Merida eBig Nine 400

The Merida eBig Nine 400 is built for a fairly simple ownership case: a hardtail e-MTB that takes the sting out of hills and lets you cover more ground on paths, towpaths and moderate off-road routes than an unassisted bike ever could. It's aimed at riders who want that extra push without the extra weight, cost and maintenance of full suspension, and who are happy trading some rough-trail plushness for a simpler bike that's easier to live with day to day.

Power that matches the terrain

The Shimano EP6 motor at the heart of this build is rated at 85Nm, which puts it firmly in the stronger end of hardtail e-MTB assistance rather than the lighter-touch systems fitted to more basic commuter e-bikes. Paired with a 630Wh battery, it's the kind of setup built to make repeated hills feel manageable rather than something you dread. Merida hasn't published a fixed range figure for this build, and it's worth being wary of any number quoted elsewhere as a guarantee: battery capacity describes how much energy is on board, not a promise of how far you'll get, since that depends on your weight, the terrain, the assistance level you choose and the weather. Treat 630Wh as a genuinely useful buffer for longer or hillier rides rather than a fixed mileage you can bank on.

A hardtail spec built for mixed riding

The rest of the build backs up that leisure-and-trail brief. A 100mm SR Suntour XCM34-Boost fork takes some of the harshness out of rougher surfaces without adding the weight or servicing needs of a full-suspension bike, which keeps this firmly in hardtail territory rather than trying to be something it isn't. Shimano's CUES U6000 groupset handles shifting, running a single chainring against an 11-48-tooth cassette, so you get a wide enough spread of gears to grind up a steep hill and still spin along a flatter towpath. Stopping power comes from Shimano's MT-200 two-piston hydraulic brakes with 180mm rotors front and rear, a sensible choice given the extra speed and mass an e-bike carries compared with an equivalent unassisted hardtail. Merida's own published weight for this build is around 24.08kg, though the size that figure applies to isn't specified, so treat it as a general indication of what you're lifting onto a rack or up a step rather than an exact number for your chosen frame size.

Ready for paths, not winter commuting out of the box

The frame has mounting points for mudguards and a kickstand, but neither is fitted as standard on this build, so if you're planning to use the eBig Nine 400 for a daily commute through wet weather, budget for adding compatible accessories yourself. The frame's published tyre clearance is generous enough to help with that: up to 29x2.35 inches without mudguards, or 29x2.25 inches once mudguards are fitted, which gives some room to move to a wider or more aggressive tyre later without immediately hitting a frame limit. The stock Maxxis Ikon tyres are a fast-rolling choice suited to firmer paths, gravel and moderate trails rather than deep, sticky mud, so riders doing a lot of wet-weather off-road riding may want to budget for a grippier tyre down the line.

Choosing your size

This build is offered in four sizes, S through XL, with published height bands that deliberately overlap between neighbouring sizes rather than giving each rider a single correct answer. That overlap is useful if you sit near a boundary, since either of two adjacent sizes could suit depending on your proportions and how you like a bike to feel, but it also means the height figure alone won't settle things for everyone. The tallest size, XL, tops out at 196cm in the published guidance, even though the same sizing chart references an XXL option elsewhere; Merida's current listing for this build only goes up to XL, so very tall riders should check that ceiling carefully before assuming a larger frame exists.

Matching this to the right offer

The name eBig Nine 400 has been used across more than one build over the years, so it's worth being clear about what you're actually buying rather than comparing purely on price. This EP6/CUES specification, with its Shimano CUES gearing and 11-48-tooth cassette, is a different build from an earlier eBig Nine 400 that used Shimano Deore M5120 gearing with a narrower 11-46-tooth cassette, and from a separately listed version built around Shimano's EP8 motor and a different battery. Neither of those earlier builds is the bike detailed here, so if you're comparing listings under the same model name, check the motor and drivetrain before assuming they're the same bike at a different price. With a UK RRP of around £2,750, this EP6/CUES build sits as a well-equipped, mid-range option in Merida's assisted hardtail line, though as with any RRP, it's a starting point for comparison rather than a guaranteed selling price. Get that match right, and you're looking at a dependable, well-specified hardtail that should keep extending your rides for years, whatever the weather throws at your weekend loop or daily commute.