I'm in Canada, and my understanding was that Canada and the US were served by a common distributor. I could be wrong, though.
Anyway, I just purchased a red 2020 55cm Medeo T9 low-step. I test-rode a grey high-step Medeo back-to-back against a 2019 NL before deciding what to buy. We went on a fairly extended ride, covering a variety of surfaces, grades and conditions.
There were hydraulic rim brakes, internal hub gears and a Performance Line drive system on the NL. Hydraulic disks and an Acera Derailleur on both my Medeo and the demo model.
All three bikes appeared to have walk assist, with a Purion on the Medeos, and an Intuvia on the NL. However, I didn't test the feature, as it's not something that interests me.
In the interest of science, I just went out to the garage for a brief test session.
I wouldn't call it intuitive to use:
- Press and hold the Walk button.
- Walk + shows on the display, but nothing happens.
- Press and hold the Plus button while simultaneously holding down the Walk button, and the bike moves forward after a brief delay.
- I wasn't able to figure out how to toggle the feature on, for a one-button Walk function. I had to keep both buttons pressed at all times to make it work.
I'm left-handed, and found that it felt felt awkward, regardless of which side of the bike I was on. If I was in a situation where I really needed Walk Assist, I'm not sure that I could safely hold down both buttons while trying to balance a heavy load or keep my footing in rough going.
I guess I'm going to have to dig into the manual.
The new Medeo is a terrific bike, BTW. I didn't feel a big difference between the disc and rim brakes, but the new frame for 2020 has a wider spread between the top and down tubes. It definitely felt more rigid and stable than the NL when riding aggressively.
I'm also impressed with the range- I started with 98km showing in Eco mode on a full charge, and after 40km, it's still showing over 80km, suggesting that I could be getting at least 120km out of a charge. I'm 6' 2", impatient, and nearly 240lb, so I was expecting to get less than the advertised range, not more.
This was with a number of hills and bridges, as well as liberal use of the Sport and Tour modes at times, just for fun on hills and at traffic lights...