Ninety One Meraki 27.5T: ChooseMyBicycle.com Expert Review

The Ninety one Meraki 27.5T is built on a full Steel frame. This frame has a slanting top tube which connects to the seat tube and ensures the rider has a comfortable standover clearance. This comfort focused frame geometry ensured the rider has a straight and open chested riding posture without any aggressive body positioning. The stock front suspension fork comes with an 80mm travel which is sufficient to easily handle bumps and speed breakers on urban roads.

The Meraki 27.5T from Ninety one which I test rode came in a Black primary colour on the frame with dark grey and Red as the secondary colours for the graphics. The matte finish paint job was top notch in quality and the bold text fonts were definitely eye-catchy. This Electric Bicycle has an internal battery placed inside the bottom tube. The size of the bottom tube along with its shape and welds made the E-Bicycle look neat and seamless in design.

The Ninety One Meraki 27.5T Electric Bicycle runs on a rear hub BLDC 250W rear hub motor. This motor is powered by a 6.3 AH Lithium-Ion Panasonic battery, concealed in the bottom tube. The half throttle on the right grip was easy to use and there was a clear surge in speed from a stationery position, thus making it a fun experience of an Electric Bicycle. The 3 level pedal assist termed low, medium and high gives three different levels of power assist from the battery for each pedal. There is also a walk mode which helps get a constant speed for easy walking with the bicycle and this can be activated by pressing and holding the minus button used to reduce the pedal assist. The LED button display on the left side of the handlebar bar has the On/Off power button, Assist level changer and also the Battery level indicator. The maximum speed using battery power is 25km/hr. As a safety feature there is a lock and key system under the right hand side grip accelerator which can be used to switch on and switch off the battery power, thus making it tamper proof.

With 1 full charge this battery is capable of giving 22-35Kms. These mileages might differ a bit with the varied riding conditions, pedal assist or throttle mode and the rider weight. This battery takes 3.5 hours to charge from 0 to 100% in any normal Indian plug point. The charging point for the battery is on the left side of the frame on the top tube, almost near the head tube. The small downside to and internal and concealed battery is that the E-Bicycle has to be near a charging point as the battery is not detachable.

This Electric Bicycle comes with a Single-Speed drivetrain. There is no compulsory need for an Electric Cycle to have gears as the battery is going to dominate and contribute to the speed of the bicycle. For short commuting needs there is no necessity of gears and this Single-Speed drivetrain is also easy to maintain. The lack of gearing components also decreases the weight a little.

This Electric Bicycle’s stopping power is controlled by JAK’s Mechanical Disc brakes at the front and rear. The Mechanical Disc brakes were powerful to get the bicycle to stop safely and quickly at 20-25 Km/hr speeds.

The Alloy riser handlebar on this E-Bike was of the perfect length with a slight raise from the middle to give a comfortable riding posture for the rider. The grip throttle on the right was smooth and easy to use.

As in the name of the bicycle the Ninety One Meraki rolls on a pair of 27.5” x 2.10” MTB tires. These tires were heavily treaded to tackle the rough and wet urban roads easily. The Alloy rims contributed to the strength of the wheel set to ensure bumpy surfaces.

The stock saddle did not have the most ergonomic shape but it definitely had enough cushioning to keep the rider free from any soreness.