Merida Matts - Is Sub 40 MD A Good Mountain Bike?

The Merida Matts Sub 40 MD I bought includes the Saddle Pouch, Rear Lamp, front and back reflectors and bell as accessories which are all free . All the parts in the Matts sub 40 is of high quality and they are definitely worth the money.

Although they are not as good as compared to other high end bikes, but I found them to be way better than any other Indian bikes. I owned a Hercules Cannon Barrel before this and I can assured you that the bike is as heavy as a tank! But the sub 40 is extremely light weight and easier to handle.

I realize that the front forks by RST Gila have lockup feature which is a bit rigid, and probably needs some adjustments. However, I do not know which situations requires a lockup.

The front and back Mechanical disk brakes by Shimano have an excellent bite and they look rather cool. The shifters are extremely good and easy to use. The front and rear derailleur give a reassuring thunk everytime i change the gear. However, there is some noise from the front gear assembly when I am pedalling.

There are two noises, one is with every stroke of my pedal with a slight jerk and a thud noise. This noise is only there when I am climbing. The other is when I am in the front middle gear i get a repeatable noise. This is only when I am in the middle gear. I am unable to detect exactly where the noises were coming from.

One thing I dislike about the bike is the comfort of the saddle which is stiff and narrow. It is only 5 inches in width at its widest point. My earlier bike Canon Barrel had a very soft and wide saddle. After cycling about 55km for 3 days, I have to admit that the entire journey was a very painful experience!

For that three days I made a mistake of not wearing any padded cycling shorts. However, on the  next day, I cycle about 23km with padded cycling shorts and I felt it was more comfortable than the last 3 days. I am not sure if this is due to not having a proper saddle height or because of a faulty saddle.

Finally, I also discover that the bike does not come with a side stand and the shop I purchase the bike from did not have anything ready in stock. So I need to constantly put my bike against the wall, which causes lots of scratches on the side of the handle bar which I can't do anything about it