Merida Speeder 200 2021

The 2021 Merida Speeder 200 is marketed as a flat-barred road bike that's claimed to be both sporty and comfortable. It comes with a raft of bang-up-to-date features including comfort-maximising 32mm tyres (and room for even wider rubber) and high-quality hydraulic disc brakes. The combination of the stiff and well-finished aluminium frame and tapered carbon fork offers a dynamic, controlled ride that's equally at home on fleet-footed fitness rides and urban and suburban commutes.

As both a fitness rider and long-distance commuter – or, more accurately, a former long-distance commuter – I tried out this Speeder on a variety of short and longer rides, in flat shoes and clipped in, and it proved equally adept in both these environments, tackling my local hills confidently both ascending and descending.

> Find your nearest dealer here

It might weigh in north of 10kg but that does nothing to dent the lively quality of the Speeder's ride, apart from on the steepest hills where gravity is working against you and on initial acceleration. If you want it for hard training sessions you can get out of the saddle and crank it up.

Admittedly, you can't get down low in an aero tuck like you can on a bike with drops, but the stiff frame rewards your pedalling efforts impressively. This makes the Speeder 200 a more-than-decent training machine with a low-enough bottom gear for climbing most hills in the saddle and enough stiffness when you need to stand up and dance à la Alberto Contador.

> Buyer’s Guide: 7 of the best new-generation hybrids

If anything, this Speeder is an even more impressive descender than it is climber. Again, you can't lean it into corners with the same aggression as you can a bike with drops but you can still hit sweeping bends at 30mph or more with pinpoint steering accuracy from the stiff frameset and enjoy perfectly controlled stopping from the hydraulic brakes when you need it.

At slower speeds control is excellent, making it a good choice for urban commuting and longer rides when comfort is more important than speed. It'll take you nimbly through low-speed city traffic, but hit the bike paths and open road and you can spin along easily and freely – and comfortably – at whatever speed you choose.

Frame and fork

There are no real surprises when it comes to the Speeder 200's frameset. The neatly finished 'golden red' and black (huh? golden?) is made from 6066 aluminium and the tapered fork is carbon.

Unlike some similar bikes around this price, such as Specialized's Sirrus 3.0 or the Giant Fastroad SL3, Merida has stuck with quick-release axles for both frame and fork. It may look a little old-school these days, but wheel changes were quick and easy and there was no obvious reduction in braking performance even when trying to induce brake rub.

The Speeder comes in six sizes, the same as Specialized's Sirrus, and with the range designed for riders from 5ft to 6ft 6in, it should be easy to find the right one.

All the cabling is neatly routed through the frame. Ignore the flat bar and the Speeder could easily be mistaken for a road bike, with its large diameter down tube (for maximum efficiency, y'know), flattened top tube and slimline and slightly flattened seatstays for maximising rear-end comfort.

For a bike that's very well suited to commuting, thanks to its combination of speed, toughness and comfort, the absence of rear rack mounts at the top of the seatstays is a little surprising. My guess is that this is down to the flattened profile of the seatstays, which would make drilling them for bosses problematic.

It's not a game changer as you could use P-clips for a four-point fixing, in conjunction with the seatstays' lower mudguard-cum-rack threads.

And today's cyclist has more choice than ever when it comes to bag-carrying options than ever, including the Tubus Fly rack with its three-point fitting and numerous seatpost-mounted baggage options. I'd still prefer rear rack bosses, as fitted to the Sirrus and Boardman's similar Hyb 8.8 among others, but this is about my only real criticism of the Speeder's frameset.

Groupset

Shimano's 9-speed Sora comprises most of the Merida's drivetrain and gearing – providing quick and accurate shifting. Sora is good to see on a bike at this price and is at the upper end of what you might expect. For example, you'd need to pay £850 to get Sora on Specialized's broadly similar 2020 Sirrus 3.0, or £949 for the 2021 model.

The gearing is pretty much what you'd expect on a flat-barred bike at this price, pairing an FSA 50/34 compact chainset and a wide-ranging Shimano cassette. That said, I don't feel that Merida has gone quite as far as it could when it comes to getting the smallest bottom gear, sticking with a 32-tooth biggest sprocket. My commute from the centre of Bath takes in a short section at 11 per cent – while different routes home reach 25 cent if I choose to tackle them. I don't!

Merida could have gone the whole hog with an 11-34 cassette, dropping the bottom gear a couple of inches or so. Not much, but every little helps on the steeper climbs. Alternatively, the last few years have also seen the introduction of sub-compact chainsets with 48/32 or even 46/30 pairings, both of which would lower the bottom bailout gear.

Or, as Boardman has done with its Hyb 8.8, Merida could have gone down the single-chainring route. The 8.8 pairs a 44T chainring with a 10-speed 11-46 cassette, offering a bottom gear nearly the equivalent to a 34/34 pairing, though this comes at the expense of a lower top gear. That said, the Speeder's gear range is a massive improvement on the gearing I grew up with, and will be sufficient for virtually all situations.

The chainset and cartridge bottom bracket are both from FSA and are pretty standard at this price. Both are fine and you're likely to have little issue with either of them.

