anyone got/tried giant prime hybrid ebike?

[footpump]

hi all week got chatting to chap and was admiring his giant prime hybrid, a very nice looking ebike,certainly not as agricultural looking as some of giant step throughs ive seen.
the prime has 7 speed nexus hub,yamaha bb moter, crank drive I assume, no throttle and 3 modes eco,and 2 others.
no odo fitted so chap was not sure about the range, he mentioned that he had no trouble going up one of the local hills, (which rises for about 4 miles,and I certainly could not get up the same one )
the prime looks fairly light .
on getting home I looked up specs for giant prime hybrid, but no weight is given for medium or large ebike.

the battery is a energypak 300watt 36v 8.8ah which brings me to my query how does this battery differ in range/power to my bog standard 10.4ah bottle battery.

I have absolutely no idea how many watts or spec of battery I have (vita uno ebike) is there a way to tell

prime hybrid is &1900

thanks all

 

[RobF]

Looks good.

Neatly put together, some internal cable routing and the enclosed chain should reduce wear to almost nil.

I've no experience of the Yamaha crank drive, but I'm sure it will do the job.

The battery is what it is - small - so you will do well to get 30 miles out of it.

Fine if you never intend to cycle more than 20 miles at a go, but a lot of find we enjoy the ebike experience and want to go further.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2014.giant.prime.e/14983/66566/#specifications

 

[footpump]

thanks robf, the chap mentioned there was an option for a larger 400watt battery, but he found the prime easy to peddle without assistance, and mainly used eco mode.

some of the more exotic ebikes that have eco seem to have quite a long range, but do they have somewhat larger capacity batteries?

the giant dealer he purchased the prime from is only about 1o miles from me might take a ride for a closer peruse.

 

[footpump]

went to giant dealer the prime medium frame size weighs22.5 kilos, range is 57 km in sport mode.
there are a few very steep hills which they use on demo runs and the prime apparently has no trouble climbing them.

I did not demo bike as I could not afford one

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You need to test down the hill, which is where you might get the disadvantages of a direct drive motor.

 

[Carbontracking]

You need to test down the hill, which is where you might get the disadvantages of a direct drive motor.

I bought one of these bikes two months ago. I use it for my daily 10km commute and I reckon the range is about 40km, 25 miles.
The sport mode will get you trotting along at 25km/h easily without breaking a sweat, that's the mode I'm getting the 40km range with.
It does exactly what I need but I will say that cycling without the motor on (I've 25 years of normal bike commuting on the clock) is like cycling with brakes slightly pulled, there's a definite resistance that you mightn't mind if you crawl along but I definitely consider it noticeable and a pain, I.e. Forget any plans on doing any cycling trips beyond the electric range. I've brought this up with the boys in the shop and they're like all surprised and saying they hardly notice it but I think this should be up front when selling this bike.

If anyone can give an explanation for why a mid mounted motor gives so much resistance I'd love to hear it, or to know if wheel mounted motors have the same problem/feature.

 

[Geebee]

I bought one of these bikes two months ago. I use it for my daily 10km commute and I reckon the range is about 40km, 25 miles.
The sport mode will get you trotting along at 25km/h easily without breaking a sweat, that's the mode I'm getting the 40km range with.
It does exactly what I need but I will say that cycling without the motor on (I've 25 years of normal bike commuting on the clock) is like cycling with brakes slightly pulled, there's a definite resistance that you mightn't mind if you crawl along but I definitely consider it noticeable and a pain, I.e. Forget any plans on doing any cycling trips beyond the electric range. I've brought this up with the boys in the shop and they're like all surprised and saying they hardly notice it but I think this should be up front when selling this bike.

If anyone can give an explanation for why a mid mounted motor gives so much resistance I'd love to hear it, or to know if wheel mounted motors have the same problem/feature.

I have a crank drive Tonaro and the there is no resistance to pedalling without power and would expect all mid drive to be the same as it is one of their big advantages.
Hopefully someone that owns a Yamaha drive will come a long as it seems very unlikely that there should be any noticable drag at all.

A direct drive hub will have some resistance, it varies with model/brand, a geared hub in most cases has a freewheel so very little resistance basically not noticable.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

My original comments were aimed at the Giants with the large direct drive motor.

Some crank-drive motors do indeed require a bit more pedal effort when the motor is switched off. It's very difficult to check this characteristic when riding the bike. You have to lift the wheel off the ground and turn the pedals by hand. They free-wheel OK because the free-wheel is between the wheel and the chain

 

[Croxden]

The new Bosch motor has a drag effect due to the gearing in the crank causing the chain ring turning 2.5 times faster than the pedal action.
Something to be wary of should you be thinking of none powered travel in your normal cycling routine.

 

[footpump]

hi all
last week had an interesting chat with a local giant ebike dealer (www.zipbikes.co.uk) based in hemel hempsted Hertfordshire, I mentioned I had chatted to someone who had bought a prime hybrid.

if I have this correct the prime gives more assistance the harder you peddle??? this company also has trips where you can try a giant ebike at a cost though.

also allan of zip bikes was trying to set up various locations where people can recharge there bikes (if you have your charger with you)

I will have the opportunity in the near future to try the prime myself

 

[Carbontracking]

hi all
last week had an interesting chat with a local giant ebike dealer (www.zipbikes.co.uk) based in hemel hempsted Hertfordshire, I mentioned I had chatted to someone who had bought a prime hybrid.

if I have this correct the prime gives more assistance the harder you peddle??? this company also has trips where you can try a giant ebike at a cost though.

also allan of zip bikes was trying to set up various locations where people can recharge there bikes (if you have your charger with you)

I will have the opportunity in the near future to try the prime myself

Yes, the prime matches your effort, I think that is common to most pedelecs, isn't it ? On the prime you can really feel the difference between the different modes, sport, normal and Eco.

