Not everyone can afford a Peloton, but honestly, you don't need one. If what you're looking for is a no-nonsense bike exercise workout at home, there are plenty of more affordable alternatives. The quality varies depending on what you're looking to spend, but I've found the Merach S26 to be an impressive exercise bike for the money. (I've been using it at home for a couple of months as I rehab from an ACL surgery—it was provided to me by Merach for review.) It's not perfect, but I've found it to be much better than I expected, especially after reviewing the budget rowing machine from the same company, which left much to be desired.
Pros and cons of the Merach S26
Pros
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Quiet: Even at full speed you can't hear much.
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Affordable: You can easily find this bike under $200 on Amazon.
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Stable: You'd have to try very hard to fall off its stable frame.
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Portable: The front wheels make moving it around easy.
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App features: The Merach app has free and useful metrics.
Cons
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Resistance is tricky: Although there are "100 levels," it's hard to move between them.
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Motion detection drains the battery: The motion detection turns the screen on constantly and it drains the battery quickly.
Specs:
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Display: LCD rotary display (needs two AA batteries)
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Pedal resistance: Friction ("100" levels)
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Weight of e-bike: 61.7 lb
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Rider height range: One frame accomodates 4'8" to 6'2"
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Maximum rider weight: 270 lbs
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Size of bike: 42.6 x 19.3 x 48.6 inches
Easy to set up, quiet, and stable
It took me about 20 minutes to set up the Merach S26. It was very easy to do thanks to a straightforward assembly tutorial video. The bike is extremely quiet. The only sound it makes seems to be from the belt moving as you pedal and the wind the wheel makes as it spins, but it's quiet enough that you can pedal as hard as you can and it does not (surprisingly) disturb my fiancée whose work-from-home setup is right next to the bike.
I was surprised at how stable the bike can be if you set it up correctly. There are four adjustable bolts you can rotate on each corner to raise or lower their height, which is great for uneven surfaces. Since my floor is flat, I just made them as short as they could go. I could bike to my maximum speed and felt like I was in complete control without any concern the bike was going to tip over. The bike also has two wheels at the front that make it very easy to move around the house. Unfortunately, there's no way to prop it up in any way to stow it away.
I found the seat to be comfortable initially, but it would start hurting after the 20-minute mark. My fiancée, on the other hand, found it uncomfortable in less than 10 minutes.
Since this is a home exercise bike, I was expecting pedals that would be comfortable enough to use barefoot or in socks, but I don't recommend it. You need to wear shoes to go on this ride. There are grooves made for better friction with shoes that make it very painful to use barefoot.
Both the seat and handlebar are adjustable to fit people measuring between 4'8" to 6'2", according to Merach. I am 5'7" and found the right positions without trouble. You can also move the seat forward and backward to get a more comfortable posture (useful for people with long or short torsos). I did find it concerning when the seat post would slightly rock back and forth when I moved it with my hand, but it did not impact the riding at all.
The LCD screen and resistance settings are not my favorite
It might be true when Merach says this bike has 100 resistance levels, but there is no real way of knowing. To adjust the resistance, you rotate the knob that is between the seat and the handlebars. The problem is that there is nothing telling me what level I'm on. I just have to feel it out. Once I hit some resistance, it doesn't take much moving to drastically increase or decrease the intensity of the pedaling, so realistically, I'm carefully moving the resistance up and down within the same 20 degrees the whole time.
Merach has two types of exercise bikes, the friction version that I have (the MR-S26B1) and a magnetic one (the MR-S26B2). I'm not sure what material the friction version uses to create its resistance, but it feels like some kind of rough thread. In the two months I've been using it for my ACL rehab, I managed to burn through a small bundle of thread (see the picture above). I estimate it's about 5% of the material. (I've reached out to Merach to ask how long it expects this material to last, and whether people who buy the bike can replace the material if it wears out. I'll update this post when I hear back.)
The more expensive magnetic version will obviously not have this problem.
I think Merach did well to not include a large, cheap LCD screen, but instead included a stand so that I could place my phone or a tablet. It's grippy to prevent devices from falling, but I would not trust it with a laptop (and I would certainly not put any device on it without a case).
The LCD screen that's there tracks and records your exercise time, speed, distance, power (watts), cadence (rotations), and calories. The display is difficult to navigate and is not very user-friendly—the app is a much better alternative. The biggest problem that I've found with the screen is the motion sensor that turns on the LCD screen. I leave my bike in an area I walk by constantly, so the screen continually turns on and drains the battery. (I disconnected the sensor cable from the LCD screen and that seems to do the trick.)
The Merach app enhances the experience
The Merach App is a subscription-free companion app that makes it much easier to see what you're doing compared to the LCD screen. It's very easy to connect the bike to the app and prop a phone in the stand. The app logs the workout data and shows the information once the workout is complete, including calories burned, average frequency, average resistance, max power, etc. If I'm looking for a quick workout, the app has "ultra burning," "target practice," "timed practice," and "free training" preloaded workouts.
There are also free pre-recorded guided classes you can take depending on what your goals are, simulation rides that show you nice landscapes as you bike, and challenges with leaderboards you can do and see how you fare against other users.
Finishing thoughts
The Merach S26 is a solid budget exercise bike that is perfect for someone looking for a silent spin bike on a budget. You can easily find discounts on this bike that bring it to under $200, making it an incredible value for the money. Yes, it's not perfect: the resistance knob is hard to move between levels of difficulty and the motion detection can turn on the LCD screen constantly, draining the battery. But I think the positives outweigh the negatives. It's a very stable bike, easy to maneuver, and the Merach app offers enough free features that most people will find useful.
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