How can I tell if my bike can ride down stairs without damaging it? I would like to know if my bike can handle going down a flight of about 15 stairs. (edit: ride it down, not jump)

Specifically I have a Merida Crossway 100 . However, I would like to know if there is a general rule of thumb that I can use for my future bikes.

Just to clarify:


The stairs in question are 13 x 30 cm each. 
I realize that technique is also involved, but whereas bones can heal, wheels cannot.
There's no real way to be completely sure but to try it. Anything else is merely a guess and no one can be 100% sure of the answer: suppose there's a tiny crack somewhere no-one knows of and it just happens to receive enough stress while riding the stairs then you might get damage. But such things are impossible to predict.

Moreover there are many other factors to consider but you don't specify any of those. What kind of stairs? 15 stairs where each step is 1.5m deep and 5cm high (yes that exists, architects invent all kinds of things) is like riding down 15 seperate tiny curbs with hardly any impact. But 15 stairs with steps of 20cm deep and 15cm high is already something else. Still, you don't specify how you plan to ride them nor what your skills are. If you ride them fast, lifting the front wheel so you barely touch them, most impact will be when landing them, on the back wheel. Which might or might not break, depending on rim/spoke/build quality. Or you could ride them very slow like going 1km/h while constantly braking and gently rolling down eacht step so there's hardly any impact at all. I wouldn't expect any damage there but you need some balance skills for that. Or you could just ride down at a speed of 20km/h both wheels at the same time. Then the geometry of the stairs vs the geometry of your bike plays a role in how gentle the ride will be. If you're lucky each wheel happens to land on each step 'nose' exactly and you won't even notice it's stairs as it will be like riding down a normal slope. If you're out of luck (usually, in my experience) it will be rougher. I'd still advise you to lift the front wheel to clear the the last couple of steps as it makes for a softer landing back to flat.

tldr; there's more to consider than just the bike


  is there a general rule of thumb that I can use for my future bikes


No hard rule, but: if the bike is rated for terrain which roughly matches the stairs you're aiming for, then it should handle those stairs. A 10000$ downhill machine should be able to deal with any 15 stairs with no problem as it's made to deal which much stronger impacts. I wouldn't take a 200$ BSO down stairs though.

Your particular bike seems to be some hybrid targetting 'cross' whatever that may be, but it doesn't exactly seem to be targetting rougher terrain. I don't have any experience with the brand nor quality so I have no idea how solid it is. From the looks and specs, and if it's in good conditions I'd take the risk and ride it down the stairs no problem but that's just me, don't take my word for it. Or maybe try with stairs of like 5 steps first: should there be damage, it will be less. As said before: ultimately the only way to know for sure is to try it.