![]() In order to shift the front you have to press both shift paddles at the same time. An individual press on the right or left shift paddle moves the rear derailleur up or down. If you’ve never ridden SRAM eTap before, the shifting can take a bit of getting used to, but after a few miles it’s second nature. Open the lever, give it a quarter turn, and pull. axles are very easy to use and are probably faster to use than a standard quick release skewer when taking lawyer tabs into consideration. thru axle system instead of quick releases which did seem to contribute to more ‘solid’ ride feel. The biggest advantage the disc bikes seemed to have was a faster initial bite in the wet conditions – and better pad life after grimy rides. Granted, you can be a bit more carefree over your braking points on the disc model, but overall there wasn’t a huge discrepancy in brake performance between the two categories. Riding in a large group of cyclists of various skill levels, most of which had never ridden with each other, and on completely new-to-them bikes, in a different country, and in terrible weather conditions, somehow riders on both disc and rim brakes managed to ride together without incident. One thing that was quickly apparent however, was the fact that concerns over riders with different braking systems are completely unfounded. In terms of braking, the 9000-E was excellent though the rides did lack the high speed sustained downhills that would prove a better test – especially for the Disc Cooler equipped Reactos. During the wettest parts of the ride, the brakes made themselves apparent with audible squeaking, but during the drier parts of the ride it was the rim brake equipped bikes making the most noise as their carbon fiber specific brake pads worked to get a grip. At one point it was raining so hard that breathing would have been easier if I had a snorkel.įeeling confident in my decision to run discs, the bike was fitted with the SRAM eTap HRD drivetrain with standard 6 bolt 160mm Centerline rotors front and rear. Mostly flat, we did find ourselves at one of the highest points in the Netherlands with a legit descent in the pouring rain. That turned out to be a smart move as torrential rains greeted us for the start of the first ride – a meandering 65k through the Dutch countryside. With the threat of heavy rains ahead, I decided to set up one of the new Reacto 9000-E disc brake equipped bikes just in case the skies opened up. But the weather forecast indicated that big changes were on the way. Upon our arrival in Apeldoorn, we learned that the Netherlands had been experiencing unusually dry and hot weather for the past few weeks. After two days on various versions of the Reacto, it seems that Merida really has done their homework when it comes to the next generation of aero road design… Fortunately, in spite of suffering an unstable lumbar fracture of two vertebrae, Ion took to Twitter as he was leaving the hospital from a successful surgery to show that he was standing and recovering well.Įven though Mother Nature did her best to discourage us, our first rides on the Reacto were far less dramatic. Unfortunately for Team Bahrain Merida, their Tour got off to an unlucky start after losing Ion Izaguirre to a terrible crash during the opening time trial. Of course, our visit was about more than just disc brakes as the Reacto is probably more likely to appear in its rim brake form out on the tour. Just before the Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling team was set for their first showing at the Tour de France, we had a chance to check out another first from Merida – the new disc equipped Reacto aero road bike. ![]()
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