Merida Silex v Wilier Adlar: Which is the Best Gravel Adventure Bike?

Two bikepacking adventure gravel bikes in the shape of the new Merida Silex and Wilier Adlar, but which is the best one?

Content
0:00 Intro
0:35 What is a bikepacking adventure gravel bike?
0:42 Versatility
1:39 Tyre clearance
2:02 Geometry
2:45 Price and equipment
3:46 Frame design
5:46 Ride and Handling
8:25 Comfort
9:07 Tyre choice
10:12 Verdict

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This is a marid silx and this is a Vila adlar two gravel bikes designed for bike packing adventure riding but which one is the best which one should you choose in this video we’ll find out we’ll compare both bikes through a series of tests frame details bike packing features geometry weight price and

Specification and of course how to ride and perform to pick a winner but between the two bikes but first what precisely is a bike packing Adventure grow bike surely they’re all the same well yes and no but there are some key differences in my experience firstly the mounts on the

Fork and frame for adding bags and racks and Bottles very easily so you can carry all the equipment you need for any type of Adventure you have planned so each bike as you see have mounts on the fork the top tube the down tube the Mara has

A pair of bolts here which you can fit a tool bag to and both bikes have mud guard mounts as well but when it comes to bike packing Villa have gone a step further and developed its own front and rear rack system using a through axles

To give a quite staggering 35 kg of low capacity and then develop bags with M grape to give you a complete bike packing setup ready to go from the box so I really really like that approach from V reh shows attentional detail for the bike packing customer but each bike

Here can be perfectly set up with whatever bags or rack systems you prefer then they bigger tires bigger tires give more Comfort which are great when you’re riding over a long distance and several days back to back the new SX has clearance for a 45 mm wide tire and has

45 tires fitted but it ad trump it with space for 52 mm tires and rolls on a wider 47 tire and then there’s a geometry differences on these two bikes here which are very similar hence the comparison firstly there’s a more relaxed fit position on the bike so

Higher handlebars bit shorter so you’re not as stretch as you are on a race gravel bike and it makes riding a long distance over several days back to back much easier on your body and then lastly there’s a geometry in how the bike handles and performs off-road especially

When you find yourself on some very technical rough and rowdy Trails full of rocks and routs as you often do on a bike packing Adventure so cyer head angles longer wheelbases make the bikes much calmer and easier to ride off-road conveniently both bikes have the same Shimano grx 12-speed mechanical shifting

Hydraulic dis Rak group set with a nice wide range can set perfect for bike packing Adventures you want nice low gears when a bike is fully Laden with all that kit you have to carry on a bike packing Adventure both have carbon fiber frames and forks the Marita has a carbon

Seat post whereas The Villa has a aluminum seat post and both bikes have aluminium wheels these are Eastern Wheels whereas the vill has the company’s own M Wheels and then we have Max’s Tires on the Merida and pelli tires on the Vila and yet despite such similarities the price difference is

Quite significant the marina here will set you back € 3,600 while the Vila over there is 44,000 so a big price difference given how similar they are in terms of carbon Fray material and a Shimano grx group set let’s compare frame details next and there’s a lot of similarity but a few

Key differences as well they each have internal routing but I think the Vila does a better job of the routing up front compared to Vila and while in routing is a divisive subject should we say it does have benefits for a bike packing setup in terms of fitting that

Bag to the handlebars where your sleeping bag often goes the carbon frames on each bike are pretty lightweight 1190 G for Lilia and then 1220 G for the Marita so both pretty lightweight uh but not super lightweight compared to like a Crocs or a grail for example but both bikes have been

Designed for bike packing event riding so a bit of extra carbon for durability is no bad thing at all I like the fact the Marita has a threaded bottom bracket while the Villa has a press fit a pf86 the same as giant uses but for the home

Mechanic for that peace of mind the Merida’s thre bottom bracket probably wins that battle and then both bikes I’m pleased to report have a 27.2 mil round seat post so you can fit a suspension seat post a dropper seat post post or a nav seat post we have a carbon seat post

On the marida versus an aluminium one on the Vila which is something I would probably upgrade if I buying that bike each bike has a super long carbon Fork which you can easily swap for a suspension Fork if you want without upsetting or messing up the geometry of

The bikes at all so you are intent on riding down a roughest Trails you can find and you want some extra comfort and control both bikes will take a suspension Fork like fox or Rock shock with no issues at all when I put a suspension Fork on my Crux it did upset

The geometry in a slightly negative way so these bikes get around that by having that longer fork in the first Place okay let’s see what the differences actually mean out here on a road and trails and unsurprisingly given the similarity in Geometry they feel very similar and the one thing that really strikes me about both bikes is how high the front end is coming from a racer gravel bike

It’s the most distinct feature and that’s great when you’re riding a long distance when you going bike packing the front is higher more relaxed and put less strain on your upper body and back so Comfort is definitely a benefit of the higher position of these bikes and

When it comes to riding off-road on very technical Trails they’re both extremely capable and a combination of that high stack and a slacker head angle and the longer wheelbase gives a fantastic ability get down any Rocky routy Trail with plenty of speed and a big dose of confidence they’re much more capable and

Much more at home the rougher the trail gets you ride tame manike Trails on both bikes and you’ll be smiling from ear to ear and the more you ride either bike the more you get used to the the higher handbar position and it goes from feeling a bit strange and odd at first

To feeling very normal and very pleasant and definitely makes a lot of sense for a bike packing Adventure setup when it really comes to find the limits I think the mar just has the edge bit slacker bit higher and a bit longer and the Max’s ties give a lot more grip in

The conditions I’m riding through right now and the other benefit of a higher handlebar position is that the drops are actually accessible so when you’re barreling along the road or a fast gravel track you’re in the drops you’re a bit more arrow and when you’re descending you have more control from

The wide drops now the hand bars are different and I do prefer the richy fled drop handar on the Vila that’s much better for riding uh more technical Trails definitely has the edge wider extreme flare actually works really well despite how odd it does look the SX does have quite a firm ride

It never tips over into being h but definitely a an engaging ride thankfully a 45 mil wide ties and a carbon seat post do give a reasonable amount of compliance when riding on rougher Trails but generally Comfort is very good and ailia also offers good Comfort too we have the benefit of much

Bigger tires on that bike but no carbon seat post so they’re very similar in terms of comfort so I would call it a draw between two bikes in terms of comfort and compliance and how they won’t beat you up on a long ride when you’re riding

Offroad on the road both bikes are very pleasant indeed that nice stable layback geometry creates a very easy handling uh bike The Villa thanks to the faster roll Tre pattern of a tires does ride on a road better than Max’s Rambler tires on the merid do create a bit more drag but not

Slow and if you’re just doing short section of the road between off-road sections it’s fine TI choice is a interesting one and very tricky for bike manufacturers to get right for every customer in every region but I do think the Maxis is a better fit and forget option going to work everywhere more

Than the advertise But there can only be one winner and for me the price the ties and a geometry of the marida SX make this the best bike off E2 here I mean they are both extremely good and there are some features I prefer on Nila namely The increased tie clearance but overall

Taking everything into consideration the new silx is the one to choose disagree let me know by leaving a comment down below and if you want to see a full Roundup of some of the best gravel bikes on the market right now then do watch this video right up here but that is all

For today thank you so much for watching I’ll see you again very soon