Giant Suede

[Jonathan1]

Hi,
am thinking of buying a giant suede, but the specification on sellers sites is limited. Specifically, things like battery type, range, tri mode? speed limited to 15mph in assist mode, and weight. Can anyone answer theses for me, or give URL for a site with full specs. Views from any owners welcome of course.
Thanks,
Jonathan.

 

[flecc]

The Suede is shortly to be replaced by the new Giant Twist, Jonathan. That will probably be in the New Year, and it has improved batteries and some other improvements are expected. A to B magazine have tested the Suede and given most details. It's a pedelec only, speed tends to be to about 13 mph when it runs out of steam. I'll come back into here in a few minutes with details of the A to B issue and answers to your other questions.

Back again. The battery is an NiMh, the maximum range A to B reported was 29.5 miles, total weight 27.2 kg (60 lbs). Other figures as above. Hill climbing reported as not bad but leisurely, for example, 6 mph with pedal assistance on 1 in 8.

The A to B issue with the Suede report is number 51, December 2005.

The A to B news report only of the new Twist is in issue 53, April 2006

Back issues from www.atob.org.uk

 

[andrewelectricbike1]

mmm difficult one here,
Lotsa people don`t like the hub giant suede with a vengeance . Ever since Giant discontinued the Twist in the UK.

I have been commuting to work over hills for a year now on mine. My speedo registers 15 when on the flat-full throttle My battery died after 12months which is not suprising considering the mileage. Other than that the bike has performed admirably and did exactly what it was designed for.
Andrew

 

[flecc]

Yes, I think that's fair comment Andrew. The Suede has been unfairly blighted by the comparison with the undoubted excellence of the discontinued Twist, and now has been further harmed by such a quick introduction of the new Argue/Twist. A to B's comments are relevant:

" - - for various reasons we didn't like the Suede, but taking price into account, it really isn't bad".

Then, after mentioning rivals in appropriate price brackets:

"Despite a few niggles, the Suede effortlessly outclasses most of them, so we shouldn't judge it too harshly".


And that sums it up, the discontinued Twist models were altogether much dearer, being in the £870 to £1300 range, so comparison is unfair.

 

[Jonathan1]

Thanks for the comments so far, really helpful. The other one that I found in this "mid price" bracket is the urban mover sprite. It is £100 more at £699, and it seems to be new to the market, whereas the giant suede has been around for a year at least. Any comments on urban sprite welcome.

How much did the replacement battery cost on exchange basis?

thanks,

Jonathan.

 

[flecc]

I don't know the Urban Mover Sprite, but I'm impressed with the honesty of the specification on the Electricbikesdirect site. It's unusual to get such sensible expressions of range and speed quoted. That said, it's clearly not very powerful with the maximum speed without pedalling quoted at 10 mph. However, this seems to be a trend with urban bikes now, similar to the Suede and Powacycle bikes, moderate speed with quite a good range and reasonable hill climbing.

NiMh batteries aren't exchanged as they aren't recyclable. I don't know the price of the Suede battery, but the similar Twist batteries were recently around £200 to £250.

 

[andrewelectricbike1]

I had a new battery made for me by eddy at cellpacksolutions for a reasonable price.

If you are looking for a a cheap reliable bike, I had a test ride (at a bike shop in Swadlincote) of an I-go... badged currie drive/mongoose and lead acid battery. It was pretty lightweight and ran very well! If I remember it was around £300!! I wish that had been around when I was first looking. The up side also was it is based on a mountain bike pattern.

Andrew

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Giant Suede E 2nd year 2nd battery
Mug for MiMh

 

[JohnInStockie]

Giant Twist Comfort GTS

All

Im a bit confused by all the different versions of the Giant Twist. Does anyone have a '1 to 10' of just the Giant versions/variants?

e.g. Giant Twist Lite vs Giant Twist Comfort GTS vs Giant Twist ST?

And are any of these 'premier' version better than others?

John

 

[flecc]

I've replied to your message John, and that partly covers this, but here's the gen:

Giant Lafree Twist

No suspension, sprung seatpost, V brakes, 3 speed Nexus hub, low gear 43", a bit high but ok for climbing up to 1 in 8.

Giant Lafree Comfort

I think the GTS name bit added later. Suspension forks, sprung seatpost, hub roller brakes, hub dynamo, 4 speed Nexus hub gear but no better range than the 3 speed.

Giant Lafree Comfort ST

As the Comfort, but larger tube section frame for more rigidity, SRAM P5 5 speed hub gear, much better range than the others with low gear about 32" so able to climb just about anything.

Model prices from £869 to £1149.

 

[JohnInStockie]

Thanks Flecc

FYI - It looks like the 'Comfort GTS' also has the SRAM P5.

Do you know if the Twists have ever been compared against themselves but other versions, I mean, are they all good, or some better than others?

Thanks
(ps - new response)

 

[flecc]

The addition of the SRAM to the ordinary Comfort doesn't surprise me John. Giant were forced into the dearer SRAM since Shimano Nexus hubs were being changed and the 4 speed disappearing, not before time as it had a pathetic 184% range. Obviously the 252% SRAM range is far superior, and the only minus with it is that it's gear change is slow. Despite that, it's been voted the best all round hub gear in the world at various times and it's extremely tough. There's even a Cargo version with a 225% range that can withstand daily commercial load carrying.

As for the best, it's as said above. I prefer the Twist for it's lightness and ordinary bike qualities, and I don't like suspension forks, but in a hilly area there's the cost of adding the P5 for the best gears, around £200 extra in all. The standard 3 speed is fine in a moderately hilly area though.

The Comfort with the Nexus 4 hub adds just that, comfort, due to the suspension forks, plus the non wearing convenience of the hub brakes. I don't think the hub dynamo a particular improvement on the separate dynamo of the Twist. With the SRAM gears it's improved of course. Against both is some extra weight, losing a litle of the ordinary bike qualities.

The Comfort ST has the extra frame rigidity which is good since the standard frame does have some flexing, but there's even more extra weight. One thing I inadvertantly omitted above is that the ST version has a full chaincase, which is a pain if the wheel needs to be removed, it's not the best implementation of that feature.

The performance is similar apart from the gear differences, so the rest is personal choice on the features you value.