50 years of Merida pushbikes

Who doesn’t love a good ol’ trip down a mountain biking* memory lane, hey? Let’s look back over the last 50 years of Merida…

*okay, the MTBs don’t appear until 1980 but we can’t let that little fact get in the way of some alliteration

Merida: “This year Merida celebrates its golden jubilee. While the challenging times remain, we can’t and don’t want to ignore the fact that we have been around for a long time. You only turn 50 once, so to honour our half a century in the cycling industry, we have created a gallery showing some key ‘milestones’ since Merida was founded in 1972.”

Potted history of Merida

It all started with an infamous sign attached to the workshop door of a bicycle shop in the US, one stating; “we don’t repair poor quality Taiwanese bicycles”. This was seen by engineer Ike Tseng, who was visiting the US at the time, triggering the desire in him to turn this around and improve the reputation of bicycles ‘Made in Taiwan’. 

Ike was a talented engineer and a visionary who had an obsession with quality. It was this obsession that led him to set up a bike factory in 1972, determined to improve the reputation of Taiwanese bicycles and engineering. Merida’s position of controlling its production sets it apart from a lot of its competitors, who rely on third-party production facilities.

Over the years, Merida turned from a factory that offered its production facilities and solutions to other bike brands into a brand in its own right. 

With one of the most advanced production facilities in the world of bicycle production based in Taiwan, paired with a R&D centre in Germany, Merida has been able to produce a huge range of bikes. With everything from kids’ bikes going all the way to World Tour and Mountain Bike World Cup winning race machines.

Merida remains family-run, with Ike Tseng’s son Michael in control of the business.

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Ben Haworth

Orange Switch 6er. Stif Squatcher. Schwalbe Magic Mary Purple Addix front. Maxxis DHR II 3C MaxxTerra rear. Coil fan. Ebikes are not evil. I have been a writer for nigh on 20 years, a photographer for 25 years and a mountain biker for 30 years. I have written countless magazine and website features and route guides for the UK mountain bike press, most notably for the esteemed and highly regarded Singletrackworld. Although I am a Lancastrian, I freely admit that West Yorkshire is my favourite place to ride. Rarely a week goes by without me riding and exploring the South Pennines.

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