I just picked up a 2020 Giant Trance E+1 Pro. I had been looking at several other bikes and narrowed it down to the Giant or Haibike. I posted up to get some feed back and help me sort through what I was seeing, feeling and thinking about those two bikes.
That thread can be seen here:
https://forums.mtbr.com/e-bikes/opinions-haibike-full-seven-9-0-a-1125019.html
As mentioned I decided on the Giant and since I did not find a specific thread on it, I thought I would start one to share my observations and hear what others thought.
Disclaimer(s):
If you are reading this you are probably:
fitter than me
faster than me
younger than me
have better bike handling skills than me
have fewer metal plates and screws holding your bones together
lighter than me
taller than me
Also, it is a safe bet that you are probably nicer and for sure better looking than me.
I don't "send it" or ride gnarly chunky terrain. I don't do doubles or back flips or 360s.
I'm an old roadie. I had a custom Paramount built for me back when they were made by hand in Chicago and I rode the crap out of it in hills. As a result, I loved that bike and I learned to hate flex in frames and then ultimately dislike FS bikes. I bought one about 20 years ago (GT LST3) but never fell in love as it was just too bouncy and squishy for me.
So I'm a hardtail guy. So much so that I converted one bike to ridged forks and then run the other bike with the forks locked out all the time.
Initially, when it came to ebikes I was looking at the Yamaha YDX Torq or several other HT ebikes.
But every single person I spoke with told me to get the FS.
RIDE REPORT
I picked up the Giant on Thursday, brought it home, plugged in the battery and spent the rest of the evening swapping over my handlebars, seat, and pedals from my most comfortable HT. I also repositioned some cables and got the controls set the way I like them. Pumped up the shock and fork, maxed out the dampning and checked tire pressures.
The bike came with two lights out of five indicating the charge level. It took SEVERAL hours for it to get a full charge.
Then waited for the next day.
First ebike ever and first FS bike in decades so the plan was a 30 mile ride on mostly residential streets, parks and horse trails. Places that would be easy to get to in case any of this fancy electronic stuff quit or I had any other problems. This initial ride was also an experiment in range and how the "auto" function performed.
So I set the control to auto and took off to the steepest street in my neighborhood. I can't give you a comparison as how this bike performed vs one of my other pedal bikes because I have never even attempted it on my pedal bikes. I already know how to walk and bikes are for riding.
Well this hill was no problem at all on the Giant. Even in auto mode. I am sure that if I selected max power I could sprint right up it.
The controller really seamed to adjust the power assistance to my cadence and effort giving me more help when I needed it and backing off when I didn't. I noticed a change in my riding style, where before I would constantly bang through the gears to find just the right one, on the ebike I often decided to just suck it up, pedal a bit harder and let the motor give me than little extra bit to make it up the hills. That's right, I found myself riding a bit harder on the ebike. I think it had to do with the knowledge that I for sure could make it up the hills I was trying to ride.
At just over 10 miles the first light went out and I stopped to make adjustments to the cockpit. I continued on and rode through a couple of parks and horse trails. No big jumps, just small bumps, pot holes and curbs. But it was clear that even in these mild conditions with the suspension near fully stiff, the ride was buttery smooth.
I was a tiny bit concerned during my test rides at the dealer as the bike actually felt a bit twitchy to me. I figured I could work through it but also suspected in was due to suspension settings and tire pressures.
I was right, since I had set the suspension and tires for my weight the night before, the bike felt SUPER stable to me yet easily controllable as well.
Also, I am so glad I got the medium. I'm right between a medium and a small and the dealer told me to get a medium for sure. Glad I did. The reach was not nearly as long as I thought it would be by looking at the numbers. I could probably go for a bit more stack but over all this bike just fits great. (I'm 5-7 FWIW)
At about 19 miles the second light went out and at about 26 miles the third light went out leaving me with two out of five. When I arrived home after 30 miles I still had two lights of charge left.
I plugged it in and it showed fully charged after about an hour, maybe 90 minutes. I did not time it exactly only to look down and notice it was fully charged and thing, "Wow that was fast." For sure this bike can recover quicker than me.
This was the very first ride with the very first charge and I let the bikes computer make all the decisions for me. My route included a lot of starting and stopping. I think my range in auto is about 45-50 miles. Almost for sure further if I take control of the unit as I know I would spend most of my time in the lowest or second lowest power setting.
The bike is QUIET. I mean the tires make more noise on the road than the motor does.
