When I got the Tero X5 I assumed I’d sell my Merida Big Trail 500 and got as far as taking pics and everything. I bought it little used in 2022 for just 800 quid (new was £1350 then), and it transpired I’d mistakenly bought myself a good MTB. It was bound to happen.
At 15kg it’s not especially light, but there was something uncanny about the effortless way it transmited pedal power to the back wheel, as if there’s a battery hidden in there somewhere. Later, this Bike Radar review confirmed I was onto something, or maybe newer bikes had got a whole lot better compared to the aged, wrong-sized CroMo hacks I normally built up from parts.

Have they refined bearing drag and crank/frame stiffness over the years? Do Boost axles make a difference? The transmission efficiency was hard to explain, but with the brilliant dropper, low stand-over and comfy plain saddle, it sure made it fun to ride compared to the old-school Charge Cooker (below left) I had before and which I used to update a Coast to Coast walking guide. And at 29″ all round in XL and a raked out front end, it looked right on me. Another first.

That same summer I set off with the 500 to check maps on a new Glyndwrs Way guidebook I’d just researched and walked. There, I soon discovered the reality of trying to ride two walking days in one. Late afternoon day one out of Knighton I had to call the B&B woman in Abbeycwmhir (about 30 miles) to tell her I’d be very, very late. Very kindly, she came and picked me up from Llanbadarn. You know me, I blame the gates (above right)! Next day I pedalled on to Llanidloes (a day’s walk; below), accepted defeat and left the bike near Machynlleth. I came back to finish the job on a rental e-MTB and a few years later, here we are.
But are we? I came back off that 200-km Welsh ride on a £6000 full-sus Marin liking my simple Merida all the more and in no rush to get an e-MTB. Except I knew I didn’t have the strength anymore to do full off-road days like I wished.

Obviously I’m not riding my Merida like like Radarman on the left, but nothing has ever gone wrong on the Merida. I’ve not even had to adjust the mech and perhaps pumped up the forks once.
Over the years I fitted higher, narrower ‘bars and stem, inner tubes with narrow, Conti Double Fighter tyres which have never punctured, as well as Ergon grips (now on the Tero; I miss ’em), DMR pedals, and only just recently fitted new pads on the front and treated it to a new chain and cassette. Early on I sold the unwanted Merida Comp TR tubeless wheels and tyres, which explains the Alpkit Alpha XC Sonders which still spin true. For the Glyndwrs, I didn’t want to be dealing with unfamiliar tubeless tyre repairs.

BT500 like
• Suspension dropper + low stand-over – hallelujah!
• RockShox Recon Silver RL 140s are fine
• Deore spec has lasted ages
• Light hand controls
• Saddle is OK for what it is
• XL (geometry right) fits me just right at 6′ 1″

BT500 like less
• A bit boring in black
• Brakes a bit lame compared to 4-pot Tero. And due for a bleed
• Did not want tubeless wheel set up, but most will

Compared to the Tero it’s obviously lighter, but the gear and dropper controls are lighter too. Light-action controls matter. There are times when I lack the right thumb leverage to drop the Tero saddle fast enough and over I go.

And as I discovered when I bought the Tero, the Merida is actually faster in a drag race, logging a faster time, higher top speed and higher average speed (below). Any similar MTB would probably be the same, but all the Tero can do is accelerate quicker up to 25kph (in Turbo). Oh, and it can keep going all day for up to 100km. There is that.

The other day I did a 40-km ride through the Purbeck Hills (including this loop) on the Big Trail and didn’t find it too hard, including a 100-m dirt climb right on my crank-creaking limit. I did notice being bounced out of the saddle much more, but the dropper seems to have a hidden 1-inch suspension spring I’ve only noticed in recent years. Either that or it slips but comes back.
Maybe the extra biking lately has made me fitter, but the Tero and Big Trail have taken on new roles. For load-carrying errands, somewhere to get to easily, or longer trips into the unknown, I take the Tero. When I’ve been sat around too long and need a quick local blast on known routes, the Merida gets rolled out.
To quote Bike Radar: ‘Overall, the [2021] Big Trail has to be one of the most capable, fun to ride and impressive bikes for this kind of money, just so long as you pick the right size.’