now I would say road and gravel riding have taken over, despite the bad bus and car drivers and poorly maintained roads! The mountains here are more like hills, the highest is 1,014m, so nothing like Austria or Germany from an altitude point of view. We don’t have many bike parks here either. I do enduro and downhill, and there is a small scene with about 200 people racing, but the races only happen a few times a year.

We have seen an increase in e-bikes around the world. What is the use of e-bikes in Hungary?
I would say they are becoming more popular, but to be honest, they are too expensive for most ‘average’ people who don’t have that kind of disposable income. I think most of the e-bikes we sell are used for commuting or leisure rather than for performance use. I would love to have an eONE SIXTY SL. I fell in love with this bike at the launch event in Santa Coloma. We then had two test bikes in the store, and I had the chance to take one home to ride it on my home trails. It was fantastic. 

What MERIDA bike are you currently riding, and have you made any changes and alterations to it? If so, what benefit did they bring?
I have two at the moment: a ONE SIXTY 700 with standard RockShox suspension at the front, and I did some more detailed work on the rear shock unit to match my riding style. It has Hope brakes, carbon bars, aluminium wheels, and a mechanical Sram drive train, as where I live, the riding is very rocky, so it would be expensive to replace an electronic setup if it would get damaged. I love this bike; the frame was a game-changer for me. I used to ride a different bike but switched to MERIDA when the first ONE SIXTY came out in 2013, and I haven’t looked back since.

My second bike is a BIG TRAIL, which I use for pumptrack, enduro riding and touring. This has nearly the same specification as the ONE SIXTY. The frame geometry is very progressive. I couldn’t imagine it could be improved, but with every new edition, they do! I build all my bikes starting with the bare frame, and I customise them to my own specifications; they are also all the same colour – gun metal grey! I also have lots of older bikes in my shed, probably ten or so (it is a big shed). I don’t ride them currently, but I enjoy having them.

What is your all-time favourite MERIDA bike?
That would be the first generation ONE SIXTY with the VPK, as this was the first time when all my friends suddenly ‘noticed’ my MERIDA, they tried riding it, and all bought one for themselves; they have all continued to ride MERIDA bikes since then. The ONE SIXTY was a game changer as far as I am concerned, and I think it was for the MERIDA brand too.

What do you think are the most exciting developments of the MERIDA brand over the years?
My answer is the same as a lot of other people you have interviewed – the MERIDA team joining the World Tour. In Hungary, road riding is popular, so when MERIDA joined the World Tour, it had a significant impact on MERIDA’s reputation and reach.

What is your main cycling discipline, and how did you get into the sport?
I am a mountain biker/enduro rider at heart. I got into cycling through my father; he bought me my first ever MTB in 1994 when MTB was booming. He took me to the shop and said, “This is your bike”. I was speechless as it was a dream come true for me, and it changed my life from that point on. MERIDA were not being sold in Hungary until 1999, so my first bike wasn’t a MERIDA. When I was a teenager, I was taught how to ride by a Hungarian rider who was a professional, Attila Nagy (nickname Gizmo), who was riding for GT initially, then he switched to riding for MERIDA. He is a very kind person and taught me how to jump and corner. I have such good memories of that time and what he taught me.

I have trails I have built from my back door, as I live in the Mátra Mountains, and my dog Percy loves to come with me. Percy also loves going to biking events, in fact, he is a bit of a celebrity; he was recently on the podium during some TV footage of a road racing event called Tour de Mátra. BikeFun supported the event, and Tamás Kovács (BikeFun’s MERIDA Product and Marketing Manager) and I were on stage giving out the prizes, and Percy was there too – he loved hanging out with the riders, and he loved having his photo taken on the podium.

Do you have an ‘idol’ in the world of cycling?
I guess that would be Hans Rey because of his loyalty to GT. He worked with them for 39 years, and now they are bankrupt and have had to drop him. I nearly cried when I read about it, and my wife was looking at me in disbelief! My other idols would be Steve Peat, Wade Simmons and Brett Tippie.

Any cycling trips or events planned?
Ten years ago, I rode a Twenty-four-hour downhill race at Semmering Bike Park. You ride down the specific course and get the lift back up. My plan is to repeat it, but not this year, as I think I will have other things to take up my time.

