Merida updates its One-Twenty for 2011 with a carbon version.

The new frame, made completely from carbon fibre, weighs just 1.86kg, which is only 160g heavier than the Ninety-Six with its 100mm of travel. An 18in sample fitted with a DT Swiss M210 shocks tips the scales to 2.1kg. Merida claims, as well as the impressive lightness, that stiffness is 20% better than the Ninety-Six.

The frame uses a proprietary Double Chamber downtube with a combination of monocoque and tube-to-tube construction process using high-modulus carbon fibre. The black material extends to the rocker linkage too.

Other changes include a relaxing of the head angle, now 69 degrees to “maximise downhill stability without compromising slow speed trail responsiveness” Merida comments.

More info at www2.merida–bikes.com. No word on the prices yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we get them.