Merida simply launched an all-new Mission gravel race bike that appears much more like their highway racing lineup than it does most adventure-focused gravel bikes as of late. That basically boils all the way down to the truth that their bikepacking-ready Silex had already received a gravel world championship. So, Merida didn’t want one other all-rounder. They didn’t even want a fats tire gravel race bike. What they needed was a UCI Gravel World Sequence-tuned race bike that felt as quick as a highway bike, it doesn’t matter what floor you had been racing on – paved or not.
At first look, the Mission appears to disregard the modern business strain that greater tires are higher. However journey this bike, and the advantage of a quick, race-tuned bike turns into instantly clear.t
2025 Merida Mission prioritizes race pace over tough gravel
The brand new Merida Mission is an ideal reminder that gravel bikes have begun to be more and more segmented – even when versatility appears to be a gravel by way of line. So after Sea Otter Europe, I headed exterior of Girona to hit some acquainted gravel roads on the brand new bike to see the place it sits.
All-road/gentle gravel bikes exist at one finish of the endurance road-evolved spectrum, usually missing actual off-road capabilities. Versatile on a regular basis gravel bikes fell into the center with extra consolation & stability. Then ultra-long, slack journey gravel bikes emerged on the opposite mountain bike facet of the class, able to haul a number of gear over longer distances and rougher terrain.
Gravel racing bikes have tended to exist in that center floor. However as many racers have moved from 40mm to 45mm to even 50 & 55mm tires in latest seasons to take care of ultra-distance races and tire-shredding racecourses, the traces have change into more and more blurred.
Since their Silex has already proven itself able to dealing with fats tires and racing, for his or her new gravel race bike, Merida determined to double down on pace and a well-recognized highway racing pace. So, they leaned extra closely to their highway racing Scultura, skipping over its endurance highway sibling. The ensuing Merida Mission will get related easy aero highway bike shaping, responsive dealing with, a low body Stack peak to make roadies blissful, and simply sufficient tire clearance to journey any kind of paved or unpaved roads.
Is 40mm tire clearance sufficient for gravel at present?
On paper, sticking with 40mm tire clearance appeared short-sighted. In actuality, it’s a bit extra complicated. That’s partly as a result of Merida is fairly conservative in stating that max tire width. For them, that’s the gorgeous normal minimal 6mm of clearance between the tire and any a part of the body. However since Merida specs the 2 prime builds with these ultra-wide 32mm inside Zipp 303 Xplr wheels, which means you’ve much more room than the max tire width suggests – particularly if you happen to purchase one of many extra reasonably priced full bikes.
Merida’s personal R&D group are driving 45mm Schwalbe tires on 24mm inside DT wheels. And their Bahrain Victorious sponsored riders are racing 45mm Continental tires on 21-23mm inside Imaginative and prescient wheels. Each of which seemed to supply loads of clearance, even after we did loads of moist and muddy gravel testing.
Similar to 2023 UCI Gravel World Champ (and 2025 third place finisher) Matej Mohorič informed me, “Formally it’s 40mm, however most prospects will put 45mm tires” on their new Mission to swimsuit their very own terrain.
Driving the Mission: What actually makes this bike work?
So was the selection to stay with a most 40mm tire clearance limiting? The reply is a little bit of sure and no.
In fact, limiting max tire measurement is all the time going to restrict the place you’ll journey the bike. However for its gravel race intentions, 40mm (with precise 45mm real-world clearance) is sufficient to have the ability to journey any terrain you are attempting to really cowl at racing speeds. Plus, unsurprisingly, Merida did a great job with the carbon layup to make a light-weight bike that’s a lot stiff from the headtube, although the downtube, BB & chainstays into the UDH dropout whereas staying forgiving up prime.
Tire measurement is only one facet, although. What actually makes this bike work is Merida’s skill to suit these adequately giant gravel tires into a light-weight, stiff & responsive carbon body that has geometry and match extra akin to a highway race bike than to a do-it-all gravel bike.
