MERACHExercise Bike, Brake Pad Stationary Bike with Exclusive App, Low Noise Indoor Cycling Bike with 300lbs Weight Capacity, Tablet Mount and Fitness Courses for Weight Loss

TL;DR: Love the quiet, smooth action of the Merach S26 magnetic, belt-drive spin bike. Power data seems to pass the sniff test in Zwift. Worth it more than the Merach incline/decline spin bike.*Review fully updated & edited on August 12, 2025(~100 hours of riding Merach S26 Magnetic & ~ 10 hours of riding Zwift Ride w/Wahoo Kickr Core w/Zwift cog V2)Preamble & apologies:I love cycling. My road bike fits me so well thoughts of actually buying a second bike disappear when I hop on and pedal. But recovering from a tender spot surgery, and tenderest spot stitches, got me interested in an indoor bike again. No bumps, potholes, or deer (even in cities, everywhere!), so no risk to bodily punctures, much less tire. Like everyone else, I looked. A lot. This bike won, as opposed to the more expensive Merach version that changes incline/decline, and definitely over much more expensive brands becauseA) I don’t want to plug in a bikea. *Yeah, I caved using the Wahoo which is plugged in and potentially always transmittingi. Eating my money through energy costs (probably less than AC, but still)ii. Chatting with my devicesiii. But it works so well I forgive the Kickr for being a multi-plane vampireB) I don’t want to be obligated to subscriptionsa. If I buy it, it’s mine to use/abuse as I wanti. *Yeah, caved again. Spelunking at its finest. I now pay for Zwift. It has nice colors and geometric shapes. But the hardwares will work w/out Zwift, so the knowledge I can bail whenever I’ve had it (see B.b.) is a comfortb. Grad school face-hugger data miners should have to put in some effort to get my dataMerach S26 Magnetic resistance review/notes:By picture you can quickly see changes I’ve made. I’ve absolutely voided the warranty, but it was so smooth and quiet and just “fit well” that it’s worth it.Changes:1. Swapped out the seat to one that matches my sit bones. Way more comfortable than getting numb butt (or other area) from being on a cushy office chair bike seat. Get a fitting, use a seat that matches. I get better leg movement and less butt crush. This bike already uses an actual seat adapter, so no need to spend more for that just to be more comfortable.2. As always, put on different pedals. I had SPD-SL lying around since I didn’t like them on my road bike, but perfect for this critter. Cage pedals that come with are perfectly fine; I wanted to make use of pedals I’d otherwise have to release into the wild.3. Warranty voiding changes to handlebars. I’m a long torso, short-limb, 5’8” T-Rex. The bullhorn handlebars as is do not quite reach me comfortably. I sawed off theirs, leaving a 4” nub to clamp on drop bars. I reused their handlebar inserts and some tape on the new ends I made to keep me from cutting myself since I didn’t file them smooth. Using shims and some dual truss clamps. And brake hoods. Cuz why not? Now the handlebars reach me, are more similar to riding in the real world, and I can rest on the hoods. I also had to trim the plastic housing for the electronics, and I may get rid of their casing and build it a new, smaller one. Later. Other than that, I’ve not opened it to tinker.a. I would love it if spin bike makers included as option to either use their handlebar, or it comes with a bolt down stem for your own. Dare to dream!4. Bought a 10.1” android tablet to use for just riding. The S26 magnetic also has a version that comes with a larger tablet, you can use a PC or android tablet, but FantomFite isn’t yet (2025) on iOS.5. JEFit Hedgehog pods trieda. Yeah, it wobbles more, not so much side to side, but like I’m the broccoli in the Midwestern Jello salad.b. Didn’t really make a difference to mec. But the bike isn’t so stable and rigid that those kind of rockers are needed.i. Use a fan to help your swassii. The bike has enough wobble on its own for users over 200 lbs/90 kgiii. Still stable to ride, just a bit of motion to minimize issues that lead to using a rocker platePros & Cons/Notes:1. Very adjustable seat, from height to forward, and don’t be shy. Get out your level and make sure any seat is even, that also helps ease the tissue crushing damage of fluffy wide seats. For me. I’m also a fat T-Rex. That doesn’t skip leg day. But skips every chest day ever. Get your seat level and fit correctly forward, since it’s very adjustable.2. Apps!a. I got the Merach, Kinomap, FantomFite, and Zwift. Zwift, for cycling, requires a subscription and data harvesting, but their game Merach apps don’t track you. Kinomap is