Merida eOne-Eighty 400

The Merida eOne-Eighty 400 is the entry point into Merida's dedicated freeride and downhill e-MTB line, built around 180mm of travel front and rear on an aluminium frame that Merida rates for Category 5 use, its most demanding classification, covering repeated bike-park laps and steep, rough natural descents. If you want a motor to do the climbing so you can spend your day chasing lift laps or long fire-road shuttles rather than pedalling gently between features, this is the kind of bike built for that job, and the 400 gets you into the platform at the lowest specified point in the numbered range.

Climbing back up between descents

Power comes from Bosch's Performance Line CX motor, controlled through the simpler Purion 200 display rather than the more detailed unit fitted higher up the range, paired with a removable 600Wh PowerTube battery you can lift out to charge indoors. Merida hasn't published a distance or riding-time figure for this build, so treat the 600Wh capacity as a description of the battery rather than a promise about how many laps you'll get from it; that depends heavily on assist mode, terrain and how much climbing you're doing between descents. It's worth knowing the 400 carries less capacity than the 800Wh battery fitted to the eONE-EIGHTY 500 further up the range, though the frame itself is built around a shared Bosch battery interface that also accepts an 800Wh unit, and Merida's platform manual permits retrofitting a Bosch PowerMore 250 range extender with its own holder and cable. Neither of those is fitted as standard on the 400, so budget for them separately if 600Wh doesn't turn out to be enough for your riding.

The kit that does the descending

Suspension duties go to an SR Suntour Aion 38X air fork with 180mm of travel up front and a TRIAIR2 shock at the rear, a combination built for the sustained hits of bike-park terrain rather than gentle trail riding. Stopping power comes from Tektro Gemini M535 four-piston brakes on 203mm rotors front and rear, sized generously enough to cope with repeated steep descents without fading. Gearing is Shimano's CUES U4000 in a 1x9 arrangement with an 11-46T cassette, a simpler and more robust setup than a wider-range drivetrain, which suits a bike that's more about surviving impacts than spinning up long climbs unassisted. The wheel setup mixes a 29-inch front with a 27.5-inch rear, wearing a Maxxis Assegai up front and a Minion DHR II out back, a tyre pairing generally chosen for grip on steep, loose terrain rather than rolling speed. The Merida Expert TR II rims are tubeless-ready, but they don't come fitted with tape or valves, so setting up tubeless is an extra job and cost rather than something you get straight out of the box.

Getting the size right

The 400 comes in five sizes, XShort through to XLong, with overlapping published height bands rather than one bike per height bracket, so there's some flexibility if you sit near a boundary. Reach runs from 415mm on the smallest frame up to 505mm on the largest, and the cockpit lengthens accordingly across the range. Dropper post travel is matched to frame size too, from 125mm on the XShort up through 150mm and 200mm on the middle sizes; Merida's own UK specification lists 230mm on the XLong but also separately prints 200mm for that same size, so if you're buying an XLong it's worth checking the dropper travel on the specific bike rather than assuming which figure applies.

Living with a bike-park bike

The published 140kg limit covers the whole system, bike, rider and any kit you're carrying, not the rider alone, which matters if you ride with a hydration pack or protective gear that adds noticeable weight. Because this is a bike built for repeated impacts, Merida calls for suspension servicing at least once a year, and more often if you're doing regular bike-park days, which is worth budgeting for alongside the purchase price. UK retailers have listed the 400 at around £4,900, though we haven't seen that figure confirmed on Merida's own price list, so treat it as a starting point for comparison rather than a fixed number. It's also worth keeping this build separate in your head from other numbered eONE-EIGHTY models and from listings dated a year or two either side of this one: the 400's 600Wh battery, CUES shifting and SR Suntour suspension are specific to this build, and a different year printed on a listing for a higher-numbered model doesn't tell you anything about a change to the 400 itself.

Bought with that in mind, the 400 works best as a bike you commit to for lift-served or shuttle-assisted riding: the motor and battery get you back to the top, the frame and brakes are built to survive the sessions in between, and the size range means most riders can find a frame that fits without compromise.