Merida Silex 700 review: A budget alloy gravel bike that punches above its weight

A budget friendly gravel bike that swaps speed and efficiency for comfort and capability

Merida Silex 700
(Image: © Josh Croxton)

Cyclingnews Verdict

With progressive geometry, forgiving handling and Shimano's ever-impressive GRX groupset, the Merida Silex 700 is a great gravel bike for beginners who want to push the boundaries of what gravel actually means, but it's slow on the road and let down by heavy wheels

Pros

  • +

    Shimano GRX is flawless

  • +

    Mounts for bags, mudguards and more

  • +

    Full-carbon fork

  • +

    Carbon-fibre seatpost

  • +

    Hose-breakers and cable adjusters at cockpit for easy servicing

  • +

    Removable hex-key quick release for bolt through axles

Cons

  • -

    No top tube mounts for extra bikepacking bag

  • -

    Internal routing stops at the bottom bracket

  • -

    Doesn't come set up tubeless, and you need to supply your own valves

  • -

    Heavy aluminium wheels

  • -

    Tubeless setup of wheels was laboursome and leaky

  • -

    Pressfit bottom bracket gained a creak after before 1000km

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Merida is among the biggest bike manufacturers in the world and the Silex is the brand's gravel bike platform with different variants covering all price points in both the human-powered and electric powered segments. The Merida Silex 700 sits as the fourth most expensive in the non-motorised range, and is positioned as the best-specced aluminium option at £2,000. 

It piqued our interest as a contender for our roundup of the best budget gravel bikes, and just about creeps into contention for our guide for best gravel bikes under £2000. We've previously been impressed with both the top-tier Silex+ 8000-E carbon version and the eSilex+ 600 electric gravel bike, so we decided to get our hands on the Silex 700 to see how it fared. 

Josh Croxton
Associate Editor (Tech)

Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews. 

On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.