Mrs_oab has been struggling with hills and efforts due to borked lungs and immune system.
So today was first ride on her new XS eSpeeder.
It's a brilliant bit of kit - we did 26 relatively hilly miles on less than half the charge - with lots of "oooh, red button = fast" moments.
Local dealers had Trek or Merida, few other options that were not mid mount and 20kg+.
Fit was really challenging as she's only 5' - the Trek dualsport was not available in small at all. So we were then looking at urban bikes and they were all bigger than her current two bikes - even badged small they are not small.
The Merida is an 'old road' type frame - high top tube / big triangle. But the dimensions were a few mm less reach and 20mm more stack than current wee Marin. In XS it fits better than her Small Marin, but looks odd with almost not seat post showing. I had to cut down the long seatpost...
It's really light for an eBike - I think it's 14.5kg. It's got carbonz fork AND seatpost & bars, full Deore gears and brakes, decent wheels and folding Continental Contact Speed tyres.
Plus LBS did us a wee deal as it was end of season.
"And this is the whoosh button"
Looks a good all rounder, and the weight has to be a big plus
Looks good matt, how does the hub motor feel in use?.
I looked at the Merida for my mum but went for the Specialized turbo Vado sl with its mid drive motor instead, similar weight but I’ve raided my box of bits and fitted Formula R1 brakes and Enve riser bars and seatpost as the original tektro brakes were a bit agricultural, got a set of hope hubs that would fit so I guess I’ll be building a set of wheels and setup tubeless as the originals are heavy as ****
She’s really chuffed with it and already passed the 500mile mark in the few weeks she’s had it.
Happy NeBD to Mrsmatt.
That smile says it all.
👍
Very good!
Looks good matt, how does the hub motor feel in use?.
We've tried a few midmount bikes, Mrs_oab even rented a Trek for a weekend touring.
We found them overly powerful for road use - even in eco mode - with a light rider. They were smooth, but she was lugging big weight and felt resistance when turned off, and she didn't get out of eco mode when riding with manual bikes.
This Mahle kicks in a bit more as you start off as it goes off pedal rotation, not a torque sensor. But, and remember each mode power output is customisable in the app, the peak power is much lower. Currently she is maybe getting just 5-10Nm in low mode, maybe 15Nm in medium and maybe 30Nm in high (of 40Nm maximum if she turned it to maximum). She's also learning that to push a higher gear/slower cadence = less help. Drop a couple of gears and spin = more help. But overall it's a much 'softer' eBike experience and seems more suited to a cruise with assistance on road & gravel, rather than suddenly wanting BIG POWAH for a steep climb.
There's no resistance at all until you're up above 20mph or more coming down hills.
It's heavy rearwards, but that's ok on a bike you don't jump.
It was really important to us that mrs_oab could lift it into the rack and feel comfortable moving it around. It weighs the same as a mountain bike. 👍
On balance it seems the ideal system for what we wanted.
Aren't E Bikes just brilliant, my wife got one after breaking her leg and a subsequent knee replacement, as has been said the smile says it all 👍
Yeah the weight issue was something I wanted to avoid with my mums bike as her friends have giant e-bikes that weigh 25kg and are very cumbersome until you get up to speed but upon trying the turbo Vado sl they’ve now ordered the same from Edinburgh bike co-op, I tuned my mums bike using the Specialized app as I was cautious regarding the instant power delivery that I experienced on my Scott egenius back in 2015 so power level 1 is 20% at start ramping up to 45%, power level 2 starts at 45% ramping up to 65% and power level 3 starts at 60% ramping up to 100% for the Galloway hills. E-bike tech has really come in the few years they’ve been on the market and decoupling of the motor above the 15.5 cut off speed is a massive help.
The furthest she’s rode in one day so far is kirkcudbright-ringford-laurieston-gatehouse (pub lunch)-carrick-borgue and back home so 37miles and left with 3 bars of range.
kirkcudbright-ringford-laurieston-gatehouse (pub lunch)-carrick-borgue and back home
Lovely ride - it's 24 years since I have ridden that route.