nice, cheaper, less gamey than Zwift. FantomFite is cool, but less robust than Zwift. Zwift for dopamine social nature (like getting a thumbs-up from a 100-level rider in confetti socks! Whaaaat?) is better, has options to ignore chat, and currently the one I’m using. Try Zwift for free running or just get it. Lots of options for apps, and super easy to pair the bike.3. Stable even with some movement. I’m ~245 lb/111 kg, so sitting to standing does move the bike a bit side to side. Like in the real world. It also sits on a textured rug (Mohawk, 3’x 5’ squares), rather than a rubber mat (cheaper, works better to protect carpet/floor). The bike has a bit of natural side to side wobble as I pedal, but I’ve never been concerned about its safety or stability. I’ve never noticed the knee or back pain issues others describe even after 4 hours of riding4. Very smooth pedaling action.5. Belt drive is the besta. All chains make some noise. Not exactly the Jacob Marley level, but a vibrational whir that you’ll at least feel, if not also hear.b. Belt drive on Merach is quietc. Belts tend to last nearly forever on bikesd. No grease to gum up the works with debris or get the obvious marks on your right calf (that you spend all this time biking to build into glorious diamonds just to be perpetually smudged. Looking at you, all my bike since forever!)6. Quiet with the magnetic resistance, just hard to know the “level” you’re on aside from using perceived effort or the Merach app. This can matter when you’re trying to compare sessions for improvement; however, the watts do change with resistance and cadence changes, as it should, so apps using watts/kg can be used instead.7. My tuxedo cat, who only got the one brain cell and not every day, is unphased by any riding noises. He has recently scared himself bya. Seeing his reflection in the dishwasher doorb. His toy bouncing (after he attacked it)c. I sneezed (probably took a decade off his life. Sorry, buddy), even my fancy coward is unphased by the quiet whir of the wheel. He’s also afraid of my sandwich wrappers, so, bike is very quiet.8. Sort of easy to move. I pick it up by the handlebar housing and seat housing, because to tip it to the wheels is a long tip as the wheels are horizontal. I have handlebars at the top of their adjustment, so if they’re lower, that’d be easier. Like the tall guy doing the video review who clearly hasn’t adjusted the bike at all.9. Easily connects to apps, once you realize it’s labeled oddly. Looks more like a spam email address, MRK-more numbers and letters, but once paired, it’s fine. And it can still pair to other apps. Which is more than my earbuds can manage to do (basically the bike isn’t locked into one thing and can multi-pair).10. I’ve truly hunted hard to find out how Merach measures watts/power. Dual power cranks or pedals cost the same or more than this bike. But even Zwift thinks Merach is sending power data that changes more when resistance changes, and a bit less when only cadence changes. So it’s getting some amount of power data that corresponds to leg effort and not heart rate. The bike doesn’t do HR, but I’d love to be able to find how Merach is calculating power/watts. It seems to pass the sniff test, my detrained, unfitness hit a peak of 201 watts on an FTP test, with my end result being 122 watts. That seems reasonable with how I pedal in the real world, and I ride in Zwift around 0.9-1.2 watts/kg, which all seem fair. So it’s consistent and measurable, and seems realish for my resistance level and cadence, HR around the 201 watts hit my Zone 4, which is cool. I would feel honest entering a Zwift race with Merach power data.11. Tablet holder! Solid, attached, rubber pad to keep it from sliding around. Even as I move heavy from sit to stand it doesn’t move. Nor do my cats move the tablet while rubbing their possessive faces all over, without additional safety strapping. Honestly, the Zwift ride at $800 doesn’t come with a tablet/computer holder; it’s extra. Given that the metal frame and the tablet holder are only bolted together, an industrious person (better than me at measuring) could easily attach a larger tablet/computer shelf without voiding the warranty. Sorry, Merach, I really do love your bike!12. Given that resistance is “infinite”, but really only 8 levels, I’d love it if the level was shown on the LED display (It is on the incline/decline bike, but that doesn’t seem to have watts. Odd choice for zero-sum data). The bike data shows it knows the levels, why keep it secret? Add that, keep every other data point, perfect. I’m fine with dumb resistance, I change it instead of the app changing it, and watts gives a good suggestion of the resistance level, my symmetrical desire brain just wants to see it.