The braking is an absolute highlight of the Speeder. If you dug an old modestly priced hybrid out of your shed or garage for riding during the first lockdown, the difference between that bike's braking and this is greater than that between white porous calcium and a coagulated dairy product.

If you've yet to experience the light single-finger action, unparallelled stopping power and pinpoint control of hydraulic disc brakes, the treat awaits you.

It's good to see that the trickle-down effect has brought hydraulics to even quite modestly priced bikes such as the Speeder. Its Shimano MT200 hydraulic brakes and 160mm rotors are absolutely great. Whatever adjective you choose – excellent, impressive, faultless – they're all accurate, and the brakes really do add to the enjoyment of riding the Speeder. On fast urban downhills you can easily keep up with traffic at 30mph secure in the knowledge that the brakes will stop you sharply and safely without the need to grab a handful of lever. In pouring rain you do get a mild squeal initially but after that they're church-mouse quiet. The only potential downside, in the wet anyway, is the performance of the tyres.

Wheels and tyres

The Speeder's own-brand wheels are paired with 32mm Maxxis Detonator tyres, which are about the only thing I'd change – at this time of year anyway. The tyres were fine on dry days, their extra width compared with skinny road rubber adding extra comfort and I've found them pretty durable on previous test bikes, but come the wet their grip is less than convincing and you're really not going to lean aggressively into corners on these. Compacted autumn leaves also proved an unwelcome companion, especially on out of the saddle climbs.

The wheels are one of the few components where Merida appears to have cut costs. They appear solidly made and the budget Joytech hubs run smoothly enough, but they're not what you'd call light. The paired spokes offer a distinctive look if little in the way of mechanical advantage, but the combined weight of the 28-spoked front and 32-spoked rear is a shade under 4kg (this is the complete weight including 160mm rotors, quick-release levers and cassette).

You don't really feel this weight until you hit the climbs, where they will inevitably hold you back a little. The 17mm-wide inner rim allows you to fit tyres up to 37mm wide, which will give you a wide choice of rubber that will even allow you to tackle gravel and not-too-gnarly singletrack if you want to broaden your horizons.

I wouldn't be tempted to change the wheels until they've lived their life, but they, and especially the tyres, would be the obvious place to upgrade the Speeder 200 a little further down the line.

Finishing kit

The Merida's finishing kit is typical of that you'll find on a flat-barred road bike at this price – it's all decent own-brand aluminium componentry. None of it stands out, none of it will let you down. Just what you'd expect.

The alloy handlebar is 600mm wide, which is wide enough for good control on hills without being too wide for weaving your way through city traffic. I did have one very small issue with the bar, and that is that its diameter narrows quite rapidly away from the stem, which meant my Hide My Bell/Garmin mount had a tendency to slip sideways unless you really cranked up the bolt tightness. A small matter.

The own-brand Merida rubber grips were fine for comfort, but if I was keeping the Merida I'd fit a pair of bar ends such as one of Ergon's GP series, as I prefer the extra handholds and versatility they offer, especially when climbing or on longer rides. Bar ends have largely fallen out of fashion off road, but they're easy to fit and I find them a real boon.

One unusual feature is that Merida has stuck with the oversize 30.9mm diameter for its seatpost, rather than the more common 27.2mm. With a stiff and compact aluminium frame I was concerned that this might prove an uncomfortable pairing, but I needn't have worried.

Some of that comfort is down to Merida's own-brand Comp SL saddle. This is used for all six models in the Speeder range from the £659 Speeder 100 to the £1,400 Speeder 900. And with good reason. Whereas I find some saddles on flat-barred bikes – even more so on e-bikes – over padded, the 282mm long, 143mm wide Comp SL is well shaped and has just the right amount of 'squishiness' for a lifelong roadie. The saddle also features Merida's VL mount, which allows you to attach a range of accessories including a multi-tool and saddlebag.

Value and conclusion

I liked Merida's Speeder 200. A lot. It's a high-quality road bike – albeit it one with a flat handlebar rather than drops. It doesn't have quite the value of the Triban Riverside, but then again, few bikes can compete with Decathlon for value.

It's around the same price as Boardman's Hyb 8.8, which also looks a good buy, and is a similar cost to Giant's Sora-equipped Fastroad SL3, but it's a fair bit less than Specialized's nearest equivalent, the Sirrus 3.0.

> Buyer’s Guide: 11 of the best hybrid bikes

The components are fine for the money, with Shimano Sora shifting sweetly and its disc brakes powerful and controlled. I think the gold/red and black looks good too. Okay, the wheels are basic and not that light, and the tyres aren't great in the wet, but about the only other thing I'd criticise the Speeder for are the lack of rear rack mounts on what would make a great commuter bike. I found it great for blasting along the local surfaced Sustrans routes, mixing it with occasional sprints on my interval-training days – where it proved easily stiff enough (for my modest efforts anyway!).

It handles impeccably on descents and proved an enjoyable flat-barred flyer for fitness, commuting and everyday riding, with very few cost-cutting kit choices. Very good comfort, decently nippy apart from on the steepest climbs, good gearing – though it could go sightly lower – and first-rate braking.

Verdict

Merida's Speeder 200 is a lovely bike – great fun, versatile, practical and with predominantly good components