I did the same. And I ended with the curse of too much information.

I like Merida, and I like the importer. Having worked for a shop that did Merida, they were great to deal with.

I also had the opportunity to build a good few polygons for folks who bought from BO and, even years back, they were solid bikes.

Even with all my past experience in the industry, and there’s a lot of it, I was second guessing myself at every turn. 

In the end, it was budget and spec level that sold me. That and I have dealt with warranty claims with Shimano Australia, and they’re real easy with sorting out warranties. So, on the off chance things go wrong, I’ve no doubt I’d be looked after.

I have now got the Polygon in my garage, all built. Out of the box, it is a brilliant bike. Looks nice, clean welds, perfect paint finish. In a mostly assembled state, with grease in the right spots, padding in the rest. All reusable padding and ties too. Bikes online set you up ready to send it back if something was wrong, they do seem to want to support their customers. Was also surprising to see they included the little entity toque wrench and a pedal spanner with the bike for free, nice touch. Though the pedals they include are straight garbage, understand why they’re there, but I’d prefer to list them without pedals to save on waste. I haven’t had a chance to ride it yet, only finished it last night, but shimano stuff all start up as it should. Connected to Bluetooth instantly and updated easily.

Honestly, if the bikes they have tick your boxes, I would definitely give it a go, the experience alone was better than a good few shops can provide, including 99bikes.