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So, I'm leaning away from the Transition Spire
The low stack height see most bikes I look at with an acre of seatpost stuck out above the height of the bars and I have mine higher than most. The slack angle will put it way back and I don't think the long effective reach with low front end will work for me.
Been looking at the Merida 160. Under £4k gets a nearly new model. AXS SRAM XX, RS Ultimate, Flight attendant, carbon wheels, Magura, etc etc. Gets great reviews. Hell of a lot of bike for the money
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Your seatpost would be about a foot higher mate ?
Don't like the look of them tbh, at all
Mate, if we all went on looks first for our ride, you'd be single ?
Don’t like the look of them tbh, at all
You have picked the worst looking photo of it tbf, the colour is much better than that in real life.
But if you don’t like the shape of it then that’s not going to change in any colour.
I do agree that you have to like the look of what you’re riding.
Mate, if we all went on looks first for our ride, you’d be single ?
Fair comment
That Bird is f'in minging though
But if you don’t like the shape of it then that’s not going to change in any colour.
Ignoring the colour, it just looks like a cheap catalogue special to my eyes
That downtube bulge is hideous.
The stack on the Merida is less than the Spire?
Looking at the large (which is what I compared) 500mm reach & a 437mm chainstay sounds like a bike that would be ugly to me. The Spire is much more proportionately balanced F&R.
Intrigued on this, but my quick google shows a sta of 79.1° on the spire vs 79° for this Merida? Apologies if I’m wrong.
Weight aside I’ve only read great things about the spire, and as an ex-smuggler owner that’s where I’d spend my money.
The Spire has an actual SA of 70 deg though, so with long legs you just get shoved out over the rear axle. The actual and effective are also different on the Merida - can't find figures for 'actual', but it doesn't look as extreme to me 
its probably worth calculating the actual sta for both bikes at the saddle height you want. a slacker actual angle can make a big difference, but if you don't know the height at which the manufacturers calculated the effective STA its all a bit moot