Northernlegs
Regular
Hi What do we think of the Merida crossway urban 40! Any thoughts?!
Merida
- Thread starter Northernlegs
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vickster
Legendary Member
They make good bikes. Testride and decide for yourself
Looks a good deal for under £400
https://www.discountcyclesdirect.co...21385&O_ID=2&gclid=COe9-LiB3tQCFWOx7Qodp8EKOQ
Looks a good deal for under £400
https://www.discountcyclesdirect.co...21385&O_ID=2&gclid=COe9-LiB3tQCFWOx7Qodp8EKOQ
Northernlegs
Regular
Yeh was shown that one but colour a bit garish?!
vickster
Legendary Member
Get something else then
I linked a Decathlon bike on your other thread
Or this also a good deal from a retailer that will advise you on size etc
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m9b0s156p7335/MERIDA-SPEEDER-100-2016
They have the green one cheaper
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m9b0s18p7345/MERIDA-CROSSWAY-URBAN-40-GENTS-2016
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Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
If buying on line make sure you get the correct size for you. On the discount cycles direct link they say the 52cm is for 5'9 - 6'2 which doesn't sound right at all.
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
I like that green colour.
I do too, like Kawasaki green. Still, I'd buy the white one.
As an aside, Merida is an unexpectedly great place.
Northernlegs
Regular
Went for the Merida crossway urban 40-D 2017, 52 frame, medium, had a long online chat with bike specialist who advised this bike for what i am wanting.
Northernlegs
Regular
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Good for you. Hope it suits. What is your height and inseam?
Northernlegs
Regular
5 9.5/5ft 10 and 32 inside leg
Northernlegs
Regular
Actually went for green one as £150 cheaper just 2016 model
fungalcycle
Member
I have a green '17 too. The '18 blue bike has different brakes (shimano) and I had ridden a bike with those and they don't seem half as good as those on the 16-17 model (Tektco?). Also I believe the 18 has anodized steel spokes while the previous years they were stainless, a good thing!
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en_int/bikes/trekking-city/city/2018/crossway-urban-40-d-9428.html
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en_int/bikes/trekking-city/city/2017/crossway-urban-40-d-6531.html
The gearing and the shifting to me seem awful and the bike after 4 months still has drag. I am not tuning it much as I would like to let it brake-in properly. The shifting doesn't need adjustment, it shilfts throughout the 27sp range, but it is harsh. In comparison my 18yo 18sp Giant was butter from day one. And by comparison that bike was of similar value range to this one (3-4 times more than the cheaper bike of the size you could buy at the time). Again it may need more riding and braking-in but in my book when you need so much damn wear to make something fit correctly it was not made well (tolerances and all) to begin with. Wearables that fit well wear less. It may be the difference of cutting a gear and not taking it to a wire wheel to take the edges off or doing it. So I expect the chain to not last too long on this one. I am surprised with sunstar because in motorcycling (dirt) they are a standard to compare by.
Brakes don't drag at all, I praised them already, but wheels, pedals, crank, all seem to have a fine drag into them. When on the same road, same wind conditions, you can go 20-30% faster on a 26" mtb (that is 18yo and tired) than you can with a 28" with tires less than half in patch size, you begin to wonder why you got it to begin with.
The seat is trash and I replaced it with a more comfy one from a cheap bike a friend had gotten from a lottery and never used. It was one of those cheap cheap bikes but had a great seat. I think those m/f different seats for prostate protection are just a marketing gimmick to sell something cheapr for twice as much. What I did notice though was that the seat itself, while being much larger in volume, it was at least 20% lighter than the one that came on merida. No wonder this thing hits the scales at 13kg+ (28-29lb) naked in specs. So I imagine more weight savings getting a good seat for it.
The frame welding seems awful even for something that is robot produced and "not" finished.
The way they tie cables and especially lines (hydraulic ones) with cheap zip ties on the frame is an eyeshore. What were they thinking? One of those ties mysteriously must be laying somewhere on the road already.
Axles, have my approval, in both fit and function, and I much rather carry a little allen wrench with me than having poor quality quick release and levers. It also helps in parking the bike and not coming back to see a frame seating on the ground.
Wheel spokes, loose all around and not very true. Is it a disk trend not to be paying attention to truing a wheel?
The fork looks like a million bucks but it is more elastic than my 40yrold "bent" steel fork on a Mercier. I wouldn't be surprised that this aluminum marketing gadget is even heavier than my 40 year old steel fork.
Size: It is what I like, a 55" and I am 5'10", and I can have both feet on the ground with the seat poking by back "comfortably". I like the bigger frame due to its length, as I hate short (lengthwise) bikes, and I take the seat back a bit.
