The Merida One-Sixty 10K is a high-end pedal bike priced close to £10,000. While its premium components really do make it the best of everything, in today’s market it may be a tough sell—especially without a motor. However, the One-Sixty has a unique feature that sets it apart from most analogue enduro bikes: RockShox’s Flight Attendant electronic suspension system.

Flight Attendant has Merida’s bike constantly reacting to changing trail gradients, surfaces and conditions. It adjusts how the tyres react to bumps and how the suspension supports my demands as a rider. I’ve used the One-Sixty for months, raced an enduro stage race on it and found it makes the One-Sixty 10K one of the best long-travel mountain bikes around.

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Merida One-Sixty 10K need to know

• Full carbon enduro bike, with 170mm travel, mullet wheels and flex stay suspension
• Latest flight attendant uses learning to personalise the ride experience and damping
• RockShox Flight Attendant automatically controls the suspension damping, from Open to Pedal and Lock
• 10K model gets top-tier SRAM and Shimano drivetrain, and Reynolds carbon wheels

Aside from Flight Attendant, Merida’s One-Sixty is a modern, sharp dressed, enduro bike in its own right. The CF4 III carbon frame is essentially the same as when it launched in 2022, but the slick, low-slung, chassis is still totally current now in terms of geometry, frame details and standards.

In case you don’t have a spare nine grand kicking around, One-Sixtys are also available with aluminium frames (and no fancy Flight Attendant) starting at just £2,750. Aluminium or posh carbon, all models have a shade more travel than the 160mm in the name in full 29-er mode, and another 10mm in MX mode (like here).

And if you’re looking at getting SRAM’s top end suspension package elsewhere – perhaps as an aftermarket upgrade or as stock on a rival bike – we’ve got a full review of RockShox Flight Attendant. That also means this review is really just about the Merida One-Sixty 10K, how I got on with it and its use of Flight Attendant. You can also use it to reference how Flight Attendant actually works.

Design and specification

A steep seat angle and slack, but not ridiculously slack, 64° head angle complement Merida’s frame. Sizing is based on length rather than seat tube height, so I can choose the right reach without getting penalised by reduced stand-over clearance. The frame is also pretty long compared to rivals, or the new Merida eOne-Sixty 8000 I tested last year.

At 176cm, the fit felt perfect for me on the 470mm reach Mid size that’s as roomy as many brands’ size Larges. There’s also a reasonably low BB to go with the low-slung top tube, so the One-Sixty feels close to the ground and totally out of your way while riding.

Merida’s Wire Port internal headset cable routing won’t be for everyone, but with no holes for internal cable porting the frame is stronger. The actual headset part works better than early incarnations too, with much-refined sealing and new plastic retention spacers that don’t hack into the cables or hoses.

The carbon frame has a sculpted, boxy and stiff head tube junction in front of its upper shock mount. RockShox’ Flight Attendant Super Deluxe Ultimate shock is also slightly bigger and more bulbous than usual too, thanks to the electronics. It sits in-line with seat stays that are conversely slimmer than most.

The One-Sixty back end looks super clean because it drives the shock through a forged rocker link via a Flex-Stay design without any bearings or pivots. Merida calls this P-Flex and uses compliance in the carbon to allow the seat and chain stays to move apart as the suspension moves through the travel. This saves weight, reduces maintenance and adds stiffness. And most importantly, I can’t feel any friction or two-stage feel to the suspension action.

The slick full carbon frame is under 2.5kg in size Mid, yet still has a CAT 5 rating for downhill and bike park use. The rear axle mounts a UDH T-Type drivetrain and, just like the Flight Attendant suspension, everything on it is AXS and wireless, which makes the bike very clean and uncluttered.

The latest Transmission mech actually tells the Flight Attendant brain which gear you’re in as part of the machine learning process. There’s also a Quarq Dub Power Meter inside the XX crank axle here to harvest even more sophisticated data about my power. It all goes to the new Adaptive Ride Dynamics part of Flight Attendant that personalises the response, once it’s learnt a bit about how you pedal.

