Review: The Merach S26 Is an Impressive Exercise Bike for Its Price

Not everyone can afford a Peloton, but you might not need to if you don’t care about the fancy bells and whistles. If what you’re looking for is a no-nonsense bike workout at home while still being able to afford rent, there are plenty of more affordable alternatives. The quality varies depending on what you’re looking to spend. Most “budget bikes” from recognizable brands will still go for over $500 and come with a tablet and require a paid subscription, like Echelon’s EX5s Connect Bike, which is under $800 at the time of this writing. Once you go under $500, you’ll start seeing less recognizable brands and enter into the beware territory, but you can still find good value here if you know where to look. I’ve been using Merach gym equipment for over a year, mainly rowers and the Merach S26 exercise bike, which is $250 at full price. I’ve found this bike to be an impressive exercise bike for the money, which you can find on sale for as low as $170 (but more often closer to $200). I started using it at home for a couple of months after an ACL surgery for my rehab, and it helped me build muscle back.

Merach provided me with this bike for an honest review. It’s not perfect, but I’ve found it to be much better than I expected, especially after reviewing one of Merach’s budget rowing machines, which left much to be desired.

Easy to set up, quiet, and stable

Wheel works with friction as resistance.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

It took me about 20 minutes to set up the Merach S26. It was easy to do thanks to a straightforward assembly tutorial video. Once set up, 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 will not disturb someone in the same room—say, my fiancée, whose work-from-home setup is right next to the bike.

Four corners for stability and two front wheels for easy maneuvering.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

I was also 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 that the bike would tip over. The bike also has two wheels at the front that make it easy to move around the house. Unfortunately, there’s no way to prop it up to stow away. Once set up, it took up 40 inches of length, 22 inches of width, and 45 inches in height.

Seat can slide forward.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

I found the seat to be comfortable initially, but it would start hurting me after the 20-minute mark. My fiancée, on the other hand, found it uncomfortable in less than 10 minutes. This likely has to do with the padding, so be aware if you’re planning any extended workout sessions.

Pedals will need shoes to use them.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

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.

Seat and handlebar post are adjustable.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

The LCD screen and resistance settings are not my favorite

Resistance knob is tricky.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

Merach says this bike has 100 resistance levels, but there is no real way of knowing that. 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 only carefully move the resistance up and down within the same 20 degrees the whole time.

A small amount of wool wasted away in about two months.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

Merach has two types of exercise bikes: the friction-based version that I have (the MR-S26B1) and a magnetic one (the MR-S26B2). Merach says this version uses a wool felt for friction to create its resistance. In the two months when I first started using it for my ACL rehab, I managed to burn through a small bundle of wool (see the picture above). I estimate it’s about 5% of the material. I 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. Here is the response:

This is the wool felt on the front wheel of the spinning bike. This wool felt is the key to adjusting the resistance. When adjusting the resistance, the wool felt and the wheel produce friction and then change the resistance of the bike. With this wool felt, it will not be worn when adjusting the resistance. Maybe because of the long use time, some of the wool felt has fallen off, but this will not cause a serious impact.

The more expensive magnetic version won’t have this issue. However, after a year of using this bike regularly to keep up with my rehab, I have not noticed the same wear on the wool as I did in the first couple of months. It’s proven to be resilient through long-term use.

LCD screen and two cup holders.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

I appreciate that Merach did not force a budget tablet screen that would end up taking space here, but instead included a stand so that I could place my own phone or tablet there instead. And since the Merach app is free, it makes sense to just use your own device. 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).

Index card on stand for reference.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

But despite the lack of a tablet, you do get a small, cicular LCD screen that 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 even when I’m not using the bike. (I disconnected the sensor cable from the LCD screen and that seemed to do the trick, so at least there’s a fix.)

The Merach app enhances the experience

Some options the Merach app offers.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

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 easy to connect the bike to the app and prop a phone in the stand. The app logs your workout data and shows your 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.

Merach app offers free pre-recorded classes.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

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.

You can take challanges and compete with other users.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza

How the Merach S26 performs

I’ve been using this bike consistently for over a year, trying to build the muscle I lost on my leg after tearing my ACL. While I can’t attribute all of the muscle I gained to this bike, I can say that it has helped get my leg muscle back to how it looked before my injury. Like I explained, the resistance knob is tricky, and moving it an inch can increase the resistance dramatically. However, the way I used it, I didn’t need to mess with the resistance. I set it to a point where it felt challenging, and biked as much as I could for a set amount of time. I could still tweak the resistance if I felt like it every once in a while without issues. I learned to manage the resistance pretty quickly. The bike feels fluid while on it, and even with a recovering ACL, I felt safe going as hard as I could on it.

Finishing thoughts

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

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 at least $200, and even down to $170 if you shop on a major Amazon shopping event, 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. Other budget bikes come with similar quirks on the resistance knob and LCD screen, like the Yosuda YB001, but they don’t drop in price as much as the S26 and don’t have their own subscription-free companion app. Merach did release a newer version, the Merach S36, on January 2025, which can hold riders up to 330 pounds, has a dumbell rack on the back, has magnetic resistance instead of the wool material, and has a bigger LCD screen. It starts at $360, but you can usually find it on sale for around $270. A good option for those who don’t mind spending a bit more for those extra features, but the S26 is definitely still relevant.

Specs:

• Display: LCD rotary display (needs two AA batteries)

• Pedal resistance: Friction (“100” levels)

• Weight of bike: 61.7 lb

• Rider height range: One frame accommodates 4’8″ to 6’2″

• Maximum rider weight: 270 lbs

• Size of bike: ‎42.6 x 19.3 x 48.6 inches