Gazelle Medeo T9 City: First ride impressions
Sitting between the cranks is a Bosch Active Line motor that produces 40Nm of torque and mounted to a rear rack is a PowerPack 400 battery, a solid motor and battery combination with industry leading reliability. That battery is removable and it’s nested in a rack rated for 60 lbs of additional cargo.
The Active Line motor certainly isn’t Bosch’s most powerful setup, but it had little issue handling the rolling hills around the Sea Otter venue. I did find myself kicking the bike into sport mode on some of the steeper sections (there’s one 16 percent hill near the entrance to the venue that stressed every single e-bike we tested), but it still crested the top without much trouble.
The T9’s rack mounted Bosch battery plus a rear end view of the bike. That rack is additionally rated for 60 lbs of cargo, according to Gazelle.
The Medeo T9 City I tested was a medium, so a little small for my 6’1” frame, but I was still able to get pretty comfortable on the bike. It’s got some slightly swept back handlebars and a mid-step frame that’s easy to get on and off of. The geometry is very casual with a nice upright body position that, even though the frame I rode was a tad small for me, felt stable and confidence inspiring in traffic (which there was a lot of around the venue).
Like most good commuters the T9 City comes stock with integrated lights, fenders and a nearly full coverage shroud over the chain and front chainring to protect pant legs from grease. At under 50 lbs, it’s also a decently light e-bike — another thing we dig about this new bike.
Capping everything off is a 9-speed Shimano drivetrain, Shimano hydraulic disc brakes and a neat Euro-looking low step frame.
A closer look at the T9’s drivetrain and the shroud that protects your pant leg from grease.
It’s certainly not the fanciest bike we saw at Sea Otter, but I personally get very excited every time a bigger name puts out a bike on the more affordable end of the spectrum. While $2,299 certainly isn’t a small sum, it is among the cheapest asking prices we’ve seen for any bike with a Bosch power plant. Price points like that make premium-tier componentry more accessible to a broader range of riders — and we really like greater accessibility.
The Medeo is expected to come available later this year and, according to Gazelle, should retail for $2,299. Keep an eye out for it in your local Gazelle dealer.