Both my suspension and gears use SRAM batteries and therefore need regular charging, with the fork, shock, rear mech, POD shifter and crank sensor adding up to five different cells to plug in. Don’t worry though, it could be worse; at least SRAM sells a handy multi-dock AXS battery charger. And with Merida’s own adjustable dropper post instead of an AXS Reverb requiring a battery at each end, the sixth and seventh batteries will have to wait.

Suspension

Flight Attendant means this bike is about more than its Ultimate-level Zeb and Super Deluxe shock, and the flex stay design it uses then. There’s a whole second part to it, where fancy electronic components toggle automatically between the low-speed compression settings as you ride. Unlike Fox Live Valve Neo, it defults to the Open setting, only changing when data from one of its sensors tells it to.

Most Flight Attendant-equipped enduro bikes still offer the system with a cadence sensor, but here you get Quarq’s Dub Power Meter. That means it can now personalise the Bias between support modes, something the Adaptive Ride Dynamics brain drills into.

Merida’s Zeb fork is based around a previous generation Charger 2.1 damper, but some bikes now also bolt Flight Attendant into the latest 3.1 Charger damper. Charger 3.0 apparently took too much force to actuate for the low-speed compression electronics to work properly.

Flight Attendant on World Cup downhill bikes is also now a thing, so there is also a Vivid Air and Coil shock with it and even a Boxxer fork, but no bikes are yet offering this DH tech to the public.

Using the app and tuning Flight Attendant

SRAM’s AXS app is pretty well designed and logical, but initial pairing of all the components, doing firmware updates and calibrating Flight Attendant can be a bit of a minor faff. I got the bike from Merida at the EX Enduro on race morning, and just rode it completely stock. In a field with no phone signal, I didn’t have time to start drilling into settings and messing about with updates

In the default settings, the whole system works remarkably well in full auto mode for racing on slightly flatter trails. But one thing many riders might do straight away is dial down the stock low speed compression settings, because they default to almost the middle of the damping range at both ends. That’s too much in my opinion.

I ended up reducing the fork settings from seven to two, and the shock from seven to three. And because I essentially have an electronic automatic pedalling platform, I could optimise the default damping for how I want it on the downhills. There’s no need to run a compromised set-up for all-round performance, which is pretty cool.

Updating the app and all the firmware, trying to get the ecosystem to play nicely with each part of it, and setting up isn’t always a smooth process you can do in five minutes at the car park. The separate parts occasionally need re-pairing or re-calibrating. And the AAA lithium battery on the Quarc Dub Power Meter also ended up running low, and stopped the Adaptive Ride Dynamics part of the system working for a few rides.

Back to the hardware

Aside from all the electronics, nine grand unsurprisingly gets you some pretty blinging kit on Merida’s most expensive analogue enduro bike. Stand-out components include Shimano’s priciest lightweight 4-piston XTR brakes and SRAM’s top-tier Transmission drivetrain with carbon XX1 cranks. There’s totally wireless shifting with AXS Pods, while the top-tier XX 10-52t cassette is the lightest SRAM makes. It’s driven by a XX chain that’s so well coated it won’t rust or stretch for years.

The XTR brakes are powerful for the size, but I occasionally had Shimano’s wandering bite point issue we’ve all heard about. It was more of a very slight wander than a proper hike between lever blade and grips though, so it was never more than a minor annoyance.

I’m less of a fan of the BlackLabel enduro carbon wheels though. These have quite a deep section rim and are an older lay-up to newer-generation, smoother and more compliant Reynolds rims I’ve tested since.

As such, they have a very sharp ride that’s at the rapid accelerating and staccato-end of modern carbon wheels. Even when I was testing full-on DH casing Maxx Grip High Roller 3s – some of the most damped heavy-duty tyres around – I can still tell the wheels are too stiff and pingy. At least the Double Down Maxxis Assegai and Minion DHR II combo the One-Sixty actually ships is bang-on and proven.

Merida’s cockpit set up is a bit less fancy than you might expect for the cash here, with a slightly funky looking stem and own brand bar that won’t be hi-rise enough for some riders. I ended up swapping it out for a DMR Olly Wilkins bar with 20mm more height to tilt more of my weight backwards.

