Just in: New Merlin Cycles PR7 costing just £300

When you look at the £299.99 price tag and then take a good look at the new PR7 from Merlin Cycles, you could be forgiven for thinking there has been a typo. There hasn't. The PR7 looks to be the best specced road bike at this price, offering an aluminium frame with a carbon fibre fork and Shimano Claris groupset. It  certainly looks the best value road bike we've yet seen - testing should prove whether it is.

Retailer Merlin Cycles launched the PR7 earlier this month and we were straight on the phone to arrange a review bike. And here it is. This is a quick first look before we get it out on the road to see how it performs, and see if it can live up to its promise. We’re really excited about testing the PR7 because it looks to offer such a lot for the money without any noticeable compromises. It's also good to see this level of effort being put into producing such smartly designed road bikes that don't cost a fortune.

Where the PR7 really deviates from other bikes at this price is in the impressive specification. It offers an 6061 aluminium frame which you would expect at this price, but to be able to get a carbon fibre fork is certainly unprecedented. Rivals such as the B’Twin Triban 3 or Python ZX4 can only manage a steel fork. That’s an important difference because the carbon fork on the PR7 is obviously going to make for a lighter bike, and it’ll also improve the ride quality as well.

So already the PR7 is looking a compelling package on paper, but it doesn’t end there. Merlin Cycles have managed to squeeze a Shimano Claris 8-speed groupset onto the bike which provides proper Shimano Dual Control brake levers - the downshift lever is behind the brake lever rather than a thumb button, just like on Shimano’s higher end groupsets.

With a compact 50/34 chainset and 11-30t cassette the PR7 provides a wide spread of gears and that 30t sprocket will be a huge bonus on the steeper climbs. 

Wheels are Mavic CXP-22 rims on Joytech hubs. They’re fitted with wide 25mm tyres so you’ll benefit from increased comfort from the bigger volume, and a slightly larger contact patch which translates to increased traction - handy in the wet. You could go bigger if you wanted, the frame is good for up to 28mm tyres. 

The frame also features rack mounts, and mudguard mounts at the rear but not on the fork, which is a shame. Still, you could easily fit a set of Crud Roadracer guards or similar. On the road.cc Scales of Truth, the PR7 weighs 10.6kg (23.36lb).

You can choose from four sizes, we’ve got the 56cm here, which Merlin suggest is ideal for cyclists between 5’9” and 5’11”. There’s a sizing chart on their website which is helpful if you’re not sure what size you need. 

There isn’t really much to compare the PR7 to at this price, it looks to outclass most other contenders at the same price, and you really have to look up the price range to find comparably specced road bikes. Very impressive. So we’re about to hit the road on the PR7 and we’ll let you know very soon how we get on. Watch this space.

Check it out at www.merlincycles.com