Reviewer: Paul Murphy
Purchased From: AW Cycles, Reading
Purchase Price: £1,099
Time Owned: 1 Year
Local Terrain: Very Hilly
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Strengths:
This bike has classy styling. The electric aspect is subdued and best of all it bears no resemblance to a mountain bike. Its strictly for the road or cycle path but it is brilliant at climbing hills. The 5 speed rear hub gears have a very low 1st gear - so low I've yet to find a hill that it wont get up comfortably with moderate pedaling even with full panniers. The bike has quality road bike features such as full size silver plastic mudguards with mudflaps, a hub mounted 'built in' dynamo, B+M automatic dark sensing headlight, automatic motion and dark sensing rear LED light, a frame mounted rear wheel lock, front suspension and a suspension seat post. Available in 2 frame sizes M and L with the large size gents accomodating up to a 6' 5" rider.
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Weaknesses:
The roller brakes are a little on the weak side when fully laden, especially considering the hills it can negotiate. Light weight riders may find them acceptable though. There is a "Hi-Power" version of the Shimano Nexave front brake available for ~£30 + fitting to improve front wheel braking. Giants price for an additional or replacemernt battery is very high at ~£250 but see elsewhere on this site for advise about overhauling existing worn out batteries for much less and to get higher storage capacity and range. User documentation is less than ideal with a 5 year old users manual for the basic Twist Lite model being provided along with numerous leaflets for all the additional, different parts used on the Comfort. Unfortunately there are some ommisions like the operation of the 3 setting automatic rear light and inflation of the tyres for those unfamiliar with the French style Presta valves used (they have a little collar at the tip which needs to be loosened in order to let air go through).
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Summary:
Building on the Twist Lite, The Comfort model was also available in both Gents and Ladies versions (with and without crossbars respectively). Sadly it was discontinued in 2006 to be replaced by a completely revised hub motor powered bike keeping the Twist name but not offering the same flexibility over varied terrain. The 2005/6 "Comfort" model adds a SRAM P5 hub instead of the Lite 3 speed hub. There was a "Comfort ST" version which had SRAM 7 Speed gears as well as a fully enclosed chain guard (the standard Comfort and Lite chainguard only partly encloses the chain). The Comfort ST was only ever produced with a Ladies style Step Thru frame and was discontinued at the same time. The Twist Comfort is a pleasure to ride and very simple to operate. The only additional control to a conventional bike is a Power switch with 3 positions, 'Off' - offering no electrical assistance (but still perfectly rideable), 'On' - offering full power assistance proportional to what you put in through the pedals and 'Eco' which offers slightly reduced proportional power assistance in order to conserve battery power. As soon as you start pedalling you can feel the motor power help out and it will only help while you pedal up to 15 MPH. This is great if you want to improve fitness but are concerned about lthe option to be lazy and not pedal at all that's available on some other electric bikes. The range varies according to the all up weight, terrain, power switch setting and speed but owners have commonly claimed to get at least 20 miles from a full charge. I've only ever managed about 18 miles but them I'm 6' 5" and a little over 100 kg.
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Overall Rating (out of 10) : 9
