Merida Lithos 10K

The Lithos 10K is Merida's flagship enduro e-bike, built for riders who want proper battery-backed climbing so they can spend more of the day on the way down. It pairs a full-carbon frame with Bosch's most powerful trail motor and a genuinely big battery, then hangs some seriously capable components off it: strong brakes, a burly fork and wheels meant for rocky, technical trails rather than smooth bridleways. You'll find it sold in the UK simply as the Lithos 10K, sometimes labelled as a 2026 or a 2027 model - both labels point to the same June 2026 launch generation rather than two different specifications, so there's no separate version to weigh up.

Built for hard, powered descents

Where this bike earns its keep is in what's bolted to the frame. The fork is a Fox Podium Factory with 170mm of travel, matched to a mixed-wheel layout of a 29-inch front wheel and 27.5-inch rear that Merida fits as standard. Braking comes from SRAM Maven Ultimate four-piston brakes, running large 220mm front and 200mm rear rotors - big rotors like these are there to keep braking power consistent on long, technical descents rather than fading after a few minutes of hard use. The wheels are a carbon DT Swiss HXC 1500 set, wrapped in Continental Kryptotal tyres in Enduro casing, a tougher construction intended for rough trail use rather than everyday riding; the wheels are tubeless-ready, though you shouldn't assume the bike arrives already set up tubeless, so that's worth sorting before you head out. Shifting is SRAM's X0 Eagle Transmission AXS, a wireless 12-speed groupset paired with an XX Eagle e-MTB chainset and a wide 10-51 tooth cassette, giving a broad spread of gears for both steep climbs and flat-out sections.

The Bosch CX-R system for climbing and repeat laps

Assistance comes from Bosch's Performance Line CX-R motor, backed by a removable 800Wh PowerTube battery, a Kiox 400C display and a Mini Remote for changing modes on the move. Being removable matters in practice: you can take the battery indoors to charge rather than needing a socket out in the shed or garage, which makes daily charging far less of a chore. There's no official range figure published for this build, so it's worth thinking about your riding in terms of the 800Wh capacity and the terrain you cover rather than expecting a specific mileage promise; a Category 4 enduro bike ridden hard uphill will draw a battery down faster than gentler trail riding. If you'd rather carry less weight some of the time, Merida's documentation allows smaller 600Wh or 540Wh batteries to fit using the existing lock and cover, with an optional slimmer cover sized for the 600Wh battery, and the system will also accept an optional Bosch PowerMore 250 range extender with its own mount and cable. None of that is fitted as standard on the UK 10K, but it's a genuine route to a lighter bike on days when you don't need the extra reserve.

One spec you'll want to confirm before buying

There's a genuine inconsistency worth knowing about before you buy. UK equipment tables for this build list a Fox Float X Factory Live Valve Neo rear shock, an air shock, paired with 160mm of rear travel. But descriptions of the launch bike, and the actual bikes used in hands-on testing, instead name a Fox DHX Live Valve Neo coil shock, paired with 174mm of rear travel in this mixed-wheel form. An air shock and a coil shock behave differently and call for different setup and servicing, so this isn't a trivial detail. Given the conflict, it's worth asking whichever seller you're buying from to confirm the exact shock and rear travel fitted to the specific bike in front of you before completing a purchase.

Choosing your frame size

Merida offers the Lithos 10K across five frame sizes, XShort through to XLong, with reach spanning roughly 425mm to 510mm as you move up the range. Head angle and seat angle stay the same throughout, at 64 and 78.5 degrees, and the chainstay length is held at 447mm across every size rather than growing with the frame, so the fundamental proportions stay consistent whichever size you ride. Every size also gets the same Merida Team TR II dropper post, with a 34.9mm diameter and travel adjustable from 30mm up to 230mm, a useful spread on a bike meant to be ridden hard on descents. The retailer height guide for these five sizes overlaps quite a bit at the edges - Short, for instance, is quoted for 5ft4in to 5ft8in while Mid starts at 5ft6in - so it's worth reading the full reach and stack figures for your size alongside the height guide rather than picking a size on height alone.

Owning a Category 4 enduro e-bike

Merida rates the Lithos platform for Category 4 use: demanding technical off-road riding, including built landings up to 1.2m on official mountain bike trails, with a maximum combined weight of 140kg covering the bike, rider and any luggage together. That's a serious off-road remit, but it's not the same as an unrestricted downhill or bike-park rating, so it's worth checking that any trail or feature you're planning to ride sits within that limit. If you want to run the bike as a full 29-inch machine rather than the fitted mixed-wheel setup, Merida documents a flip-chip conversion for the rear wheel, and testing of the launch generation in that configuration reported 160mm of rear travel. The frame itself carries a lifetime warranty for the original purchaser, subject to Merida's warranty terms, though branded suspension components and accessories are covered separately under their own terms. Merida also specifies an early first service, due at whichever comes soonest of 100 to 300km, 5 to 10 hours' riding, 4 to 6 weeks, or 4 months at the latest, with more frequent checks recommended if you're using the bike regularly at a bike park. Reports put the UK launch price at around £11,000; treat that as a reference point for the generation rather than today's selling price, since live offers can move in either direction. What ties all of this together is a bike built specifically for riders who want to keep lapping the same demanding descent all day, with a battery big enough to make that realistic and brakes and wheels chosen to survive the abuse that repeat laps bring.