Hi
Does anyone have any feedback on whether this is a good bike and worth the price ($3,286).
https://www.99bikes.com.au/merida-21-espresso-city-700-eq-xs…
Main purpose will be commuting to the station and leisurely weekend rides. All on road.
There are big hills though so that's an important consideration re power.
What's the distance and terrain to the station?
Very hilly and about 5km
I guess my only concern would be the security of the bike while it's at the station (that's how I'm reading the post, anyway).
This…my wife has a secure place for hers…and even so we have two Airtags on it. If it were somewhere unsecure I'd be putting a high-end lock on it.
My father-out-law owned an e-bike for about a month. Parking it in the carport simply wasn't good enough.
Got the right specs. Merida is a good quality bike brand.
‘Automatic gears’ sounds interesting. Be interested to see how you make your own choices for gears as sometimes they can get it wrong.
It’s a lot of coin to be leaving it at the station. Make sure you get a good lock system to ensure it’s there when you get back at the end of the day.
Thanks. Do you recommend a good lock?
Look at ABUS, and Kryptonite. For parking at a train station, you want the best they have to offer. I would go for a U-lock style, and I would probably get a disk lock with alarm as well to be honest. both those companies provide ratings for their locks - you simply pick the highest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtdiO1ZiiXk
It is said that most thieves won't be picking locks - they will be brute forcing. With a U-lock they will stick a bar into the lock and try to lever it apart (good luck with a lock like the above - but the inept thief will damage the frame in the process). A battery powered angle grinder can also get through them, but not all locks are equal..
This is the most likely scenario:
https://youtu.be/tfZ-S63AsPQ?si=q8uTaPnSX_L6kjAM
…and illustrates why you need a very decent lock.
Thanks. I looked at the links.
Do you have a preference out of these
Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit Mini $147
https://amzn.asia/d/bR8txyx
ABUS Granit XPlus 540 $146
https://amzn.asia/d/9kvzKwu
I prefer chain locks, not sure how true it is but i think they're also meant to be harder to getting because they're harder to keep still. I have a hiplok gold
Push button to toggle between auto/manual selection. My wife tends to prefer manual, and I concur.
You can tune up the gear change thresholds…it's very flexible.
My wife has one. Paid stupid $$$ more than this during Covid. She loves it. Powers up the hills.
Had a Gazelle front wheel hub drive before this and simply no comparison. The Merida is way better. The Gazelle bikes aren't well known for being hill-worthy though - I mean..they're Dutch bikes, so designed for flat riding I guess.
The Gazelle did put her onto hub gears though. Doesn't want a derailleur now. When we bought this Merida, there were precious few bikes offering hub gears.
At a bit over $3k, I think it's a great deal. This is a fairly serious vehicle really.