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British electric bike specialist MiRider has up until now been known for its ultra-compact folding ebike, the One.
For this sophomore release, it has kept the One's compact design and storage without making the 24 GB3 a folding bike. It has also upped the wheel size to a commuter-friendly 24-inch diameter.
The MiRider 24 GB3 is a clever, highly practical, low-maintenance and fun ride with compact storage that will be a boon for anyone short on space.
MiRider 24 GB3 frame details
The 24’s frame is well finished, with tidy welds connecting the hydroformed aluminium tubes.
The low-slung design gives an easy step-through shape, making it easy to get on and off – and easy to plant your feet flat on the ground when you've stopped.
This is handy when riding in traffic, especially if the bike’s loaded up with cargo.
The frame has fixings for sturdy front and rear racks (available separately), as well as mudguards (which are included). There's even provision for a bottle cage on the seat tube. The matching alloy fork has mudguard mounts.
The oversized down tube houses a removable 36v 10.5Ah/378Wh battery, which locks into place and can be charged on or off the bike.
The shape of the bike provides an upright ride position that’s both comfortable and gives a commanding view of the road. It’s just the riding posture you want to enable you to ride safely through traffic.
The wheelbase and 24-inch wheels give the 24 GB3 a stable feel that’s easy to manoeuvre at low speeds and feels safe when you're going quicker too.
While the 24 GB3 doesn’t fold, it compacts down to save space. The handlebar has a quick-release lever that enables you to fold the bar down, the seatpost has a similar quick-release action and MiRider has cleverly fitted folding pedals.
That means you can pack the bike down to just 33cm wide and 86cm high, while the length is 176cm.
MiRider tells us it looked specifically at the available storage spaces within the most popular motorhomes when designing the compact storage of the 24.
It’s a smart solution and I’ve found the quick-compacting design saves plenty of garage space. Stowed in a hallway, the narrow 33cm width means it doesn’t get in the way.
The 24 GB3 comes in only one size, but that fits riders between 152cm (5ft) and 193cm (6ft 4in) tall, with a maximum rider weight of 120kg.
The quick saddle-height adjustment made it easy for me to share the bike with my 5ft-tall partner (I’m 6ft 2in).
MiRider 24 GB3 build
The 24 GB3 is well-appointed with everything you need as standard. There are alloy mudguards, front and rear lights, a full-colour dashboard screen, a bar-mounted controller and even a thumb-operated throttle.
The throttle is there to give you a boost from a standing start. This adds power assistance from a standing start to 4.5mph without pedalling and continues with a turbo-like boost up to the legal limit of 15.5mph / 25.5kph in the UK.
The large screen is easy to read and has current speed, distance travelled and travel time, along with an odometer and total time ridden.
You can also see the current power mode, with current wattage draw, along with the battery level and voltage being consumed.
A prod of the power button switches the screen to show average speed in place of current speed.
The remote control has the power on/off button and up/down buttons to switch through the five modes.
The high-rise bar is capped with well-shaped ergonomic lock-on grips, as well as the LED front headlight mounted centrally underneath the dashboard.
The drivetrain combines a clean and low-maintenance Gates belt drive with the hub-motor equipped rear wheel, and the crankset is similarly low-maintenance with the sealed crankset centre housing a three-speed planetary gearbox.
MiRider originally used the G3ARED crankset on the ONE GB3 and says it was so impressed with the technology that it bought the Czech-based company and now uses it across its range.
The pedals are quick-folding units from Wellgo, which have a platform with moulded-in pins that grip the soles of your shoes without damaging them.
The alloy wheels are wrapped with high-volume 24x2.125in tyres that feature puncture protection and are inflated with tubes with sealing fluid inside.
The seatpost has a large lever that operates the telescoping height adjustment. The post is topped with the plush gel-filled comfortable Selle Royal Lookin saddle.
Finishing things off is a sturdy chainstay-mounted kickstand.
My test bike arrived as it would to a buyer and I found it simple to assemble, with minimal tool use. The packaging is plastic-free, which makes it easy to recycle.
MiRider 24 GB3 ride impressions
The 24 GB3 is smooth-rolling and easy-handling – just as you'd want from an urban workhorse and leisure-riding electric bike.
MiRider has got the contact points right; the wide-plush saddle is comfortable for rides of over 10 miles without the need for padded shorts. The ergonomically shaped grips offer similar comfort for your hands.
The high-volume tyres keep it rolling smoothly even when you drift away from the tarmac onto towpaths or light woodland trails – I can see the 24 GB3 being a great companion for campers and holiday use.
The bike handles with assured stability, and even when you get a bit more energetic on a downhill road, it feels smooth and composed.
The Clarks hydraulic disc brakes bring bags of safe stopping power with plenty of feel at the levers, so you won’t brake too hard too quickly and skid.
However, when you get a bit of heat into them or get them damp, they can become noisy, with the front disc rotor emanating a screech or two under harder braking.
The motor has five settings, ranging from the lightest of assistance in level 1 up to a proper turbo boost in level 5.
MiRider claims the 378Wh battery is good for up to 100km, or 65 miles, if you stay at power level 1 and at an ‘average’ pace (although it’s unclear what that would be in the real world).
I found level 1 was ample for rolling along on flat roads and used level 2 mostly for the more rolling terrain of my local roads.
I also found I used level 2 when venturing off tarmac onto surfaces that disrupted my pedalling a little.
Levels 3 and 4 are ample for most hills, prolonged climbs included. I only resorted to level 5 on one climb, where the gradient steepened to over 20 per cent and I needed a bit of extra punch to get over the top.
MiRider says the motor is good for up to a 25-degree climb angle. I think it would get up steeper slopes than that, but it would reduce the range significantly.
Recharge time is swift too – with the included 42v, 3.0A UK charger, it took only 2 hours and 50 minutes to charge fully from empty.
Range-wise, the 24 GB3 didn’t let me down, achieving an ample 28.06 miles / 45.06km with 1,385ft / 422m of ascent. However, the large dashboard screen has a few quirks when it comes to battery-level indication.
Occasionally, when you are working the motor harder (such as when you're on a prolonged climb), the battery icon can drop down one of its four segments for a moment, producing a bit of range anxiety.
Once you’ve crested the hill, however, and are spinning the pedals largely under your own steam, the remaining battery level will rise again.
Also, when you’re on the verge of running the battery down to zero, it can show the battery indicator as empty, yet you still have enough energy for plenty more miles.
I timed the MiRider 24 at 14 minutes of riding with the battery showing empty yet still providing assistance, until the system shut off and the screen went dark. It still retained enough energy to keep the lights working though.
MiRider 24 GB3 bottom line
The MiRider 24 GB3 is a charmer – it looks great, and the ride is smooth, comfortable and stable – yet still fun.
The power is ample, as is the range, although there are a few quirks with the battery monitoring. Overall, it’s a worthy rival to some of the best cargo bikes, such as Tern’s Quick Haul P9, the Cube Longtail 725 and Cannondale’s Cargowagen Neo 1.
It won’t take up as much space at home as those rivals, either.
The 24 GB3 is, without doubt, an excellent bike; the compact design and the way it compacts for storage, along with the low-maintenance drivetrain, make it very practical.
It's a comfortable and fun bike to ride, while MiRider offers plenty of optional extras. If it can sort out the niggles with the display data, especially the battery-level monitoring, it will have one of the best compact cargo options available.
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