Merida Silex Bike Review

Merida Silex 700 Review: Can This Gravel Bike Do It All?

With a redesigned frame, modern geometry, and Shimano GRX 12-speed, the Merida Silex 700 is built for performance and versatility.

Photos: Gerard Lagana

Mike Blewitt 03.02.2025

Merida completely overhauled their Silex gravel bike in late 2023, with the new model even winning the 2023 men’s Gravel World Championships, just days before it was launched. While pro riders can win on a range of equipment, Merida did a lot of work on the Silex. By all accounts, the original Silex rode well, but it had copped a flogging with the ugly stick. The new Merida Silex 700 is sleeker and a whole lot more capable both between the tape – and loaded up.

Mike Blewitt taking the Merida Silex 700 through it's paces down Rocket Frog at Gap Creek

Merida have a wide range of models, and the Merida Silex 700 on test has their LITE II aluminium frame and carbon fork, with Shimano’s latest 12-speed GRX 1×12 groupset. Selling for $3399, it’s a great price point for a gravel bike, which is a second or third bike for many of us. This is a similar price to a Trek Checkpoint ALR 5, which is another gravel bike I consider to be very versatile. Merida say that the Silex turns ‘any ride into an adventure’ – so how true can that be?

Initial Impressions

Merida’s alloy frame is as neatly finished as you would expect from a company who are a manufacturing superpower. The frame is nicely shaped for clearance with 45mm tyres, and there are mounts for racks and fenders, and 6 water bottle mount points! These are versatile mounting points of course, assisting with loading up the Silex with frame luggage and storage systems – or strip it back and tape over the bosses for race day.

The frame uses internal routing through the headset – not a popular option amongst most bike mechanics, but it was neat, silent, and mud-proof in the testing period. The Silex sports routing for a dropper post and the left-hand Shimano GRX 12-speed shifter is the model that’s ready to drop the seat when you want to. Merida utilise a threaded bottom bracket and through axles at each end, plus some novel disc brake cooling fins.

Having tested Shimano’s new 1×12 groupset at launch, it is great to see it right where Shimano intended; on wallet-friendly gravel bikes, providing high-level shifting performance with greater ergonomics and braking power. The 42t ring drives a 10-51t cassette, and the 180/160mm rotor combination has tonnes of power. The Easton EA 70 AX wheel set is a nice spec, with a 24mm internal rim letting the 45mm Maxxis Ramblers set up tubeless easily. Valves were included – a nice touch not common on bikes from Merida.

I had a medium sent for test, and it is a big bike. The 585mm top tube is longer than I’d ride on a Merida road bike, but their Silex geometry is based off their mountain bikes, not their road bikes. With a short stem, steep 74.5-degree seat angle and tall 170mm head tube, the reach felt spot on. The Silex employs a 69.5-degree head angle to keep steering steady, which fits their brief.

Merida Silex 700 On The Trail

My first ride on the Silex was like most test bike first rides – straight out the front gate. While the position felt higher than I normally ride on a road or gravel bike, it sure was comfortable taking off in the hoods and shifting into some higher gears as I got up to speed. Shimano’s GRX 12-speed uses the same HyperGlide+ shift ramps up and down the cassette as their top road and mountain bike groups, so shifting under load is about as secure as it gets.

Despite being taller than my own bikes at the front end, I had no strange sensations when climbing out of the saddle on small rises, the Silex just felt really balanced. What was really noticeable was how direct the whole bike felt. Despite being their alloy framed model – it’s not cutting corners, with the same fork and features that give steering and tracking accuracy. Moving onto some multi-use trails, I became more acquainted with the handling of the Silex. It was far more stable than my own gravel bike, although it did ping through rougher pieces of trail as you can expect an alloy frame to do. What I really enjoyed was how well the Silex responded to going fast. It holds speed really well and can get pushed into dirt road and gravel corners with a confident stance as well as nearly any XC bike.

Most of the hours I spent on the Silex were loaded up on a hilly bikepacking trip. I often talk about balanced or centered geometry, and that really came to the fore on the Silex on this ride. With lots of climbing, I certainly appreciated the steeper seat angle and slightly higher front end, meaning I could sit up, but not too far back, on long climbs into the hinterland. The wide gear range was used given I had several extra kilos strapped to the bike, and even when the soft ground turned to mud, I had very good clearance in the frame with 45mm tyres.

Our Take

Merida state that the Silex can turn any ride into an adventure, and I agree. I’m not too fussy about what surface is underneath my tyres, but I do like to take a lot in. And a bike like the Silex lets you cross a lot of different terrain types. I found that whether that was for a pre-work jaunt, rainy day roll around or a muddy and hilly weekend bikepacking trip, the Silex played its role perfectly.

Merida have taken the same design and handling from a World Championships winning bike and put it in an alloy package with one of the best value gravel groupsets around. The result is a supremely capable bike that didn’t feel out of depth anywhere I took it. I have no doubt that the Silex would lap up any gravel events you might consider, just as easily as taking scalps on the daily commute or hauling you and your gear on multi-day rides. With a wide range of alloy and carbon models to choose from, you will be able to find your next adventure buddy within the Silex range.