Reviewer: Joel
Purchased From: a Seattle, Washington USA dealer
Purchase Price: $1300 USD
Time Owned: 4 years
Terrain: Some minor hills
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Strengths:
The motor is exceptionally handy when taking on hills, and even allows me to pull a 60 lb. sea kayak on a 10 lb. home-made trailer up a long, steep hill after going for a river-paddle. Love the battery's boost. Have surprised super-bike riders (wearing those spandex Superman outfits) on hills, passing them as I sit and pedal, while they stand up and grind. Using the battery sparingly, I can do 25 miles easily, and use the battery on hills that would otherwise have me walking a regular bike up them. The uphills are about 10-15% of that 25 mile commute. I use the battery sparingly on flats or almost imperceptible inclines to maintain a speed of 11-17 mph depending on my mood, the headwind, paved trail gradient and such.
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Weaknesses:
Had to replace the rear internal gear hub twice in 5,000 miles, and eventually paid to have a Shimano internal gear hub installed, and the wheel re-spoked to fit it. The new hub has a familiar "click'click'click" sound when coasting, and is a design inside that should last far longer.
At around 6,000 miles, the aluminum casting that holds the motor and the pedals broke where it is mounted to the bike frame, and I received a new motor and pedal housing under warranty. The casting broke at a mounting bracket where the casting could have been designed more strongly to resist the constant flexing forces put on it by right, left, right, left alternating pedaling pressures.
The frame broke at about 7,500 miles, down at the area at the base of the seat post where it and the front angled tube meet. Again, this was from the flexing forces of pedaling that eventually weakened and caused the aluminum to fail. As a Mechanical Engineer, I understand that aluminum is light, but is not as strong under constant flexing as is steel. Since the dealer could get no replacement frames from the mfr, I received an entire new bike under the warranty, per Giant's approval. Giant "gave" a bike in a box to the dealer to give to me. Oddly, the dealer dug into the box and pulled out and kept the charger, and I had to completely assemble the replacement bike myself. I won't go THERE again! He chose to redefine what Giant had done to resolve my problem, and rather than argue, "Hey! Giant gave you that whole box to satisfy the warranty on my broken bike!" I just learned from the actions and left.
The battery on bike #1: It gradually aged in its ability to deliver a good charge cycle, which seemed very normal. Tracking its life on an Excel spreadsheet, I was able to get over 400 full charges out of it before it began to fail internally - I believe that over time the vibrations of normal use caused wiring to come loose inside. Tapping it now and then, it came back to life, and sometimes the little LEDs on the side failed to indicate the level of charge it had left. Again, I was NOT disappointed by this, as I realized that I had gotten a HUGE amount of use from it, and it was seeing all the shocks that the frame had. The battery is made of 20 NiMH 1.2VDC D-cells held in a shrink-plastic bundle and wired in series to yield 24VDC. It is a good design, but one should amortize into the cost of ownership the cost-per-charge of a battery that is about $350 USD that lasts about 400 charges. It comes to about $1 USD per charge on top of the cost of the bike initially. I believe that with a little research, one could find a company (I found one in Texas) that could rebuild the pack with new cells for about half the cost of a new battery. I have not done this as yet.
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Summary:
In spite of the frame and casting weakness and the two failures of the rear gear hubs, I absolutely loved riding this bike. It was a childhood dream to have a motorized bicycle. I DO have a street motorcycle and an off-road motorcycle, but that is different. This is a bike I can go ANYwhere with, sidewalks, walking trails, shoulders of the roads,and there is no license required! This is also a great way to trick one's self into geting exercise, because I pedal these things like crazy even though they are motorized! The motor just adds that wonderful advantage of turning a bicycle ride from a chore into a pure joy. I get as much exercise as if I was riding my Raleigh 10-speed, but the bonus is that with the e-bike, I fear no hills. Oh - I was able to put the 8000 miles on the bike in about 15 months of commuting and weekend rides. Confession: I am in my mid-50s, average build, slight beer-gut, and am not what anyone would consider an athlete.
Lastly, I would recommend making sure the tires were protected against going flat, as I had to fix many flats, about one per every 300-400 miles. Of course, my route had tiny sharp stones and the occasional bit of broken glass, all along the shoulder of the roads where the dirt and debris accumulates. Love the bike, enjoyed the smiles of those who I had ride it to feel the motor's power.
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Overall Rating: 7
