Reviewer: Steffen
Retailer: Dealer in Germany
Purchase Price: 975
TimeOwned: 1 month
Terrain: Moderate Hills
=========================================================
Strengths:
REVIEW OF GIANT TWIST 2.1
a few weeks ago we bought an ebike for towing our childrens in trailer up and downhill in and around our current hometown.
why the twist ?
================
we choose the giant twist 2.1 for mainly the following reasons:
- with a price of 1300 euro/975 gbp it was the cheapest pedal-torque controlled ebike, i knew of.
- i was obsessed by torque-controlled assistence after test-driving a swiss-flyer (panasonic-system), a sparta ion (hub-motor) and a Kalkhoff Aggatu(yesterday) in my town
- very good hill-climbing-assistance as well as the longest range (72 km) of all tested ebikes due to a test at ExtraEnergy.org
- the recharge-while-driving-downhill-mode was also a nice-to have. though one has probably to drive 1000 miles downhill for a full recharge.
after my order
==============
Shortly after my order i found this forum and immediately i was not sure anymore. Could i ever get happy with this bike (due to the strong aguments for the panasonic-system and against hub-motors)
- front-hub-motor together with gradients and a trailer might leave to
wheelspining
- driving without assistance could be impossible, due to the braking-effect of the hub-motor
- not so nice design of the control-elements (sparta ion is -in my opinion- much smarter designed)
Resume after 4 weeks of ownership / 100km
=========================================
While the bike in fact is not nice to drive _without_ assistance and i indeed had a wheel-spinnig-effect on a very steep hill (when starting, without sitting on the bike) me and my girlfriend are really hooked and enthusiastic, now.
Once on a long climb with trailer (20kg, kids (2x 10kg), me (80kg) i noticed a smokey-smell from the motor and the bike stopped with blinking LEDs. I could contionue 20 seconds later. But the hill was really steep and i was driving very fast, forcing the engine to work very hard.
My only other complaints are, that the three breaks could have a little more grip, the controller-cockpit should look nicer and include a bordcomputer (like that on the sparta)
When being on tour, we usally tow a trailer with our 2 children (10 kg each), The pedelec is towing the trailer and the other one uses a racing-bike. That may sound faster than it is. We usually drive around 15-20 km/h.
Here the pedelec with trailer is in all conditions easier and of course much more comfortable to drive, than the racing-bike.
Being equipped with two NiMH-Batteries we never have to worry about coming home. If one Battery is empty we simply switch to the other one, knowing half of the range is "used up". Also one battery can be recharged and the bike is still usable for shopping.
At tempteratures around 0 degrees one Battery lasts at least 20-30km in our conditions (I often use highest-power mode, my gf the "normal"-mode).
(Hard to estimate, after just 100km)
The Bags, which hide the batteries have still lots of space left (we seem to have the big version of the bags). Four 1.5-liter water-bottles fit easily in. So for food-shopping, the bags alone are often enough. If shopping more, we have a trunk in the kids-trailer or go shopping by car.
Quality
=======
The front-light can be switched on at the controller/cockpit. The rearlight has appearently a light-sensor as you can't switch it on in daylight. It runs on batteries and stays on a while, when stopping the bike. The bikes has an integrated lock and locks for the batteries. There are shock-absorbers for front and saddle. Overall-quality /haptics seem to be good to a bike-novice like me. Everything looks worthy and is nice to touch. The mounting of the control-unit broke when we dropped the heavy bike. But I blame me for this, not the mounting or Giant
. We taped it and it works fine until now. Meanwhile the bike fell over several more times (putting 2 small children in and out the trailer) and this was the only defect so far. Without a trailer being moved by 2 young children it stays very stable.
Prestige/Optics
===============
While we thought and still think that the motor, etc. is very well hidden, some people asked us about the bike/electric-assistance already.
Maybe due to the controls with their red lights or the small plastic-boxes on the frontwheel (left side) and near the pedals. These are never shown in the product-photos of course . But this is the same with the other side of the Kalkhoff, Swiss flyer, etc... .
One has to get used to the fact that people still look down on electric bikes . Usually they don't understand the motivation behind buying one, if you are not handicaped or 90 years old. But we can very well live with that.
Future
======
Yesterday I made a testdrive with an Aggatu again. I wanted to buy one after all the good reviews here, for sending my racing-bike into retirement. And while it was really easier to drive without assistance, I noticed no difference in assisted mode (driving up a very steep hill). So I am not sure anymore, again. Living near the swiss border i will give the flyer a chance again. But if i come to similar results, i will stick to my racing bike and look around in 2009 again.
Conclusion
==========
Great bike for us. Wether in trailer-use or while driving it alone. Currently I would buy it again.
