I stand corrected, Merida is a Taiwan based company. However, Merida international is pushing the German R&D end www.merida-bikes.com/[...] hence some confusion. They also have a factory in Germany.

Look in the classifieds for a post by

taijijulia. She has been trying to sell a Merida for a long time. Perhaps worth having a look at.

pwerhaps worth asking if she will accept a lower offer

hey anonymous. if you had read the thread properly you would ahve seen op already answered that question and not have writ such a pointless reply. and they you go correct others too. pah!

???

Anyway, the reason I would suggest buying off a foreigner is that typically they aren't in China very long, so sometimes you can get a bike in basically brand new condition. The ones at the used bike stores tend to be a little more beaten up (and sometimes stolen). I bought a Merida Duke off a coworker for 1000. It was 3600 new, and the bike was in mint condition.