Looks like it was a success!
That's quite a range, do you think you could keep up for the full battery on a big hilly day out?
Looks ace
That’s quite a range, do you think you could keep up for the full battery on a big hilly day out?
Yes. But it will keep me fitter / wear me out!
I'm sure the range will drop in hillier terrain, cold etc. But it can be fitted with a range extender battery. If mrs_oab needs more assistance in future the plan is to buy a range extender and turn up the power setting...
I just thought I would update this thread with a few thoughts on the Merida eSpeeder 400.
- we're amazed at the range. Yesterday was a 58 hilly km and the bike had 87% charge when we set off. It still had 38% charge when we finished, despite half the ride being on 'yellow' assistance and a few stout 'red' assisted climbs. It's on 'eco' which is 10%, 30% and 60% assistance modes.
- the one button to do everything from change mode to switch on lights is just a faff. Two buttons would have really made life easier.
- it's, all things relative, so light to pick up and move. It's a mountain bike weight.
- very old skool frame shape with a high top tube but more modern geometry is 'odd'. We had to cut the carbon seatpost down as it was fouling the bottle mount inserts and would not go low enough. But, it's more comfy than her last two bikes.
- bottle mounts are shite. Like who actually designed them? The seattube one is too high to get a bottle in, the downtube looks like it has 2x sets but one set is unusable as the battery is stuffed in the tube, and the lower ones work but basically foul the charging plug sightly...
- the charging plug seems to be the most complex solution someone could design, positioned for maximum filth accumulation and feels delicate. Time will tell how it survives.
- the app is pretty poor and falls over a lot, so it doesn't record her rides etc.
Overall it's transformed mrs_oab's riding. I'm back pushing myself physically on rides to keep up on a normal bike (a good thing). She's fighting up hills she was really struggling with before. The range is amazing, and she's still got more assistance to switch up to it needed in the future.
Cracking wee bike
– bottle mounts are shite. Like who actually designed them? The seattube one is too high to get a bottle in,
maybe a fidlock bottle or side load cage might make it usable?
Good to hear. I'm a total convert as the 'car replacement service' mine is mostly used for
Fidlock on my Vibe. Had to match the length to the bolts that came with the original cage as the battery is in the tube. No issues.
The MAHLE app I have is pretty good. Connects to Strava is that's your thing and hasn't crashed when I've used it. Even has some decent stats on it. Also MAHLE-->Garmin head unit is excellent.
I've done 900km on mine now. Range started at 80km and is now 100km. Assume based on riding style. Never done more than 50km. I have mine set up at 40%, 60% and 100%. Reason is on the hilliest stuff here, the motor is a bit underpowered (and I'm not a bad climber!), so I only use the 100% setting on about 3 hills. Rest I tend to switch between the first two depending on how I'm feeling.
Geo/Charger socket/Controller are all great. Really nothing I'd change other than the light on the controller is very hard to see if you want to know what mode you're in. But since that's on my Garmin, I don't use it anyway.
There’s also things like wolftooths morse code cage, which allows higher or lower positions. There’s probably cheaper versions available
E bikes are ace. My 75 year old mum has one and I can go cycling with her, and my pal got one after long covid made her go from crit winner to not being able to pedal up a hill
as someone who is reasonable fit, I’d love an e gravel bike, where it’s all about enjoying the scenery, and long lunch stops with a pint. Whilst I could easily get up the hills under my own steam, they’d be so much more enjoyable if I had a motor. Especially after a burger and chips and 2 pints
The lower cage is fine to use - it just gets on the way of the charging port.
The upper cage you cannot fit even a small/short 450ml bottle in there as it is too close to the top tube.
Really poor - I think they have used the same seat tube for all sizes, just cut the top off for the small frame.