We reported on Merida's new range of bikes earlier this year when they treated UK journos to a presentation at a rather chilly Aston Court in Bristol, and the standout bike was without a doubt its new Ninety Six, a no hold-barred attempt at producing a seriously lightweight full-susser. It wasn't then ready to be rolled out, but it is now. Here's a closer look...

It seems obligatory that any large bike company should enter into the race to produce the lightest production bike, and it's no surprise that Merida, with a manufacturing plant and extensive research and development department at its disposal, should do likewise. But as well as the bragging rights that follow such an achievement, is Merida's involvement with a top-level XC race team - some of whom have a good shot at the Olympic podium later this year. So it'll want to supply its racers with the best.

Make no mistake then, the Ninety Six is light. The frame, including rear shock, weighs a scant 1.9kg (4.2lb), making a sub-20lb full build perfectly feasible. Merida has achieved this incredible weight by designing the rocker linkage suspension frame out of carbon, right down to the linkages and drive-side dropout. Bits that can't easily be made out of carbon, like the shock mounting hardware, will have to make do with titanium.

The front triangle is made as a monococque and the seat tube, main pivot and part of the downtube are made using a tube-to-tube process (where tubes are cut to length, bonded and additional layers of carbon wrapped around the joints), while the rear triangle uses the same tube-to-tube construction method for the seat stays and the chainstays are a monococque. Additionally, Merida has chucked a load of the currently in-vogue carbon nanotubes into its carbon fibre mix, boosting the material's strength-to-weight ratio and thus allowing them to use less of it to achieve that impressively low frame weight.

Prepare to heavy your credit card severely flexed, as the top ranking Team-D costs a staggering £7,500. And no, that isn't a typo. But for that extremely large sum of money you do get a spec list that contains a DT XR Carbon 50 remote lockout shock, Manitou R7 MRD 100 TPC forks, Avid Juicy Ultimate 160 brakes, FSA K-Force Lite chainset, SRAM XO/X9 mechs and shifters, FSA K-Force handlebars and OS99 stem, DT XRC 1250 carbon disc wheels, Maxxis Flyweight 330 1.95in tyres and a Selee Italia SLR Carbon saddle. Phew...

For a still-seriously-pricey £5,500, the 5000-D gets decked out with the same DT XR shock, DT XRC Carbon 50 forks, Shimano XTR groupset, Mavic Crossmax SLR wheels, FSA finishing kit and Schwalbe Furious Fred Light tyres. The cheap in comparison 3500-D gets Rock Shox SID Race 100 forks, Shimano XT groupset including wheels and FSA finishing bits for £3,500.

And as for its riding credentials, you'll have to wait until we get the chance to swing a leg over one.

www.merida-bikes.com