Aero is now more affordable as far as Merida are concerned after the Taiwanese firm unveiled their model year 2015 road range, with the Reacto now available as an aluminium frame, alongside the existing carbon fibre chassis.

Aero is now more affordable as far as Merida are concerned after the Taiwanese firm unveiled their model year 2015 road range, with the Reacto now available as an aluminium frame, alongside the existing carbon fibre chassis.

If you’re not familiar with Merida, then the firm, founded by Ike Tseng in 1972, has a relatively small UK prescence but enjoyed worldwide sales of 1.4 million bicycles in 2013 and is one of only a handful of brands to manufacture its own machines.

Merida’s four Taiwanese factories have a capacity of 350 bikes per hour, 3,500 bikes a day, 100,000 bikes a month and 1,200,000 bikes a year. It’s a major player and Merida are keen to emphasise the engineering and manufacturing clout garnered over 42 years in the market.

Yeah, but what about the bikes? The 2015 Merida line-up includes 22 men’s road bikes across three platforms (the aero Reacto, the Scultura all-rounder and the Ride ‘endurance’ bike, which in itself includes two disc-equipped machines), four women’s road bikes, two cyclo-cross bikes and three time trial/triathlon bikes.