Last year I went to a different event there – the ‘Semmering White Fast Down Winter Downhill’, which was on snow and ice. You ride down the ski route, so some sections are very steep with loose snow, and it is a mass start – so it is a really cool event, but also a little bit crazy too!

Any riding/bike tips for your fellow cyclists?
Buy a good helmet and go riding!

What is your proudest achievement in this role?
The workshops we do for our dealers. We have very positive feedback from those who have attended, as it makes their lives easier when they have a better understanding of how things work and can troubleshoot any issues their customers have. I enjoy doing them too, as it is nice to interact with the dealers, and I get a sense of satisfaction when I know they find them useful.

Do you have other hobbies away from two wheels?
Well, I got married three weeks ago, and at 9 am this morning, our first son, Endre, was born by caesarean section! So, two momentous things have happened to me today: having our first child and doing this interview! I imagine from now on I will be spending less time biking and as much time as I can being a father. I am so excited about it. I have dreamed about having a family for such a long time.

My other passion, which is not bike-related, is managing a forest which my brother and I inherited from our father. He was a forester and left it to us when he passed away. We maintain it and plant new trees, but we are not allowed to cut any trees down to ride in it, as it is in a protected area in the Mátra Mountains. This is probably just as well, otherwise we would have built our own bike park by now!

What do you like most about working with MERIDA bikes at BikeFun?
I like the brand and my colleagues. Bikes are my obsession, so I love working with them amongst people who love riding; it is more than a job, it is a lifestyle. I need to believe in the brand I work for, and I believe in MERIDA; I had my MERIDA hat and t-shirt on when my son was born this morning, so I think that shows what it means to me!

Why should someone come to Hungary for a cycling holiday?
We have a very large lake in Hungary – Lake Balaton, which is lovely to cycle around. You can take as long as you want to cycle around it, and you can camp next to the water. We also have the Mátra Mountain range in the north (where I live), which has beautiful views and lots of technical rocky riding. Most of the trails are narrow tourist roads, so proper singletrack. We also have 2-3 purpose-built trails , but we haven’t needed to build any more, as there are so many natural trails.

Given the choice for a little bike adventure (time and money no object), where would you go?
That is tricky to narrow down to one trip; I have always wanted to go to Chile to compete in the Andes Pacifico weeklong enduro event, and I would also love to go to Hawaii to ride their volcanic terrain after seeing it featured in the New World Disorder films.

And of course, I would love to do THE EX three-day enduro race in the UK. I know the organiser, so he may be able to secure me a space (maybe not this year, though, as I will have my hands full with Endre).

If you had to recommend one MERIDA bike to one of your closest friends, which one is it and why?
For me, it would be the ONE-SIXTY 7000 or 8000 (depending on budget) and the BIG.TRAIL 600. Our ONE-SIXTY is such a capable bike on even the roughest of tracks, but at the same time, it pedals really well, and tons of innovations have gone into it. Then, as a more ‘do everything’ bike, you can’t beat the BIG.TRAIL 600. You can use it to ride to work, cruise some less technical trails or go ‘flat out’ on some more gnarly tracks. The geometry is so progressive, and it handles whatever you throw at it with ease. For me, it is the perfect ‘one bike does it all’ machine. Love it. 
 

Mátyás rushed to see us to do the interview straight from the hospital after the birth of his first child. He came into the MERIDA Concept Store beaming and proudly showed everyone in the shop the first photos of his son, Endre. It was an honour to be part of the celebrations; we were also invited out that evening with the team to ‘wet the baby’s head’, and we could clearly see that the team at BikeFun are not just work colleagues, they really are a family, and this is why Mátyás and everyone we have interviewed at BikeFun loves working there.

Mátyás’s love for cycling and dedication to the MERIDA brand are inspirational; he literally lives and breathes bikes. We are sure that although he will be having some pretty big adjustments to make to his new life as a father, his focus and ambition mean there is a lot more to come from the man from the Mátra Mountains.

For the last stage of our 2025 summer trip, we went to Austria, visiting Sail & Surf, the long-standing MERIDA distributor for the mountainous country. Please keep your eyes on our social media channels and the website’s news section for more stories in our ‘Distributor in the spotlight’ series.