Merida Ninety Six Team D  (PRODUCT REF : 406)

So who is going to win the battle to claim the lightest production bike? We reckon that with its latest full susser Merida has decided to accept the challenge! The all-new Ninety Six (named for the XC-friendly 96mm of rear travel) range is built around a 1.9kg (4.2lb) carbon fibre frame, with the top Team model dusting the scales at 9kg (19.8lb) complete.

The frame is all-carbon, right down to the rocker linkage and drive-side dropout. Not everything can be made of carbon, and the Ninety Six features titanium shock mounting hardware - all three bikes in the range run a DT Swiss XR Carbon shock with remote lockout lever. Merida has chucked a load of the currently in-vogue carbon nanotubes into its carbon fibre mix, boosting the material's strength-to-weight ratio and thus allowing them to use less of it to achieve that impressively low frame weight.

The Team D gets you a Manitou R7 MRD 100 TPC fork, Avid Juicy Ultimate 160 brakes, Sram X9/XO and XO Twister shifters, FSA K-Force chainset, Eggbeater 4 Ti pedals, DT XRX 1250 carbon disc wheels, Maxxis Flyweight 330 1.95in tyres, and is available in four sizes from 16 to 21.5in. The 5000-D gets a DT XRC 100RL fork with remote lockout and the same rear shock as the Team. Shimano's XTR groupset dominates, with Mavic Crossmax SLR wheels and Schwalbe Furious Fred Light tyres. The "entry-level" 3500-D has a RockShox SID Race 100 fork, DT XM 180 50 shock with remote lockout, Shimano XT groupset, DT XR4.2 rims on Shimano XT hubs and Schwable Furious Fred Light tyres.

The Ninety Six will be available sometime in the near future and will be available as both a built bike in various options and also as frame only. As numbers will be very limited, it might be advisable to reserve your bike sooner rather than later.