But the biggest thing you can’t see in silhouette is the big boost in tire clearance. In fact, if that was all Merida had done to the old Reacto, this new bike would have even less drag than it does. And the dropped seatstays drop even further with smaller and smoother shaping as they transition around the deep seattube.Įven back at the dropouts – where Merida switched from RAT to their own bolt-on thru-axles with removable lever – a short vertical section of seatstay decreases frontal area exposed to the wind, while allowing a more ‘tucked-in’ direct mount brake setup on the non-driveside.īut it wasn’t only aero improvements. Moving back, the internal wedge seatpost clamp also now gets an improved rubber cover. That upper ACR headset cap also allows for smoother integration, with the new Reacto moving to a straight, flat top tube. More detail refinements help reduce drag across the bike. Now they tuck more cleanly out of the way, pulling double-duty of smoothing airflow over the calipers like a cowl but acting as a functional machined alloy heatsink with increased vented surface area to keep disc brakes running cool. Already debuted on the previous model, Merida’s Disc Coolers become much more integrated as well.
Reacto update#
The fork also gets a couple more neat tricks, with fork flaps like we’ve seen from Pinarello & Scott to smooth airflow coming off the axles, and update Disc Coolers. In a more subtle improvement, revised fork profiling with a crown that integrates more seamlessly into the downtube apparently saved another 2 Watts of drag too, also helped by eliminating exposed front brake routing. A one piece cockpit and electronic shifting make that easy enough, but Merida’s adoption of the FSA ACR headset system means compatibility with more affordable separate bars & stems, and mechanical shift drivetrains (thanks in part to hydraulic disc braking across the board.)Ī well-integrated cockpit even with cables exposed was already said to have huge aero impacts, and Merida says this version cuts drag by another 2 Watts. The most obvious change is the move to a completely integrated cockpit solution with no exposed cables. So the new Reacto comes in six frame sizes.
The small tweak though, is that while the XXS-XL range and numbers at either end remain the same, Merida dropped the middle S-M & M-L sizes in favor of a more standard M. One thing that didn’t really change much is the Reacto’s geometry overt the last Reacto Disc.
Merida put their updated design constraints into CFD to determine how that could iterate & evolve a faster all-around race bike. That means tweaking transitions, refining the details, going fully integrated, and adopting the modern road adage that bigger tires are more comfortable, offer improved control & are even faster with reduced rolling resistance. 2021 Merida Reacto IV – What’s new?Īfter first setting a benchmark that the new Reacto needed even lower drag numbers, Merida set out to make it even more versatile, so it could be the road racer’s first choice for any circuit or race course. The new Reacto IV builds on almost ten years of aero road race experience, building wind tunnel & time trail tech into an everyday race bike. Now almost needless to say, a decade later and every road race bike has become an aero bike, while the Reacto continues to evolve as an all-rounder. Merida claims the 2011 debut of the original Reacto was ahead of the curve of aero road as a category – helping define the bladed fork, seattube cutout, deep aero seatpost & dropped stays aesthetic that make most modern aero bikes look alike. It’s what Merida is hyping as ‘Aerodynamics Redefined’.
Reacto full#
The new Reacto cuts a very similar silhouette to the previous generation Reacto Disc, but a closer look reveals a wholesale redesign that offers improved aerodynamics, bigger tire clearance & more compliance, plus full commitment to disc brakes. 2021 Merida Reacto everyday race, carbon aero road bike Originally planned to for its unveiling on the eve of the Tour de France for its Bahrain McLaren race team, the new aero bike is here now, and will be in your local shop in the coming weeks. Merida’s Reacto aero road bike enters its fourth generation with an all-new carbon frame that through subtle updates is more versatile than ever while still improving on aerodynamics.
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