Merida One-Twenty 700 review

BikesRecommendedReview

by Ross Demain February 27, 2025 5

The confusingly-named 130mm-travel Merida One Twenty is essentially more at the XC end of the trail bike spectrum.

• Brand: Merida
• Product: One-Twenty 700
• From: Merida Bikes
• Price: £3,100
• Tested: by Ross for 10 months

Pros

• Well thought out all-rounder geometry
• Very impressive rear suspension
• Generally decent spec (highlights: 200mm dropper and SRAM DB8 brakes)

Cons

• Thru-headset routing
• I prefer the other colourway! (see header pic)

I first tried a Merida One Twenty towards the end of 2023 when it first launched. It felt like it would be an ideal long termer test bike upgrade-athon mile-munching machine. So that’s what I did.

This bike is a MY2024 model. Having said that, the previous Merida One-Twenty was around for nigh on five years (MY2019-MY2024) so you can expect the same frame to be used for quite a while yet. So hopefully this review will ‘have legs’ for a similar amount of time!

Merida describes the latest One-Twenty pretty much like a lot of brands explain a lot of their bikes ie. good at everything. Skimming past this ubiquitous phrase we find a more unique and intriguing description: “fun-packed, affordable and simple to look after thanks to a reliable and uncomplicated design”.

Let’s just get the elephant in the room out of the way. This bike has thru-headset cable routing. This may somehow make the bike more affordable (cheaper to manufacture?) but in no way is this routing uncomplicated.

Despite my bleating, I wouldn’t dismiss the Merida One-Twenty because of its routing choices. There’s a heck of a lot going for this bike.

In a nutshell, the Merida One-Twenty 700 has excellent geometry, impressive rear suspension and a spec sheet that doesn’t really need much if anything swapping out (until stuff has worn out past the point) and offers very good value for money all things considered.

Spec highlights: SRAM DB8 brakes were fantastic, 200mm travel dropper, the contact points (grips and saddle) were really nice and the Maxxis Forekaster is possibly the best whippy trail tyre currently available.

The other point that I should make is that the bike is an ideal base to upgrade from over the ensuing years. The fork can have new air spring and damper installed if desired, the SRAM NX drivetrain can be replaced with something less agricultural bit-by-bit and the cockpit is easy enough to change.

Riding

I initially rode the bike in the original set up, as ridden on the launch. It was the same 700 model that I had ridden at that time so set up was nice and easy. I set the sag on the front to 20% and – from advice from the guys at Merida UK – I went with 30% on the rear. The rear shock only features rebound in way of external adjustment so I set that to suit (fast ish) and left it as it was.

The 120 is a great little trail bike. The sizing is spot on for me at 183cm and the geo numbers work together to make a fast and fun trail trail ripper. Climbing is good, partly thanks to the supportive rear, partly down to the steep seat angle and good geometry that put you in a comfortable and efficient position for spinning away. The fast rolling stock tyres also help to make climbing a breeze and even steep grinds are dispatched quickly and efficiently and I frequently found myself one gear further down the block than on my usual burlier bikes.

It’s quick and nimble, with plenty of support from the rear for hopping and popping and fast, swoopy singletrack is a particular highlight with the ‘not-too-slack-and-not-too-steep’ head angle keeps the front feeling sharp and precise. You can duck and dive along trails with quick direction changes but without the ‘on the edge’ feeling of more XC oriented bikes, yet it’s still capable enough to drop into your local enduro track.

But this is a tale of two halves. I then had the chance to alter a few bits on the One-Twenty and see how it fared as a more aggro trail bike. The main changes consisted of a longer 140mm RockShox Pike Ultimate to replace the 130mm stock Pike, higher rise bars to raise the front, Hope carbon crankset and a chunky tyre set up for harder riding – a new Maxxis High Roller III up front paired with a Schwalbe tacky Chan on the rear. 

In this Trail Bike+ mode the 120 was even more fun. It kept the same good climbing manners as in the stock configuration, and while the tyres were certainly a bit draggier, in general the climbing was on a par and kept the taut, efficient feeling of the stock set up, but had gone up a level of the descents. 

The added height on the front from the higher rise bar and longer fork adds an extra element of confidence and control for fast and rough or steep tracks. You’re naturally put in a more centred and controlled position for aggressive riding and with the better damped, longer travel fork, and higher front end the 120 feels more at home on more testing, enduro style tracks rather than just smoother trails and singletrack. You can drop into steep off-piste ruts and slap turns and the bike feels completely natural. 

It’s still only 130mm at the rear, and the sorted geo and added front travel let you find the limits of this pretty quickly, but you’ll have a ton of fun getting there. You can’t just open the taps and plough through things like you can on a long travel bike but if you pick your lines you can have a massive amount of fun on this bike and confidently ride some pretty testing and rough stuff, and when things get really chunky, the supportive rear helps you hop and pop and gap sections to keep things moving. 

Overall

The Merida 120 is an engaging, fun and most of all versatile modern trail bike. It makes a great bike for proper ‘trail’ riding – long climbs, miles of singletrack and a bit of tech – and has well thought out, future proof geometry. With a few small changes though it can be turned into a more descent focused bike without sacrificing the liveliness and character that make it such a good bike to ride.

It feels well suited to a lot of UK riding and has decent mud clearance, can fit a big bottle, an overall spec that is well thought out (with the SRAM DB8 brakes being a particular highlight), and although I’m still to be convinced by headtube cable routing, it’s a bike I’d happily have in the shed. Not everyone will want to buy a bike and swap bits round, but this test just shows that with a few component changes you can pretty much have two different bikes. Horses for courses.

Merida One-Twenty 700 specification

• Frame // One-Twenty Lite V Alloy, 130mm
• Fork // RockShox Pike Select, 130mm
• Shock // RockShox Deluxe Select+
• Wheels // Merida Expert TR rims on Novatec SL-Team hubs
• Front tyre // Maxxis Forekaster 29 x 2.4in EXO
• Rear tyre // Maxxis Forekaster 29 x 2.4in EXO
• Chainset // SRAM NX Eagle DUB, 32T
• Drivetrain // SRAM NX Eagle, 10-50, 12 Speed
• Brakes // SRAM DB8, 200/200mm
• Stem // Merida Expert ETRII, 35mm, 40mm
• Bars // Merida Expert TRII, 780 x 18mm
• Grips // Merida Comp EC
• Seatpost // Merida Expert TRII Dropper, 34,9mm, 150mm (XS, S), 170mm (M), 200mm (L, XL)
• Saddle // Proxim W400 STN
• Bottom Bracket // SRAM DUB
• Size tested // L
• Sizes available // XS, S, M, L, XL
• Weight: 15.5kg

Geometry of our Large size

• Head angle // 66°
• Effective seat angle // 78.5°
• Seat tube length // 445mm
• Head tube length // 110mm
• Chainstay // 435mm
• Wheelbase // 1,221mm
• Effective top tube // 611mm
• BB height // 40mm BB drop
• Reach // 485mm

Review Info

Ross Demain

Ad Sales Manager

Ross pairs his childlike excitement for bikes with a complete disregard for the wellbeing of his ribs, or his rims. Best known for riding cheeky trails, his time is also spent trail building in his local woods, drinking beer, eating pies and entertaining his two children.

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