**********Merach vs Zwift Ride on Wahoo Kickr Core with Zwift Cog V2**********1. Merach is quieter (belt-drive)a. Also smoother as the chain feels loose or tight as you pedal into sudden incline/decline changes, or go faster than that “gear”2. Watts are more accurate with Wahoo, so:a. Add at least one full turn of resistance knob per 1% increase of incline, off-load during declinesb. Eyeball incline/decline like a hawk for every changec. Or:i. Just set it and enjoy the heavy effort regardless of slope changes as Zwift will just adjust your in-game speed lower as you go up and higher as you go down while you sweat like a fully hydrated sauna userd. Data from both are ethical for in-game racing efforts & tracking improvementsi. It’s an honest data representation in Zwift from both, just a slightly different feel. Wahoo & Ride make it more like the rolling roads of outdoors for legs without extra fiddling, but Merach can give the same lower extremity & cardiopulmonary destruction by manual adjustments.e. Because Wahoo is making the resistance adjustments, it can give you credit in-game for your rolling speed, helping to push you over smaller inclines without always needing to change gears. Just a nice way to psychologically make some climbs palatable3. Merach is less expensive, not cheapera. In spite of my warranty voiding changes (or because of), I truly enjoy my fit on the Merach bike, which made it fit very similar to the highly adjustable Zwift rideb. Stiff enough to transfer power, but not so rigid as to really need rocker platesi. Zwift Ride really does need a wobbler of some type, like a rocker plate. I’m using the tennis balls under the Wahoo which lets the front of the “bike” wobble a bit along with trainer and makes it more comfortable, again, still safely stable.c. However they are calculating power (watts), seems to be within 10% of Wahoo. Which is great because Wahoo is both adjusting my resistance automatically and giving power instantaneously, so it’s lower when I pedal slower and/or downhill, but top efforts are within a reasonable range.i. If you’re an elite rider, you probably want the greater accuracy of a fancier power meter. For the other 98% of the world, Merach’s calculation adjusts watts higher for increases in resistance, and a bit higher for increases in cadence. So it’s using real information to give a watt value, it’s just not the same as Wahoo.ii. Making Wahoo & Merach closer in watts, increase the resistance knob by at least one full turn for each 1% change in incline. Continuously. Or, again, just aim for close enough. Probably Merach’s ability to mirror in-game climbs will end around 8-10% inclines.d. Reasonable power (watt) calculation using resistance & cadence. Power meters often cost more than this bike and also vary in accuracy for power transferred, so having that be arithmetically added is an amazing feature and easily accounted for by being proactive on the resistance knobe. In-game speed changes are more abrupt, as the Merach is a steadier watt calculation (again, unless you are going full match on the resistance knob), so you “slow” uphill faster, and can be a hair slower downhill as your cadence has probably not increased and there are no gears to help you maximize your downhill.i. Advantage of this is the smoother cardiopulmonary training as you can continuously mash your legs and lungs even when the game thinks you should be gliding alongii. The braking in-game is slower using Merach, so you eke out a few more feet/meters as you finally give in to the need to offload all the water. Your avatar stops the same way regardless of access.iii. I’ve still hit up to 50 mph in-game going back down a climb, but higher speeds probably harder to do with Merach. If you’re like me and want to collect all the pretty shapes, ramp up the resistance going downhill and pedal like your rear is on fire. I’m usually sucking air at that point so even the “coasting” is a challenge.iv. A bit easier to recover on Merach bike as the smoother resistances haven’t gobbled up my physical energy and mental will, so I can go longer on Merach (for now)Summary:I love both. My effort is different between the bikes in Zwift because of the manual resistance vs automatic, but you can stare bug-eyed and turn the manual to match each change. I’ll be tugging the Merach off to work to ride at my desk since it’s quiet, small, and (as I see by comparison with the known quality of Wahoo power data) the Merach is even more impressive at its price for an ethical, in-game racing spin bike.