=========================================================
Weaknesses:
see review above
=========================================================
Summary:
see review above
=========================================================
Overall Rating: 9
Retailer: Dealer in Germany
Purchase Price: 975
TimeOwned: 1 month
Terrain: Moderate Hills
=========================================================
Strengths:
REVIEW OF GIANT TWIST 2.1
a few weeks ago we bought an ebike for towing our childrens in trailer up and downhill in and around our current hometown.
why the twist ?
================
we choose the giant twist 2.1 for mainly the following reasons:
- with a price of 1300 euro/975 gbp it was the cheapest pedal-torque controlled ebike, i knew of.
- i was obsessed by torque-controlled assistence after test-driving a swiss-flyer (panasonic-system), a sparta ion (hub-motor) and a Kalkhoff Aggatu(yesterday) in my town
- very good hill-climbing-assistance as well as the longest range (72 km) of all tested ebikes due to a test at ExtraEnergy.org
- the recharge-while-driving-downhill-mode was also a nice-to have. though one has probably to drive 1000 miles downhill for a full recharge.
after my order
==============
Shortly after my order i found this forum and immediately i was not sure anymore. Could i ever get happy with this bike (due to the strong aguments for the panasonic-system and against hub-motors)
- front-hub-motor together with gradients and a trailer might leave to
wheelspining
- driving without assistance could be impossible, due to the braking-effect of the hub-motor
- not so nice design of the control-elements (sparta ion is -in my opinion- much smarter designed)
Resume after 4 weeks of ownership / 100km
=========================================
While the bike in fact is not nice to drive _without_ assistance and i indeed had a wheel-spinnig-effect on a very steep hill (when starting, without sitting on the bike) me and my girlfriend are really hooked and enthusiastic, now.
Once on a long climb with trailer (20kg, kids (2x 10kg), me (80kg) i noticed a smokey-smell from the motor and the bike stopped with blinking LEDs. I could contionue 20 seconds later. But the hill was really steep and i was driving very fast, forcing the engine to work very hard.
My only other complaints are, that the three breaks could have a little more grip, the controller-cockpit should look nicer and include a bordcomputer (like that on the sparta)
When being on tour, we usally tow a trailer with our 2 children (10 kg each), The pedelec is towing the trailer and the other one uses a racing-bike. That may sound faster than it is. We usually drive around 15-20 km/h.
Here the pedelec with trailer is in all conditions easier and of course much more comfortable to drive, than the racing-bike.
Being equipped with two NiMH-Batteries we never have to worry about coming home. If one Battery is empty we simply switch to the other one, knowing half of the range is "used up". Also one battery can be recharged and the bike is still usable for shopping.
At tempteratures around 0 degrees one Battery lasts at least 20-30km in our conditions (I often use highest-power mode, my gf the "normal"-mode).
(Hard to estimate, after just 100km)
The Bags, which hide the batteries have still lots of space left (we seem to have the big version of the bags). Four 1.5-liter water-bottles fit easily in. So for food-shopping, the bags alone are often enough. If shopping more, we have a trunk in the kids-trailer or go shopping by car.
Quality
=======
The front-light can be switched on at the controller/cockpit. The rearlight has appearently a light-sensor as you can't switch it on in daylight. It runs on batteries and stays on a while, when stopping the bike. The bikes has an integrated lock and locks for the batteries. There are shock-absorbers for front and saddle. Overall-quality /haptics seem to be good to a bike-novice like me. Everything looks worthy and is nice to touch. The mounting of the control-unit broke when we dropped the heavy bike. But I blame me for this, not the mounting or Giant
. We taped it and it works fine until now. Meanwhile the bike fell over several more times (putting 2 small children in and out the trailer) and this was the only defect so far. Without a trailer being moved by 2 young children it stays very stable. Prestige/Optics
===============
While we thought and still think that the motor, etc. is very well hidden, some people asked us about the bike/electric-assistance already.
Maybe due to the controls with their red lights or the small plastic-boxes on the frontwheel (left side) and near the pedals. These are never shown in the product-photos of course
. But this is the same with the other side of the Kalkhoff, Swiss flyer, etc... . One has to get used to the fact that people still look down on electric bikes . Usually they don't understand the motivation behind buying one, if you are not handicaped or 90 years old. But we can very well live with that.
Future
======
Yesterday I made a testdrive with an Aggatu again. I wanted to buy one after all the good reviews here, for sending my racing-bike into retirement. And while it was really easier to drive without assistance, I noticed no difference in assisted mode (driving up a very steep hill). So I am not sure anymore, again. Living near the swiss border i will give the flyer a chance again. But if i come to similar results, i will stick to my racing bike and look around in 2009 again.
Conclusion
==========
Great bike for us. Wether in trailer-use or while driving it alone. Currently I would buy it again.
=========================================================
Weaknesses:
see review above
=========================================================
Summary:
see review above
=========================================================
Overall Rating: 9
