A short test ride on the Giant twist express

http://www.kilgrewscycles.ie/graphics/urban/Twist%20EXPRESS%20RS%202.jpg

 

Yesterday in Poitiers I tried the Giant Twist and I have to say I was very impressed. The features I particuarly liked were:

 

1) lightweight (21.6 kg)

 

2) seemingly little or no drag when pedalling with motor turned off

 

3) very quiet when motor turned on.

 

4) 'felt' and according to my partner 'looked' as if I was riding a normal bike

 

On the website (2/!0 !!)

] Twist Express (2011) - Bikes | Giant Bicycles | UK / Ireland

 

it says that there is no drag with the motor off due to clutch technology, and I think that I read on the side of the motor that it is made by Sanyo., any comments about this statement / would be most appreciated. Two previous test rides a few weeks ago were on Bafang powered bikes (8 fun I think) which I found very noisy and high drag with the motor off.

 

I hope to try more brands and technologies before making a final decision. Any personal recommendations would be appreciated.

 

Oiseaux

Edited March 31, 201115 yr by Oiseaux

Although I have no idea how well the Giant climbs hills, nor do I know how far it can travel before recharging is required, I'm bound to say it's a smart looking bike.

 

Surely one or two members of the forum own this model?

 

Regards,

Indalo

 

 

ps Just done an internet search and the bike doesn't seem much different to the one from 2008/9. Not very well regarded, it seems. It did evoke some discussion in the forum and the general concensus seemed to be that for the price, there were much better bikes on the market.

Edited March 31, 201115 yr by indalo

The new 2011 model is pretty much the 2008/2009 model theyve just taken away the led display that was on the 2010 models & replaced it with a simple design like what you found on the kalkhoff's & gazelle's before they went led display's. The freewheel is simple but brilliant, bearings each side of the motor(simple's). For a thousand pound now i think is the best grand you will ever spend.

Would the batteries get in the way of panniers?

Would the batteries get in the way of panniers?

 

You can buy panniers that cover both sides & have a opening on the battery side for easy access i have them on mine. Also hides the battery which is a bonus if you park up outside shops & cant take them with you

I have the Giant Twist Freedom CS Lite 2009 model and last Friday my wife got a ladies version of the same bike but the 2010 model. These bikes are essentially the same bike as the one you have test ridden excepting, the front forks on the Twist Freedoms have suspension and a differing set of handlebars which are more adjustable making the bike a more comfortable ride at the expense however, of being slightly heavier.

I have taken my wife's Twist Freedom out for an extended ride of around 30 miles, again on hilly terrain and the bike seems to perform better than mine in terms of its 'freewheeling' ability, not drag at all and the bike feels more resonsive, but that might be because hers is a small frame size, mines medium. Her bike also features a 'Ridecontrol' computer, whereas, mine doesn't.

I'm guessing that the 2011 models are even more refined than both of our bikes, as Giant seem to move the the technology on quickly.

I have reviewed my bike in the Review section a short while ago, take a look.

I have now used it for my long 28 mile commute for a couple of months now and I am approaching 1000 miles covered, I achieved my fastest commute time last week in the sunshine- 1 hour 44 minutes!, my worst time, back in early February 2 hours 30 mins-in the driving rain and wind grrrrr! Average time, around 1 hour 50 mins.

The bike performs extremely well over the very hilly terrain I ride on, now I'm a lot fitter and lighter (lost around 8Kg in the two months) thanks to the commute, I find the battery range to be between 26-32 miles, dependent on the headwind and temperature (temperature effects the battery performance significantly).

I ride with the power assist ON most of the time using the ECO setting for around 18 miles of the journey and around 10 miles in the NORMAL setting.

In terms of hill climbing, I feel its absolutely brilliant but there again, I have not tried any other model of electric bike, I test rode mine and somehow new it was for me, comfy, quality components and after nearly 1000 miles very reliable.

I am going to update my review of the bike this weekend describing the first 1000miles.

Hope this info helps your decision making, whichever bike you buy, I'm sure you won't regret it.

Giant used to use this motor with no freewheel and regeneration on the Giant Twist 1 and 2 models. The regen didn't work well and the motor drag was awful of course. The criticism of this was so strong that they removed the regen and fitted the excellent freewheel, so it's gone from one of the worst to one of the best in that respect. The build quality is very good.

 

It's confusing that they still use the generic Twist name on them, the better ones now distinguished by second parts to their names such as Express, Sport and Freedom.

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On the website (2/!0 !!)

 

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/backoffice/_upload_us/bikes/models/brochure/2009/6-08hybridbroch.pdfa

 

.. the link doesn't work for me:

This link will be ok:

 

Giant Twist Express

 

Scroll down on the spec and laugh at the way they've dodged the question of it's weight.