I’ve been using the MERACH stationary bike for a few weeks and I’m really impressed! It was easy to assemble, and the overall build feels solid and sturdy — no wobbling, even during intense rides.The brake pad resistance system works really well, and it’s easy to adjust the intensity to match my workout. The ride is smooth and quiet, which is perfect for using while watching TV or working out early in the morning.The LCD monitor tracks all the basics like time, speed, distance, and calories. The seat and handlebars are adjustable, which makes it comfortable for both me and my partner to use.If you’re looking for an affordable and reliable indoor bike that delivers a great cardio workout, this one is a fantastic option. I’m very happy with the purchase!

Overall, quite satisfied with the bike. It was easy but a bit involved to assemble. All tools, bolts, washers etc. were included along with great pictures showing the assembling process.I've ridden it several times, around 40 miles or so. It is very quiet as most have stated. However, mine has a slight rubbing sound that comes and goes. It seems dependent on what resistance level is set.Pros:*foldability*position of the resistance bands. They work well and retract very nicely to the frame of the bike when not in use*resistance knob is very well positioned; very easy to get to beneath the retracted resistance bands*very stable. I'm 255 lbs. it remains stationary throughout my pedaling at various resistance levels.*bluetooth works very well with appCons: (note of these are not deal breakers, just 'be nice' category)*acceptable height. I'm just under 6'1" and find I can't get the seat up high enough to get better extension of my legs. It is acceptable and works fine, just not the extension I would like as I get on my ebike.*display is not backlite and the numbers are not illuminated. it would be nice if either one of these were present, the numbers are well displayed though*although foldable, I dislike having to screw in and unscrew the knob to fold and unfold the bike. I've had other stationary bikes where you simply pull out the knob adjust as desired and let the knob slip back into place, it being spring loaded. This bike's method is ok once you get used to it; just be nice to simply pull the knob out and let it slide back in once the adjustment is as desired.*wheels for moving around - it has them, however, you really have to lower the bike quite a bit for them to roll smoothly thus making it harder to move into compact areas when the bike is upright.*no battery backup - although I haven't confirmed this yet being I just installed the batteries, based on what the manual says, the odometer will reset with a replacement of the 2 batteries to activate the display. A previous stationary bike I had contained a small (CR2032 if I remember correctly) that retained the odometer setting. Thus, every time you replace the batteries, the odometer will revert back to a '0' reading.Merach app - It installed easily on my android tablet. With bluetooth active on the tablet, the app connected to the bike with no issues. On subsequent uses, it connected with no issues or need to try and reconnect. In the 'free training' mode, all display items worked great except resistance. I contacted Merach. Since the bike sets the resistance manually, this value will not be displayed. If you have one of the bikes where resistance is automatically set, then this value will be displayed. The one value I would have liked displayed in the 'free training' mode is speed which is missing. Not a big deal, just be nice. If you connect the bike to the app, then the physical display will be bypassed. If the app is not used, then the physical display will work normally.I only tried the online riding courses once. It worked fine. Showed nice display of path in the country. It was fun to use.I would recommend this bike with no reservations. I only gave it a 4 star rating because of the cons above which again are not deal breakers, just things that I didn't like.