The handlebars are WIDE, I think my BMW K100rs had narrower bars of the same style. But there is plenty of room to hack the ends off of them. Not good trying to squeeze between cages and among other bicycles at the metro. Very good if you have wide chest and even better when you like to have a mirror for watching cage drivers texting with their dumb-phone. But if the bike is SO DAMN SLOW you need to see what's coming behind you.
And there seems to be half a gallon of paint on the frame which is notorious for aluminum on the long run to pop-off. My flat anodized Giant of 18yrs has had a scratch or two here and there but the coating (not paint) is in tact. Merida seems to dip frames into buckets of color and polyurethane.
It still is pretty to look at, I'll give them that, but overall it is slightly disappointing. Emphasis to my criticism is that I know little of the quality of similar price range bikes of this era. I may be looking for a 20yo 28" Giant street bike to rebuild soon, and if I get that one to be better than this I will have to let this sparkly merida go.
Maybe I should have shopped a bit more and I was close in getting a Romet Cyclocross but in specs and looks the Merida seemed as a bargain. These days you just can't go by specs anymore.
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en_int/bikes/trekking-city/city/2018/crossway-urban-40-d-9428.html
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en_int/bikes/trekking-city/city/2017/crossway-urban-40-d-6531.html
The gearing and the shifting to me seem awful and the bike after 4 months still has drag. I am not tuning it much as I would like to let it brake-in properly. The shifting doesn't need adjustment, it shilfts throughout the 27sp range, but it is harsh. In comparison my 18yo 18sp Giant was butter from day one. And by comparison that bike was of similar value range to this one (3-4 times more than the cheaper bike of the size you could buy at the time). Again it may need more riding and braking-in but in my book when you need so much damn wear to make something fit correctly it was not made well (tolerances and all) to begin with. Wearables that fit well wear less. It may be the difference of cutting a gear and not taking it to a wire wheel to take the edges off or doing it. So I expect the chain to not last too long on this one. I am surprised with sunstar because in motorcycling (dirt) they are a standard to compare by.
Brakes don't drag at all, I praised them already, but wheels, pedals, crank, all seem to have a fine drag into them. When on the same road, same wind conditions, you can go 20-30% faster on a 26" mtb (that is 18yo and tired) than you can with a 28" with tires less than half in patch size, you begin to wonder why you got it to begin with.
The seat is trash and I replaced it with a more comfy one from a cheap bike a friend had gotten from a lottery and never used. It was one of those cheap cheap bikes but had a great seat. I think those m/f different seats for prostate protection are just a marketing gimmick to sell something cheapr for twice as much. What I did notice though was that the seat itself, while being much larger in volume, it was at least 20% lighter than the one that came on merida. No wonder this thing hits the scales at 13kg+ (28-29lb) naked in specs. So I imagine more weight savings getting a good seat for it.
The frame welding seems awful even for something that is robot produced and "not" finished.
The way they tie cables and especially lines (hydraulic ones) with cheap zip ties on the frame is an eyeshore. What were they thinking? One of those ties mysteriously must be laying somewhere on the road already.
Axles, have my approval, in both fit and function, and I much rather carry a little allen wrench with me than having poor quality quick release and levers. It also helps in parking the bike and not coming back to see a frame seating on the ground.
Wheel spokes, loose all around and not very true. Is it a disk trend not to be paying attention to truing a wheel?
The fork looks like a million bucks but it is more elastic than my 40yrold "bent" steel fork on a Mercier. I wouldn't be surprised that this aluminum marketing gadget is even heavier than my 40 year old steel fork.
Size: It is what I like, a 55" and I am 5'10", and I can have both feet on the ground with the seat poking by back "comfortably". I like the bigger frame due to its length, as I hate short (lengthwise) bikes, and I take the seat back a bit.
The handlebars are WIDE, I think my BMW K100rs had narrower bars of the same style. But there is plenty of room to hack the ends off of them. Not good trying to squeeze between cages and among other bicycles at the metro. Very good if you have wide chest and even better when you like to have a mirror for watching cage drivers texting with their dumb-phone. But if the bike is SO DAMN SLOW you need to see what's coming behind you.
And there seems to be half a gallon of paint on the frame which is notorious for aluminum on the long run to pop-off. My flat anodized Giant of 18yrs has had a scratch or two here and there but the coating (not paint) is in tact. Merida seems to dip frames into buckets of color and polyurethane.
It still is pretty to look at, I'll give them that, but overall it is slightly disappointing. Emphasis to my criticism is that I know little of the quality of similar price range bikes of this era. I may be looking for a 20yo 28" Giant street bike to rebuild soon, and if I get that one to be better than this I will have to let this sparkly merida go.
Maybe I should have shopped a bit more and I was close in getting a Romet Cyclocross but in specs and looks the Merida seemed as a bargain. These days you just can't go by specs anymore.
Last edited:
