Advice for Gazelle Medeo T9 city purchase and sizing

[shavikata]

This forum helped us get from a zero knowledge base, so thanks for the helpful folks here. We're 'retirement riders' eager to get from the flats to the hills in-city Seattle. Our goal is to ride up Capitol Hill and get real exercise, since one of us has severe arthritis but is otherwise healthy and needs to stay active.

We've landed on the Gazelle Medeo T9 City. The other option is the T9, which gives a slightly better ride, but we are budget-conscious and not sure it's worth the additional $400 for our needs. Would others agree or say go for the extra power?

The problem is that one of us is a Medium and the other a Large (6'1") and they're not making the T9 City in a Large anymore. How is a taller person supposed to fit the Gazelle bike?

If we can't get the Gazelle that fits one of us, what would be a compatible option in terms of price and utility? Thanks for any advice on this.

 

[TrevorB]

First priority when choosing a bike especially expensive ebike is make sure its good fit for rider. In case of couple buying bikes the two bikes could be different styles and brands. Ideally batteries are interchangeable but not at cost of compromising on bike fit or paying lot more to do it.
When comes to power more is better especially for hilly cities and touring. The 40nm Activeline is really for flatter cities with moderate hills.

 

[Todd]

I just purchased the Gazelle Medeo T9 City HMB (Olive green, Med 50). I'm 5'11" - the bike is a "perfect fit". Supply of these bikes is very limited at the 2 dealers I checked with a long wait for the next shipment. I bike for pleasure but also to stay fit...the 40 Nm torque requires a "mini-workout" on the local hills but is acceptable. The bike is perfect on the flat trails that I ride on most of the time. This is my 3rd ebike and super upgrade from my 4 year old Raleigh Sprite which has great power on hills but a "jerky" ride, always too slow or too fast for me, I stopped riding it and went back to the pedal bike for the last years. Now I will vary my rides with my new Gazelle and pedal bike which I still enjoy. The review here of the Gazelle was extremely helpful in making a final decision.