After riding an off road mountain bike which is 7 years old, purely on road about 3-4 hrs a week. The merida is fantastic. Day one my speed improved 6 minutes over the same distance. It is a bit rough over bumps and on old bitumen roads but on new got mix and bike paths is a dream. Have had it serviced once no real issue's. Haven't had any problems other than minor tuning getting the front derailleur smooth. No punctures yet. Touch wood.
speed and gearing great for on road riding
No problems yet

I bought this as a commuter bike as well and used it on road and bike tracks. Over a year and a half I probably had about 6 flat tires. I took it to service at Goldcross cycles and they weren't able to fix it. Eventually I realised that the rim around the valve was too sharp and was cutting the tube. Poor workmanship from Merida.
On top of that, before the warranty had expired, my back derailler (that holds the gear changer in the back wheel) broke and Merida refused to replace the part. Now Goldcross wants to charge me $210 to replace the part which should be covered under warranty.
Don't buy this bike.
Nice looking bike.
Gear issues. Weak metal derailler. Poor workmanship in the rim.

This bike was sold to me as a commuter bike which was my intentions. In the three months that I have owned this bike I have ridden about 150km per week while commuting to and from work. In this time I have had issues with poor gear changes which were not rectified after a service and now I have had three spokes break after normal on road riding. This bike is not living up to its commuting potential
I like that it is 24 speed, has good tyres suitable for commuting and is well designed for accessories such as luggage racks.
It appears to be poorly built and not withstanding initial commuting use.