Merlin Nitro SL 2017

Merlin Cycles has been offering its own brand of bikes for a while, and the Nitro SL is an excellent addition thanks to its balance of speed, light weight and comfort. A lot of companies get slated for rebadging off-the-shelf carbon fibre models but Merlin has chosen well with this Belgian beauty.

It's no secret that Merlin has opted for Ridley's Helium SL frameset as its base for the Nitro SL. With the Helium SL being upgraded to the SLX, the Nitro SL could be considered outdated tech, but it is far from it.

The frameset holds its head up high and delivers across the board against the competition.

Ride

The ride is sublime, that balance of stiffness and the way it deals with the bumps in the road is a masterclass in carbon fibre layup and tube design. The Nitro SL just seems to take everything in its stride with regard to road surface imperfections.

At 7.7kg, a smidge under 17lb if you're that way inclined, the Merlin is light and very responsive. It climbs way better than you'd expect and acceleration is very impressive thanks to that very stiff bottom bracket area.

The whole package works so well together that even though you could save a chunk of weight with a carbon wheel upgrade, one that the Nitro SL would relish, as a straight-out-of-the-box setup the Merlin is hard to knock.

Even though the Nitro SL is a race machine with its 1:41 stack to reach ratio (stack and reach are the vertical and horizontal measurements from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the head tube) plus aggressive seat and head tube angles, its handling is a little less direct than you'd expect. It lacks that real razor sharpness of a lot of peloton-ready frames when things get really technical in the bends, but this does mean that it makes for a great long-distance bike.

When fatigue kicks in, for instance on an all-day training ride or when pushing yourself on a challenging sportive, a twitchy handling bike becomes more of a chore than a benefit.

That isn't to say the Merlin is the soft option – the whole thing is pretty rigid, and thanks to the tapered head tube things are tight up the front end when it comes to steering or heavy braking.

The biggest highlight for me was the way that the Merlin just got on with the job. There doesn't seem to be a compromise with its performance: you get on it, pedal like a mad man, and it delivers. You'll be amazed by how much ground you'll cover with relatively little in the way of effort.

Frame and fork

The Nitro SL comes adorned with a UCI approved sticker, which means you can ride this bike in any of the governing body's sanctioned events should you so wish. All of this is because just 12 months ago this frame was being powered by the legs of the pros – not something you'd normally expect for less than two grand.

With a claimed frame weight of just 750g, the Nitro SL frame is up there with the lightest, and just shows how far you could go with the build; full Di2 and some super duper lightweight carbon rims for instance wouldn't embarrass this frame in feel or looks.

Manufactured from 24/30 ton carbon fibre, a figure related to the tensile strength of the fibres, the various tube profiles make for a very stiff frame. As I mentioned earlier, you get a tapered head tube for stiffness plus the down tube has a square section, oversized profile to tame the forces at both ends.

With all the woes of press fit bottom brackets and their creaking issues because of poor tolerances, it's good to see Merlin has opted for a threaded bottom bracket setup. Okay, you sacrifice a small amount of rigidity by going narrower at the BB, but unless you're riding two differing frames side by side it's difficult to detect.

The chainstays aren't the largest we've seen, but again they deliver what they need to, while the seatstays are narrow for some shock absorption. It all works together, as the Merlin delivers both in out-of-the-saddle sprints and those seated, dig-in, get-it-done efforts.

In terms of cabling, the gears run internally through the frame, which means both electronic and wired groupsets will work without spoiling the lines. The brake cables run on the outside and, to be honest, are barely noticeable.

One good thing to note is the inclusion of a replaceable dropout on the drive side; it's quite commonplace these days, and it's always good to know you won't write off an entire frame from a small crash.

Finishing kit

The Nitro SL comes with a full Shimano Ultegra 6800 groupset, which is about right for this price point, but it is good to see Merlin hasn't scrimped anywhere by subbing out the crankset or brakes to another manufacturer.

The setup we've got here is a 52/36 semi-compact chainset which, when paired with the 11-28t, 11-speed cassette, gives a sporty range of gears ideal for this style of bike.

Ultegra's shifting is top notch, being only slightly less precise than Dura-Ace for a fraction of the price, and the braking power from the callipers is massively efficient in all but the wettest of conditions. The Ultegra slate finish also matches the frameset's paintjob too. Nice.

Fulcrum's Quattro LG is a decent wheelset too, specced off the shelf with 35mm deep alloy rims and a solid build. They roll really well and even with their claimed 1,725g weight they don't feel sluggish on a bike of this calibre. They'll take a huge amount of abuse, so I'd say they are only worth upgrading if you want to really go for the ultimate weight saver build

The same could be said for the tyres. Continental's Ultra Sports are far from the grippiest or most supple of rubber but they do the job and offer plenty of durability too.

4ZA is Ridley's in-house brand and features here as the bar, stem and seatpost. They're all alloy, but they do the job and to upgrade them would only really be a vanity exercise. The compact drop of the bar will suit most, offering plenty of hand positions.

Value

There are a lot of Ultegra-equipped carbon fibre bikes out there for less than the two grand rrp of the Nitro SL, but this one has pedigree. It's pro-level peloton-proven, and while the badge snobs may struggle to agree, it's one hell of an accomplished frameset.

> Buyer's Guide: 10 of the best Ultegra-equipped road bikes

There are others out there mind: the Canyon Ultimate CF SL 9.0 for instance, which when you add on postage and packaging comes in at £1,945 with a very similar build.

But, get this, at the moment Merlin is offering the Nitro SL for £1,749.95 and that includes a set of pedals – Ultegra for instance – plus a pair of Mavic Ksyrium Ultimate II shoes, which range from £90 to £120ish on t'internet. The Merlin looks like a bit of a steal.

Verdict

The Nitro SL uses a race-proven formula, offering speed and long-distance comfort