Finally, Merida specs its own adjustable (up to 230mm) dropper, which goes up to 230mm at its longest. If it came with an AXS Reverb I’d have been able to scroll through Flight Attendant modes or override the Auto setting thanks to a button on the remote. I could still toggle between modes on the top of the fork’s controller unit, but that’s not really an on-the-fly option: Unless you fancy leaning forward one-handed at 20mph.

Performance

I’m a big fan of the basic ride quality and suspension feel tuned into the One-Sixty, and the electronic suspension adds an extra boost. Merida’s bike is very efficient and urgent sprinting or pumping to generate speed.

It doesn’t ride like any kind of hamstrung long-legged trail bike when the descents get really serious though, despite hte urgency. There’s plenty of clout to smooth out massive hits and proper chunk when you’re getting a shift on, and it’s smooth and comfortable over more high-frequency type small bumps.

With lots of support in the back end, the bike can cut and pump out of turns very quickly. Tthe MX rear wheel ups this sensation and adds extra flick-factor compared to 29-er wheels I’ve used on the same chassis before. I felt centred too, without much fore-aft imbalance, and that let me rail turns without ever mushing through the travel or punching my feet down to the ground too much.

The first touch from RockShox’ fork and shock is very sensitive, so the bike tracks smaller hits precisely, grips well and doesn’t jiggle or vibrate too much on choppy ground. I can also get a pretty floaty feel by running the low-speed compression fairly open on the suspension, knowing that Flight Attendant will then tighten things up if I start cranking. The latest version of the Flight Attendant AXS software does a good job of being seamless, sussing out what effort you’re putting in, and responding appropriately.

It’s very hard to sense what suspension modes I’m in while riding, despite the aurora of flashing lights coming from the fork. This doesn’t really matter though, the main thing is it manages to always feel kind of right and never act weird or do anything strange or unexpected. I can just ride like normal and let it do its thing.

There’s a reasonable argument Flight Attendant is more of a luxury here than absolutely essential, particularly because all the posh kit and carbon wheels makes the 10K lighter and better at pedalling than most rivals. But there were a few times during testing where it really shines.

I notice it working when it’s perhaps less important, like sprinting after faster mates on local trails, and how it locks and unlocks itself for extended climbs. There’s no more accidentally leaving the shock locked out either, something we’ve probably all done countless times. Racing the Ex Enduro was where I liked it most though because it’s so effective at eking out every little advantage when the clock’s ticking and you’ve no time to mess about.

Multiple times in the race I’d get spat out onto a fire road mid-stage, only to face a short sharp sprint uphill. This is a very typical UK enduro race scenario, so firmer suspension at the exact point where many long-travel bikes bob like crazy is a big deal. Each time the One-Sixty did its thing, I felt I was saving a ton of energy and time when stood up and mashing the pedals.

There were also a couple of undulating stages in the race with extended climbs or sprints in the woods. It’s not realistic to reach down and lock your shock here, with little sniper roots all about, which makes Flight Attendant a decent helping hand.

On rough trails at high intensity, it’s hard to tell exactly what Flight Attendant is doing as it cycles through its modes, but it works in a way that never interferes with my focus: Avoiding obstacles and steering precisely to ride fast and smoothly and not crash.

With the steep seat angle and plenty of anti-squat, the pedalling manners of the regular One-Sixty are already very good. Other bikes might benefit even more from automatic electric suspension then. But if you race enduro or just hate wasting any excess energy getting about the place, Flight Attendant definitely adds something to your ride experience.

There’s no obvious drawback to the technology either, other than the extra cost and the need to keep it charged all the time. The few instances where I did have quirks with it and the one time it went into safe mode don’t actually make it any ‘worse’ than a normal bike’s suspension anyway.

Whether the advantages of the system will be worth the almost £2.5k premium over the next priciest One-Sixty will be an individual choice. And it’s very hard to measure objectively when the cheaper, heavier, 8000 model also has a cheaper GX spec drivetrain, alloy wheels and much less bling than this 10K version.