Buying second hand

IzzyB

Pedelecer
Jan 1, 2007
52
0
I will hopefully be buying a 2nd hand Giant Lafree Twist Lite (ladies) very shortly. It is apparently in very good condition from photos, but can anyone give me any tips about anything I should look out for. Probably won't have that much time to make a decision, just a quickish test ride.

Many thanks,
Isobel
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,128
30,555
Have a look at the rim sides where the brake pads rub Isobel, to see if there's lots of wear and/or scoring. When new, there's a fine groove in the centre which is a wear indictor, and that should be the only deep score mark.

If you don't mind crawling around, peer up inside the rear of the housing on the chain side, ignore the small jockey wheel that tensions the chain, but look at the small motor sprocket just beyond it to see if the teeth have any "hooking", indicating lots of wear. You can lay the bike on it's side to see that.

Ask the owner to remove the battery as there's a yellow label on it which you can look at. It has date circles in it, and the original selling dealer should remove the one when he sold it, thus telling you the true age, of the battery at least. If it's not there, or the circle wasn't removed, ask to see the original receipt.

Otherwise, just look at the general condition and whether the chain is lubricated to see how well it's been looked after. The finish on these bikes is excellent and mine looks nearly new after nearly four years of hard use, so that one should look the same if it hasn't been abused.
 
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nigel

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 18, 2006
467
0
nigel

Well done
isobel you bought the best bike out their i had mine a few weeks now and once you get used to it you will love it its so simple and easy to ride and 1 flick of the switch and your away wellcome to the giant bikes.nigel.southampton.
 

IzzyB

Pedelecer
Jan 1, 2007
52
0
Thanks Flecc & Nigel, I'll bear your tips in mind, form the photos it looks to be in excellent condition. And if I do buy (which I think is very likely), Nigel, maybe we can compare notes. I wonder how often you need to replace the battery of a Twist, and whether getting it wet, e.g. from cycling/parking when it's raining, can harm the battery.

Isobel
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,128
30,555
I have two batteries at nearly four years old Isobel. One I've re-celled so it's like new, the other is original and still working fine but with greatly reduced range, it's about halved.

Rain isn't a problem for those batteries, I've regularly ridden in rain and had no problem with either bike or batteries. There was just one report of a Twist getting water in the handlebar switch which had to be dried out, but if you're going to be riding in heavy rain and are concerned about that, a small loose polythene bag over it would do the trick and still let you operate it.

You may find my Lafree Twist site useful, this is the link
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Erik

Pedelecer
Feb 20, 2008
198
3
I am just waiting for my Agattu, but kill the time at German Ebay looking for the Yamaha and Panasonic motored bikes.

On all the E-bikes for sale, they write "hardly used". Is this because they are unpleasant to use, or were they bought by people to unfit to get any joy out of them?
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,128
30,555
I am just waiting for my Agattu, but kill the time at German Ebay looking for the Yamaha and Panasonic motored bikes.

On all the E-bikes for sale, they write "hardly used". Is this because they are unpleasant to use, or were they bought by people to unfit to get any joy out of them?
The finish was excellent on these bikes Erik, and as a result they can look quite new when years old. This tempts owners to describe them dishonestly, and I've helped at times to uncover that. I've also made one person take down a dishonest decription of a Lafree bike on ebay.

Almost invariably they seem to be described as "hardly used", "owner deceased", "owner since incapacitated" or some such nonsense.

In fact they are excellent to ride, especially the Lafree Twist series, which was for years widely regarded as the best e-bike ever made. However, they were widely bought by the elderly who do tend to have low mileages, so that aspect can be genuine at times. Motor sprocket wear is a tell-tale though.
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fishingpaul

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 24, 2007
871
86
look for signs of wear as previously said and also try to establish the present state of the battery,the battery wearing out can be another reason for sale(the battery would need to have been kept charged and discharged even while not being used) replacement is around £300,having said that people do buy bikes and then hardly ever use them.
 

fishingpaul

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 24, 2007
871
86
Do you already have a lafree izzy,i noticed on a previous post you thought a quando may suit you bettter.