Giant Twist Express

[flecc]

It's puzzling how the company that brought us the much admired Lafree, should seem to be so 'off-the-pace', though maybe the bike will surprise us. Perhaps they don't have a British (i.e. hilly) market in mind, and are more focused on the low countries?

It's the profit motive that's the problem. They are a huge company, the world's largest cycle manufacturer and used to very healthy profits from that business. Like any such company, they expect the same of all divisions/departments, but the electric side has never delivered since big companies aren't good at small things.

Created with the Dutch Lafree people, their first design, the original heavy Lafree, was rather poor and soundly trounced by the better Yamaha, so it was withdrawn.

They then turned to Panasonic and made a much lighter bike, the Lafree Twist, so they played little part themselves in that design, which was excellent. Once again though they complained they couldn't make profits so they moved it upmarket, making some incredibly silly decisions on the way, showing how little they understood about this subject.

So they again went upmarket with the expensive ST model, but that still didn't produce the profits "upstairs" wanted. In a final bit of silliness, they answered the long made plea for a larger battery with a 9Ah version, and we were treated to the ludicrous situation of one wing of their marketing announcing the new battery while another wing announced that the entire series was to be discontinued.

So the electric side, doubtless under huge pressure to perform, swung completely the other way with a cheap bike using a long discarded motor, the £600 Suede, probably to appeal to a mass market which of course didn't exist. However they cheapened the battery so much that it was the cause of many complaints, and the bike never had a chance of getting the profits wanted anyway.

I see the Twist 1 and 2 as a desperate attempt to get the sort of profits they are used to by trying to sell what is essentially a budget bike at very high prices. While many other manufacturers struggle to meet demand, these models languish in dealers showrooms mostly unloved and unwanted, so this latest attempt is obviously to try and kickstart some activity.

You can see from all the foregoing (and there's much more I could report) that they have no sense of direction and simply can't perform in this market.

Hence my saying they should stop wasting time and money and stick to what they do know, making normal bikes, until and if the e-bike market grows big enough for them to invest bigtime in real expertise.
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[flecc]

I can't agree that the likes of Giant should stay out of the market, flecc, they just need to produce better electric bikes. (I realise you meant as a temporary measure until they get it right).

See my reply and reasoning Bob, posted after the above. It's not so much about the bikes themselves as the suitability and aptitudes of this company, neither of which begin to match the need. They simply don't know how to produce a better e-bike as their history so clearly shows, and don't know where to start.
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[The Maestro]

When I went to try the Giant Twist at my local dealer in Lytham St. Annes the sales man seemed completely shocked that I was interested in it and tried to talk me out of buying it. 'Only for old ladies' I think he said and 'you'd be mad to buy that when you can get a full carbon fibre bike much cheaper'. So it doesn't look like their dealers have much faith in them either.

They seemed pretty good quality actually although very very slow and heavy. I could see them having quite a good market in Lytham St. Annes given the population of wealthy elderly people.

 

[flecc]

They seemed pretty good quality actually although very very slow and heavy. I could see them having quite a good market in Lytham St. Annes given the population of wealthy elderly people.

They are good quality, true of all Giant bikes, and it's only the e-bike design aspects that are the problem. The only time they got that fully right was when they used Panasonic's expertise combined with Dutch cycle design.

As for those wealthy elderly people, I think few of them anywhere want to ride any sort of a bike and prefer the very nice car that stands in the drive.
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[The Maestro]

As for those wealthy elderly people, I think few of them anywhere want to ride any sort of a bike and prefer the very nice car that stands in the drive.
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Very true now I think about it!

 

[Tixxy]

Giant Twist 2

hello you seem to be knowledgeable on Giant. I have seen a shop selling the Twist 2 for £750 reduced from £1150, are these bikes a safe bet for comfort and reliability? The shop said they struggle to sell them. I like the idea of 2 batteries but I dont like the front hub drive as it means the front wheel cannot be removed (for getting in my car) My journey is usually flat and windy, about 15 miles in total. Any help or links gratefully received. Thanks

 

[flecc]

Hi Tixxy. You can see the scale of Giant's problems by those huge discounts in a market where the good e-bikes have been suffering waiting lists.

The Twist is reasonable on motor drive as a pedelec, though on the slow side, and it climbs moderate hills ok. Not so good on the steepest ones though, but it would certainly be ok on your journey. Average speeds over a journey are about 12 mph.

The motor does not have a freewheel so it drags on the overrun or when pedalling without power, so there's no flying downhill at high speed and pedalling alone isn't recommended.

I don't know the exact replacement cost of the two batteries, but the lithium ones for the Twist 1 ar £600, so these NiMh ones for the Twist 2 are probably about £500.

Giant quality is good and I'd expect the reliability to be equally good. The front hub motor has a specially made unplugging attachment for the electrics which works well, so the wheel can be slipped out, as long as you made sure you didn't disturb any of the internal spindle nuts in doing that.
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