 

[Carbontracking]

My original comments were aimed at the Giants with the large direct drive motor.

Some crank-drive motors do indeed require a bit more pedal effort when the motor is switched off. It's very difficult to check this characteristic when riding the bike. You have to lift the wheel off the ground and turn the pedals by hand. They free-wheel OK because the free-wheel is between the wheel and the chain

I'll say that it's not difficult to check the resistance on my prime. If you're used to normal cycling then the extra effort required with power off is immediately noticeable. Even more so as you go to the lower gears, I.e. Where you need to pedal more. This would make sense to me as you're doing more pedal revolutions and each revolution offers the same resistance.

 

[Carbontracking]

Another thing I've noticed about the prime e+ is that you can feel the same resistance if you push the bike backwards. The pedals are then turned by the reversing rear wheel and you can really feel the resistance.

Now what I need to find out if there is some kind of maintenance that would minimise this resistance.

 

[Carbontracking]

The new Bosch motor has a drag effect due to the gearing in the crank causing the chain ring turning 2.5 times faster than the pedal action.
Something to be wary of should you be thinking of none powered travel in your normal cycling routine.

Do you have any more information on this ? This might also be the "problem" with my Yamaha motor.

 

[Carbontracking]

Just for reference, I think the motor on the prime e+ is this one. http://global.yamaha-motor.com/news/2013/0827/pas.html
Giant call it syncdrive

 

[Will Tinker]

Hi everyone,

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but as there isn't a great deal of information on in the internet regarding the Giant Prime (I have the 2014 Giant Prime E+), I thought I'd add my experience having owned one for 4 months.

I have mixed feelings over my purchase. The bicycle is extremely heavy, with the battery at the rear, meaning there is a great deal of weight bias towards the back of the bicycle. This isn't a problem on good, flat surfaces and the ride is fairly comfortable. The problems associated with the weight bias become more apparent when riding over slightly bumpier surfaces.

The forces generated as the rear travels over even minor bumps and kerbs causes the bike to rattle quite loudly. The rattle doesn't come from a single location - seems to be battery, (integrated) bike stand, motor area.

This weight has already caused a puncture in the rear wheel after just a couple of hundred miles. I have recently purchased the next model up of Schwalde tyre (Marathon Plus) - also a slightly wider one at 38C, to try and combat the rear stresses.

Design also has some quite major flaws. The main one I have found is with the rear mudguard. It is very flimsy plastic (presumably not to further add to the weight) and flaps about a fair bit when riding. The cabling for the tail light runs THROUGH the rear mudguard, meaning as the mudguard moves it can pull on the cabling. On one instance, this cabling has come away from the tail light completely. I had to get this repaired by the store I purchased it from.

Range is very good. I can travel approximately 27 miles without the battery expiring - most of this is with assistance on the highest setting. The level of assist seems just right - you have to put some effort in at all times, but not too much. The assistance cuts off completely at spot-on 15pmh. I had been hoping to get an extra 1mph or so, but the law is the law...

The motor is fairly quiet, and cuts in/out pretty smoothly. No problem there.

So there we have it. I'd be much happier with the bicycle were it not for my immediate concerns about the rearward weight bias and some poor design choices. I'm a little worried it could become quite expensive to maintain when the 1 year warranty runs out. I guess time will tell.

Edit: Just to confirm what the earlier poster said re: resistance. The same resistance is there on mine, too. It's coming directly from the motor. Doesn't cause any issues with assistance on, however.

 

[Will Tinker]

Just a small update.

I'm 1 week into my new 16 mile-a-day commute to the new office, and the Giant Prime has developed a major fault.

The middle battery light flashes, and the motor seems to cut in/out randomly, making it difficult to cycle. Checked the manual, and the error suggests overheating. However, it happens almnost immediately and the motor isn't even warm.

There's also a very large amonut of rattling from the bicycle, and the motor sounds like a bag of nails at low speed.

Am now in the process of trying to arrange a return with JE James. Hopefully this will be straightforward.

I'm not sure whether I've just been unlucky, but on the basis of my experience I'd recommend steering clear of the Giant Prime.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

It'll be the controller that's overheating because it's losing sync with the motor, which causes it to draw a huge current. The rattling sounds like a mechanical problem, but is actually electrical. It could be just a loose connector.

 

[Will Tinker]

Thanks for the reply. I've called the retailer, who want to have it sent for a warranty inspection. But they want me to box the bike myself... which is surely impossible as I'd need to find a box about the size of a house? Doesn't seem fair.

Have called Giant directly but they seem completely uninterested.

Presumably the controller isn't something I can fix? Is that within the motor housing itself?

 

[Will Tinker]

Further update (in case anyone experiences something similar).

I've called Giant UK's central number - 0844 245 9030. After a long wait I spoke to John, who seems pretty helpful. Discussed the exact issue, and the problem with getting hold of a suitable box for collection. He's offered to send one to the Giant store in Bristol, who will then have to hold the bike to be collected by JE James (who themselves say they're posting it to Giant(!)).

All a bit of a mess.

Re: the rattling - John at Giant UK claims the Prime is a very smooth bike and shouldn't have any rattle. I wonder whether I received an already faulty item in the post.