De Rosa Merak

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I got to ride the De Rosa Merak during a visit to importers i-ride on a day that also included a test ride of one of Eddy Merckx’s latest bikes; a nice combination considering Ugo and Eddy’s long working partnership. It would be interesting to see how the bikes differed.

The De Rosa Merak

Let me get the Athena EPS out of the way first. The Merak was the first bike to come equipped with Campagnolo’s Athena EPS groupset. Released last year the Athena groupset has the same electronics as it’s more expensive siblings but, with less carbon and titanium, it is available for ‘only’ £1500.

Athena EPS 11 speed all the gubbins for half the price

The groupset performed perfectly for the short time that I had it. Impressive as the electric shifting is, it was the brakes that were the standout feature for me. Powerful and smooth with no hint of grabbing; just an impressive amount of stopping power available without having to apply undue force – perfect for sudden corners! But this should hardly be surprising, as they are the same design as Campagnolo’s top of the range brakes, just without the titanium hardware.

The well used Athena brakes performed admirably

It’s difficult to make a definitive statement about electronic shifting after only an hour of use. The initial impression is “this is great”. You’re shifting up and down without any effort, a cog at a time, or sweeping across the whole block by holding the shifter down for a little longer. Changing gear when going from a fast descent to a wall of a climb – pretty common in the UK – EPS is worth it’s weight; no missed shifts, it’s simply click and go. With EPS you do avoid heavy shifting when your cables aren’t running as smooth as they should. It requires the same effort to shift every time, no matter what the conditions; a major plus point, if like me, you come back from long rides having to man handle a reluctant front shifter!

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