A giant a part of that’s the nonetheless surprisingly brief 419mm chainstays. They’re 11mm shorter than Merida’s do-it-all gravel bike, however solely 1mm longer their endurance all-road bike that maxes out at 35mm tires, and simply 11mm longer than the devoted Merida highway race bikes.
Street-inspired match
The road-like match although, makes one of many largest variations.
The medium Mission that I examined has a body Stack peak of 569mm. That’s a full 38mm decrease than the gravel Silex, 15mm decrease than the all-road Scultura Endurance, and solely 12mm increased than the World Tour highway racing Scultura. Its 391mm Attain can be 4mm shorter than the Scultura, 7mm longer than the Scultura Endurance, and 21mm shorter than the Silex – so once more nearer to that basic highway match on the bike, since all of them get very related seat angles.
In case you are searching for an aggressive highway racing ‘slam your stem’ place on the bike, that is the gravel bike for you.
Street-inspired geometry, too
When you’ve obtained your bars in a roadie-familiar place, extra racing-ready highway geometry actually ties all of it collectively.
The 72° headtube is a full 2.5° steeper than the Silex. However nonetheless 1-1.5° slacker than the Scultura Endurance & Scultura, the Mission remains to be a lot steady off-road and thru unfastened gravelly corners.
However the largest distinction between the Mission & Silex provides up once you take a look at general wheelbase size. At 1013mm for my Medium take a look at bike, that’s 69mm shorter than the Silex. That’s a lot greater than the 12mm between the Mission and the marginally shorter all-road Scultura Endurance, and even the 23mm shorter wheelbase of the highway racing Scultura.
Ultimately, Merida actually squeezed these 40-45mm tires in tight to create a way more responsive gravel bike that provides a highway race really feel with out sacrificing an excessive amount of of its all-terrain functionality.
Precise weights from 7.72-10kg
Mild weights don’t harm both, particularly when the bike doesn’t break the financial institution. The mid-range Silex 7000 & 700 that I examined a pair years again, every weighed greater than 10kg. Now, even the entry-level ~2700€ Mission 4000 is that gentle.
And the top-tier Mission 10K that I spent probably the most time driving weighed simply 7.72kg in a measurement M with out pedals. That bike isn’t low-cost. However at ~8400€ with a full SRAM Purple Xplr AXS groupset, an influence meter crankset, 1-piece carbon cockpit, and ultra-wide Zipp 303 Xplr SW carbon wheels – it truly seems to be like a fairly killer deal. Possibly nearly 20% cheaper than the equally spec’d Silex when it debuted in 2023.
Closing Ideas
That mixture of road-inspired match & geo resulted in one of many quickest-accelerating bikes I’ve ever thrown a leg over. At any time when I’m on a dropbar group journey, I’ve change into fairly accustomed to chasing after a lot fitter, quicker riders. And I can’t keep in mind driving a motorbike that so rapidly and effectively turned my brief burst of sprinting energy into ahead movement to shut gaps.
On the finish of my second large day driving this bike (with a number of new PRs on Strava), my parting thought was that this bike was harmful. Not harmful within the sense that it was incapable or unstable. However as an alternative, it is a bike that egged me on to go quicker. Even when the opposite cyclists had been driving the identical bike, the Mission inspired me to journey quicker than I usually would journey. And once I felt like I used to be at my restrict whereas sitting and pushing the pedals as exhausting as I may, a fast burst of out-of-the-saddle effort was capable of get me again into the slipstream of the rider forward of me.
Ultimately, Merida created a lightning-fast gravel bike, good for somebody coming from the highway facet of issues. It feels so quick that might mount some fats slicks onto it and have a killer all-road bike. Or stick some correct 40-45mm gravel tires to fit your native driving, and set some new gravel highway Private Data.
Learn in regards to the full tech particulars on the bike right here, together with fashions, pricing & availability.
Merida-bikes.com