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Well after reading these words of praise for the motor I am even more impressed. Does anyone know if there is a conversion kit, I would imagine possibly not because I did notice that the forks are very wide, at a guess I would say 125mm.

 

Scatty, do you have a link to panniers as this thought about batteries in the way crossed my mind.

 

Why don't all motor manufacturers have this level of quietness and freewheel (I think that means no drag) to me it was an instant major plus point.

 

Thanks for comments about hill climbing ability richatthecfroft, where I live is a bit like Suffolk but I dream about doing the 'Grand Tour' of France and that would be a big plus, so I look forward to your updated review.

 

Sorry about the link, I have replaced it with Flecc's

 

Oiseaux

How much does this bike weigh? It’s a common question, blah, prevaricate, blah.

 

In summary, embarrassingly heavy.

 

Well after reading these words of praise for the motor I am even more impressed. Does anyone know if there is a conversion kit, I would imagine possibly not because I did notice that the forks are very wide, at a guess I would say 125mm.

 

Although the performance was improved in these latest versions, I wouldn't regard it as anything other than average power.

 

There's no kit version, though oddly enough it was a kit where it was first created in the USA. Designed by the Birkestrand Corporation many years ago and sold as the Motorised Wheel, it was a regenerating motor without freewheel of course. That design was bought by Sanyo for use in Japan, and when Giant abandoned the Panasonic units, they adopted the Sanyo motor for a budget bike, the Suede model. From there they went upmarket with it and the rest is as I remarked above.

 

Sanyo are now wholly owned by Panasonic and some of the technology from their new front hub motor has possibly found it's way into the Sanyo division.

 

Ironically, Panasonic's intention is that their hub motor will regenerate, but this time by using it as an electronic front wheel brake which retains the free rolling. A large number of these are on trial in Japan.

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Having just spent 10 minutes researching the weights of various Giant bikes, it seems they're rather reluctant to declare that information.

 

I'm aware that some of their models back in 2007/8 were close on 30kgs, even heavier in the twin battery variety, I believe. It may be the case that they've managed to shave a a few kilos from the total vehicle weight over the last 3 years but I think they would be happy to advertise the weight, had they achieved that.

 

Perhaps the price is more attractive now than 3 years ago but I'd need a lot of convincing before I'd consider buying one when there's such a lot of good quality machinery out there, some indeed cheaper than the Giant.

 

Indalo

How much does this bike weigh? It’s a common question, blah, prevaricate, blah.

 

In summary, embarrassingly heavy.

 

 

Agreed. That really is an embarrassing and rather creepy way of not giving the weight.

The French shop where I tried the Giant have a website which appears to be copied in part from the Giant site and they had no problem about declaring weight at 21.6 kg.

 

TWIST Express scroll down to 'poids'

 

When I test rode the other two I could hardly lift them but this one seemed to to be quite light.

 

Because I am at the start of test riding before I buy, and open to any ideas, I would be very interested to hear from anyone what they would recommend that I try which has a low noise / drag motor. My budget maximum is £1200 ish.

Edited March 31, 201115 yr by Oiseaux

21.6Kgs would make the bike fairly lightweight as ebikes go but I suspect that is the weight before adding the battery. I could be wrong but a battery would increase the gross weight to 24Kgs or thereabouts which would seem more appropriate for that style of bike, especially given their track record of heavy bikes.

 

It's essential to test ride some other makes in order to give some objectivity to the Giant.

 

Regards,

Indalo

[QOUTE]

"Scatty, do you have a link to panniers as this thought about batteries in the way crossed my mind."

 

Giant Electric Bikes By Poweredbicycles - Giant Double Pannier 2010

 

I have the Twist Freedom CS 2009 model & I find sometimes I feel I'm held back. I want to pedal faster than the 15.5 mph where assistance cuts off & there seems to be drag. Other times its fine. I've seen 29mph freewheeling downhill. The motor makes quiet whine when assisting. The panniers only have a battery opening on right so to remove the lockable left battery you have to flip up the pannier. Mine weighs 24kg + 5 kg batteries

Mine weighs 24kg + 5 kg batteries

 

29kg thats heavy, does it impact on handling?

Not noticed any problems but I'm not riding it down a mountain. Yes its heavy lugging it up steps. Might be a problem if you lived in a flat with no lift.

The link to the panniers by Scatty is not for the semi rigid & better looking on my CS with twin batteries. See them here TWIST FREEDOM CS (2009) - Bikes | Giant Bicycles | UK / Ireland

Edited April 26, 201114 yr by TimG