WorldTour 2017 bikes: Bahrain Merida’s race rigs

The new Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team will kick off its racing career this weekend at the Santos Tour Down Under on a very classy looking fleet of bikes from Merida.

Riders, including four-time Grand Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali, will get to select from four different models this season depending on the discipline, course, conditions and their individual preference.  

Read our guide to Merida’s 2017 road bike range here. 

The Scultura Team is designed to be lightweight and comfortable. 

Check out our review of the Merida Scultura 6000 here. 

The Reacto Team is designed to be aerodynamic. Merida has included numerous aero features to reduce drag. It is built around Merida's Fastback tube profiles that are based on the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 0028 airfoil.

The tail of the profile is cut square, the idea being to maintain airflow stability without causing turbulence. This also keeps the weight down and allows Merida to keep the tube dimensions within the UCI's limits.

Read our review of the Merida Reacto 5000 here.

Team riders will ride the Warp TT in time trials. Like the Reacto, this bike uses NACA Fastback tube profiles.

The riders will be able to choose the Scultura Disc (we don't have pics of this model yet) for racing on poor roads and cobblestones. Lampre-Merida riders rode this bike in Paris-Roubaix last year before the UCI suspended the use of disc brakes in the pro peloton. It’ll be interesting to see what the take up is like for the cobbled classics this year now that discs are again permitted.

Check out our Merida Scultura Disc Team review here.