Tour de France bikes: Vincenzo Nibali’s custom-painted Merida Reacto — gallery
Aero frameset celebrates the Shark of Messina's victories at all three Grand Tours
Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) is one of just seven riders in the history of cycling to have won all three Grand Tours during his career, with Chris Froome (Team Sky) the only other active rider to have also achieved the feat.
Nibali arrived at the Tour de France with his eyes set on winning a second yellow jersey, and will be racing aboard a custom-painted Merida Reacto for multiple stages of the race.
The frameset celebrates Nibali’s Grand Tour victories with flashes of pink, yellow and red on the down tube of the frame, commemorating the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España, respectively.
As well as the iconic colours of the three Grand Tours, Nibali’s famous nickname — the Shark of Messina — is also celebrated on the frameset, with shark fins lining the top tube in the form of glittery-grey decals.
While aero framesets are traditionally heavier than their all-round counterparts, Nibali is said to be satisfied with the low weight of his current Reacto build and the frameset didn’t hold the Sicilian back as he attacked on the Poggio to win Milan-San Remo earlier this season.
It is likely that alongside the three-coloured down tube and glitter-grey decals, the raw carbon finish on the rest of the frame is a concerted effort to reduce the overall bike weight.
Bahrain-Merida pairs Nibali’s Reacto with a Shimano Dura-Ace R9150 groupset, while an SRM Origin crankset is combined with Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 53/39 chainrings.
The 40t variants of Fulcrum Speed carbon wheels offer Nibali a further balance between lightweight and aerodynamic performance, while Nibali opts for a traditional cockpit from FSA rather than an aerodynamic, integrated setup.
Click or swipe through the gallery above for a closer look at the Shark of Messina’s custom-painted Merida Reacto.
Full specification
- Frameset: Merida Reacto in custom finish for Vincenzo Nibali
- Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
- Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100, bottom bracket mounted
- Brake/shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace R9150
- Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace R9150
- Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace R9150
- Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100, 11-30
- Crankset: SRM Origin with Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 53/39 chainrings and 172.5mm cranks
- Wheelset: Fulcrum Speed 40t
- Tyres: Continental Competition ALX, 25mm tubulars
- Handlebars: FSA K-Force Light, 400mm
- Stem: FSA OS-99, 125mm
- Tape/grips: Prologo
- Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
- Seatpost: Merida Reacto
- Bottle cages: Elite Leggero
- Computer: SRM PC-8 (not photographed)
- Other accessories: SRM Speed sensor
Critical measurements
- Rider height: 1.81m
- Seat height from bottom bracket (c-t): 755mm
- Saddle nose to handlebars (at stem): 600mm
