Repolacement battery for Giant LaFree Twist?

[IzzyB]

Hi,

I'm looking to sell on my Giant La Free Twist Lite, 2002 model, bought in 2005 as i've bought a more powerful folder, the Freego, which I'm very pleased with so far - sailing up hills!

Although it's only had very light use and is in excellent condition but I just want to check that replacement batteries are still available, as this will influence how much I can expect to sell it for - it'a 24v NiMH battery. I've not had much luck with Giant, put me on endless expensive hold, and no obvious email contact address either. No mention of electric bikes at all on their website.

Any suggestions,
thanks,
IzzyB

 

[flecc]

Yes, they are available, still NiMh, but must be ordered though a Giant dealer, preferably a hybrid one. Pric varies according to dealer, but £250 to £300 is the usual area.

The manufacturing source is different now, no longer Panasonic, but they have an improved internal mounting and feed for the meter circuit and changed thermistor position.

Here's the Giant dealer page, entering location and ticking the Hybrid box will give the nearest dealers:

Giant Dealer Locator

 

[IzzyB]

Thanks Flecc,

That's good news. Are you able to suggest a guide price? Light use from 2 careful owners, was thinking £200-£300?

IzzyB

 

[flecc]

Depends which model, there were several, 3 speed Nexus hub gear Twist, 4 speed Nexus Comfort, 5 speed SRAM hub gear Comfort, 5 speed SRAM Comfort ST, 7 speed SRAM Comfort ST.

The Comfort ST models were only in step-through with larger section frame tube, the others either step-through or crossbar. Original prices ranged from £849 to £1149 in the order I've shown, but they went up by £50 to £100 during their six year life.

Assuming £300 battery needed, you might struggle to quite get to £200 for the basic model from a third prospective owner, but the SRAM geared models should fetch from £300 to £400 according to model ranking if in good condition.

 

[IzzyB]

Thanks, it's the 3 speed one. It doesn't actually need a new battery yet - it's probably only had 50-100 charges at the most, but obviously may do at some point. I think the original price was around £900.

 

[flecc]

Those batteries can be useful even over five years old, so long as their number of charges limit hasn't been reached which is clearly the case here. The main effect of the age is the reduction in range, which can be substantial. At near five years old on the same model, I was getting 8 miles, against 17 when new.

Your £200 to £300 estimate for the bike in running order with the original battery seems fine. £900 was the price after the increase on this model.

 

[IzzyB]

Oh good that's helpful. I was wondering if there was anyway of telling what capacity a battery has other than by guestimate.

I'll see if anyone from my ME support group is intereasted, if not I may advertise on this website or ebay.

Many thanks,
Izzy