Niner RLT E9 RDO Gravel E-Bike

You can't really knock the value here, looks like a genuine reduction considering its carbon fibre frame and powerful Bosch motor. Looks fantastic too I think. Just remember it's very proprietary and all that motor power goes through the drivetrain with your own power and repairs on the motor will be expensive and the battery will be very expensive to replace and the bike is pretty much written off if the carbon fibre frame is damaged it won't be economic to replace likely costing more than the ebike originally cost here. Originally sold at £6k so a £1000 motor change or motor repairs or servicing in the hundreds may not seem so bad at the original selling price. Also chain snaps may be an issue and you will need to keep on top of drivetrain maintenance for sure.

I'd say a good option for someone who does low miles, perhaps is lighter rather than heavier. Someone who relies on bike shops to do their maintenance rather than does it themselves. It's difficult for end users to get many Bosch spares as they only supply to dealers and often need special equipment. Also while I say good for someone who does low miles the battery pack will self-brick if left uncharged for too long. So if a summer only cyclist you will need to at least one charge through the winter months to ensure the battery pack doesn't die. Despite the claims in the marketing I don't consider Bosch motors that reliable, I do think they are better than Brose but not as good as Shimano or Yamaha and if you go with a Bafang motor which probably has similar reliability to Bosch you can at least get spares to do your own repairs and servicing. Bosch low power motors like the 60Nm or less models are typically more reliable than the high power models designed for e-mountain bikes and this looks to have more of a high power motor. It's always a bit of a gamble with a highly proprietary motor.

Also if you buy from Merlin who will do the warranty work on the motor and while the motor is guaranteed for 2 years it is also only guaranteed for 500 charge cycles so pretty much once the original battery pack is end of life the motor has no warranty even if you use 500 charges in 12 months with daily use. I mention that as someone was refused warranty work from the original dealer it was bought from after something like 18 months as it had gone past the 500 charges, the customer assumed he had 6 months left and the bill was something like $1600 for motor replacement and some other parts. There is also no good will as customers who have had major motor faults just days after their warranty ends in fact their warranty was still valid at the time of the fault but they didn't get it to a dealer fast enough were refused.

Ultimately I feel a hub motor is a better option for a gravel bike and road bike, simpler, cheaper, more reliable and less likely to involve a bike going to landfill. They extend drivetrain life rather than massively accelerate wear rates.

Still think this is a good option for the right person but so many financial and environmental pitfalls with proprietary mid-drive motors.