Behind the brand: Sebastian März, Frame Engineer

To create a modern bicycle and bring it to market, it takes a team with diverse talents and experience. That’s why we like to give you a look ‘behind the brand’ so you can meet some of the people who create the bikes you enjoy. This time around, we’d like to introduce our frame engineer, Sebastian März.

Amongst many other things, he’s responsible for designing the aluminium frames that make up the heart and soul of what we produce at MERIDA. Whether it’s a kid’s bike or our latest gravel bike, he’s had a hand in shaping the tubing and looks to ensure it can put up with daily use.

When he’s not designing, he’s making sure that our frames pass our stringent test requirements in our lab and helping to develop our bikes based on rider feedback so that we can always improve how they’re made.

In his spare time, he’s a keen rider – of skate and snowboards as well as bikes. As he says: “I found trail and enduro biking as a natural continuing development out of those two sports as it combines the same factors: being outdoors, sketchiness and calculating risks and flow.”

When it comes to his preferred mountain biking trails, he says: “I like fast trails with steeper rooty and rocky sections. Sometimes I find them in bike parks – my favourites are Lac Blanc and Crans Montana - but I prefer to ride them in a natural environment.”

He’s also a keen rider of bikes for practical reasons, with his rather special CROSSWAY being his city workhorse.

“It has just enough suspension to ride on and off the street. Low and wide cockpit for speed and control. Wide and slick tyres for comfort, safety - you have to watch for tram rails! - and also grip.  It’s always good to have one bike with a carrier and kickstand too. The internal cable routing is also an anti-thief thing. I found it once in the morning with every brake and shifter detached from the frame or handlebar but nothing was missing as the thief only had Hex keys but no side cutter!”

“As it is my everyday city bike every ride is the best when I don’t have to think about it. It’s just 100% reliable in all conditions.”

Of course, he does dream of more exotic locations than his everyday use around town, with the Swiss Alps being a favoured playground aboard his ONE-SIXTY enduro bike.

“My dream riding destination is in the Swiss Wallis. The Brazilian Trail has more than 2000m of descending and starts on a rocky pass with zero vegetation, going through open grass fields and dark woods with 40 metre tall trees and it ends in a vineyard - it's a real test for fitness and machinery in a mindblowing mountain area. I could ride that and quit biking the next day without having the feeling that I have missed something! The Wallis is full of those long natural trails and the train, cable cars and Postbuses bring you close to any starting point.”