Merida eSpeeder 200

Merida E speeder 200 bike - do not buy – I bought this bike (see photo) new from 99 bikes College Park in SA at the end November last year (2022) and it has been an absolute disaster ever since. First of all the bike has never changed gears properly. It runs a Shimano Alvio derailleur at the rear and a single chain ring at the front. At gears 4, 5, and 6 you have to change up two gears… Read more

and back one to get the next gear up. Its similar on the downshift and has been back to 99 bikes College Park many times to be fixed. They tell me the problem is that the gear change cable is inserted into the frame at the head stem, rather than being inserted into the down tube. This creates a couple of very tight bends in the cable conduit which restricts the cable's inner movement and hence the poor gear change. 99 Bikes changed the cable wire from the original 1.2mm size to a SRAM 1.1mm but this has made little difference. The bike has been back several times for adjustment but is still not right. It's better, but not what a reasonable consumer would expect. My advice would be to stay away from any bike where the cables are inserted into the head stem as per photo attached. Its a faulty design.

Added to this ongoing problem was the failure of the bike's electronic control system which resulted in the bike being off the road for approximately 7 weeks from End April to mid June 2023. According to 99 Bikes the trouble shooting by Mahle, the manufacturer (an X35 motor) and the decision to send a replacement battery and electronic control system was all done very slowly. This has all been resolved. Apart from replacing all the electronics in the bike, they also fitted a Deore 10 speed derailleur, cassette and gear changer to get the bike to change gears properly. Staff at 99 bikes college park have been fantastic through all this. I take my bikes there for regular servicing as they are very competent and friendly.