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Merida has officially launched its latest masterpiece, the 2026 Reacto, engineered to be one of the fastest and most versatile bikes on the road. Discover the key design changes, from its V-shaped handlebar to its incredible aerodynamic efficiency, and find out if it truly breaks the magic 200-watt barrier.
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0:00
This is the new Merida Reacto, the Taiwanese brand's brand new all-aerobike
0:06
Now you might be thinking that it looks familiar and yes this is very similar to the prototype that we spotted at last year's Tour de France
0:14
Well it's now official and we've got all the stats, the claims and the build options
0:20
So here's a first look at the new aero bike as well as our first ride impressions
0:24
and thoughts on whether it can retain its crown of bringing performance and value for money together
0:32
Now I think it's fair to say that the outgoing Merida Reactor was getting a little bit long in the tooth
0:38
In fact it was released six years ago, that's more than double the life cycle of many of its competitors
0:44
and long enough for it to be used for a win in Paris-Roubaix, Milan-San Remo
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and of course more recently lose its place with a World Tour team
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yep Bahrain victorious they're now on Bianchi bikes is this their loss though because naturally
1:00
Merida says that its fifth generation Reacto is the most aerodynamically advanced version yet
1:06
but not only that they say it's more than a one-dimensional aero bike and has been created
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to be one of the fastest and most versatile bikes on the road renowned for its class-leading comfort
1:17
and control as well as its ability to slice through the air. So first let's take a trip down
1:24
memory lane and then see what this bike sets out to achieve. Here's the first generation Reacto
1:31
which launched in 2011, just 6.9 kilos that one. Then in 2013 we've got some proper deep aero tubing
1:38
and some lamprey merida colors. This one in 2018 was the first one with disc brakes and I remember
1:45
watching Vincenzo Nibali on that one and then here we've got the fourth generation that launched in
1:51
2021 So what about this fifth generation then Well Marita engineers were set the goal of increasing tyre clearance to 32 mil making it lighter without compromising on stiffness and besides you basically make it weigh 6 kilos in race spec
2:10
maintain the comfort levels of the previous Reacto, and to break the magic 200 watt barrier
2:17
when it comes to aero testing. More on that in a minute. So what are the main changes? Well
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unlike the Giant Propel which we showed you yesterday, there's a link up there, actually
2:27
quite a lot of changes. The front view shows this v-shaped handlebar kind of akin to a Colnago Y1RS
2:35
The head tube is obviously much deeper. The seat tube now sort of shrouds the rear wheel much more
2:41
The seat post is thinner. It's now a zero offset option and 100 grams lighter than the gen 4 version
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and the bottom bracket area is much deeper. I could probably go on for ages
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It's harder to go much further though without introducing you to some of the models
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So at the top we've got three options although there is a whopping 10 in total
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All of them carbon and there's no aluminium reactors again just yet
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So this one we've got the 1. That's got a 1x group set on it
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No doubt to reduce drag and help them hit their target. and in their aero testing they've got this down to 196 watts which for reference is just about
3:24
the fastest thing out there that beats the likes of the stalk I think it even beats the simplon
3:31
which yeah that is seriously fast then there's the 10k this is the lightest one and then there's
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the team spec which is kind of a more rounded race option. Then we've got the
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4000, 5000, 6000, 7000, you name it. There's a whole document of different
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bikes just to explain the range. There's seriously a lot, Merida hasn't held back
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Basically what you need to know is that you can get the new Merida Reapto in a few different carbon layups with just about any group set that you might want The top ones have the V bar and then the lower spec ones get a more conventional bar
4:10
They all get storage space for a Di2 battery in the bottom bracket area, that's new
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and they all have the same geometry. So speaking of which, here's a geometry chart
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Things to note, the chainstays have got slightly longer to accommodate those wider tyres
4:26
but they're still pretty short. The seat tube angles and head tube angles are quite steep so
4:32
expect this to be pretty lively on the road especially when combined with that zero offset
4:37
seat post. There's no doubt what this bike is for, it is clearly a race bike, they haven't taken it
4:43
they haven't made it any more relaxed or anything like that and then the stack and reach are, yeah
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they're about what you would expect from an aero road bike in 2026. They're not radically high like
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some but they're also not crazy low like the Van Riesel RCRF for example. So what is it like to
5:04
ride? Well we sent Aaron out to have a go and he came back smiling. He says that it does what it
5:10
says on the tin really. It's rapid and accelerates with ease and it's got a lot more urgency than the
5:16
previous generation model and well the overall ride feel was refined. He was a big fan of that
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new gold wing cockpit the steering is fast and he was impressed with the way that it climbed and
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yeah he also mentioned that the reactor has always represented the value option amongst the best aero
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road bikes but is that still the case well let's look at some prices so overall the pricing has
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inched up compared to the previous generation but the range is still notably cheaper than many of
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its rivals, especially when comparing the like-for-like builds. So like I said before the Reactor is available with two carbon levels So the top five they get the fancy CF frame So the frame is 11 grams lighter than the previous generation but the frame set is 108 grams less
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And then the lower five bikes in the range get the CF3 frame set
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which that will set you back £2,400 for the frame set. Quite a similar amount or a little bit less than that new Giant Propel
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so right at the top you've got the reacto one that'll set you back 10 000 pounds or 11 500 euros
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uh the 10k a little bit less same as the reacto team actually 9 500 pounds or 11 000 euros
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then we've got the pro it's still the fancy frame still the fancy uh group set as well
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Shimano Dura-Ace however this one doesn't get that nice gold wing bar that one's 7,500 then
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still fancy frame Shimano Ultegra 6,250 and then we're down into the lower five which have that
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CF3 frame so the slightly heavier carbon layup and then they start from 2,400 pounds for this
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reacto 4000 which has shimano 105 on it that one weighs 9.1 kilos though so it's not exactly a
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featherweight so there's a whistle stop tour of the new bike let me know what you think down in
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the comments below as well as which model you would go for or would you choose this or the
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giant propel that we showed you yesterday let me know in the comments subscribe to the channel
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stay upstate with all the latest bike tech and we'll see you next time
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Thank you
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