So after my 30 mile ride - the longest in literally decades, I got home and I felt great. Comfortably fatigued. I felt like I had a great workout but I did not feel like I damaged myself in any way.
NEGATIVES
So far the only negative I can think of is that the bike did not come with any documentation at all. No owner's manual, no instructions, no service recommendations. Nothing but a receipt. The LBS did a great job explaining everything to me but still, I would like some documentation.
CURRENT THOUGHTS
Well, I am a big fan of the N+1 formula for buying bikes. This Giant makes for SEVEN (7) bikes right now. And that is only because I recently gave one alway. I am now thinking I might come up with a new formula that looks like this:
(E-all other bikes = the correct number of bikes to own).
I can honestly see myself trimming the herd down to a single bike. I feel like I could do anything, ride any trail I care to ride and go anywhere on this Giant. I am VERY pleased with it.
Any other owners out there?
That thread can be seen here:
https://forums.mtbr.com/e-bikes/opinions-haibike-full-seven-9-0-a-1125019.html
As mentioned I decided on the Giant and since I did not find a specific thread on it, I thought I would start one to share my observations and hear what others thought.
Disclaimer(s):
If you are reading this you are probably:
fitter than me
faster than me
younger than me
have better bike handling skills than me
have fewer metal plates and screws holding your bones together
lighter than me
taller than me
Also, it is a safe bet that you are probably nicer and for sure better looking than me.
I don't "send it" or ride gnarly chunky terrain. I don't do doubles or back flips or 360s.
I'm an old roadie. I had a custom Paramount built for me back when they were made by hand in Chicago and I rode the crap out of it in hills. As a result, I loved that bike and I learned to hate flex in frames and then ultimately dislike FS bikes. I bought one about 20 years ago (GT LST3) but never fell in love as it was just too bouncy and squishy for me.
So I'm a hardtail guy. So much so that I converted one bike to ridged forks and then run the other bike with the forks locked out all the time.
Initially, when it came to ebikes I was looking at the Yamaha YDX Torq or several other HT ebikes.
But every single person I spoke with told me to get the FS.
RIDE REPORT
I picked up the Giant on Thursday, brought it home, plugged in the battery and spent the rest of the evening swapping over my handlebars, seat, and pedals from my most comfortable HT. I also repositioned some cables and got the controls set the way I like them. Pumped up the shock and fork, maxed out the dampning and checked tire pressures.
The bike came with two lights out of five indicating the charge level. It took SEVERAL hours for it to get a full charge.
Then waited for the next day.
First ebike ever and first FS bike in decades so the plan was a 30 mile ride on mostly residential streets, parks and horse trails. Places that would be easy to get to in case any of this fancy electronic stuff quit or I had any other problems. This initial ride was also an experiment in range and how the "auto" function performed.
So I set the control to auto and took off to the steepest street in my neighborhood. I can't give you a comparison as how this bike performed vs one of my other pedal bikes because I have never even attempted it on my pedal bikes. I already know how to walk and bikes are for riding.
Well this hill was no problem at all on the Giant. Even in auto mode. I am sure that if I selected max power I could sprint right up it.
The controller really seamed to adjust the power assistance to my cadence and effort giving me more help when I needed it and backing off when I didn't. I noticed a change in my riding style, where before I would constantly bang through the gears to find just the right one, on the ebike I often decided to just suck it up, pedal a bit harder and let the motor give me than little extra bit to make it up the hills. That's right, I found myself riding a bit harder on the ebike. I think it had to do with the knowledge that I for sure could make it up the hills I was trying to ride.
At just over 10 miles the first light went out and I stopped to make adjustments to the cockpit. I continued on and rode through a couple of parks and horse trails. No big jumps, just small bumps, pot holes and curbs. But it was clear that even in these mild conditions with the suspension near fully stiff, the ride was buttery smooth.
I was a tiny bit concerned during my test rides at the dealer as the bike actually felt a bit twitchy to me. I figured I could work through it but also suspected in was due to suspension settings and tire pressures.
I was right, since I had set the suspension and tires for my weight the night before, the bike felt SUPER stable to me yet easily controllable as well.
Also, I am so glad I got the medium. I'm right between a medium and a small and the dealer told me to get a medium for sure. Glad I did. The reach was not nearly as long as I thought it would be by looking at the numbers. I could probably go for a bit more stack but over all this bike just fits great. (I'm 5-7 FWIW)
At about 19 miles the second light went out and at about 26 miles the third light went out leaving me with two out of five. When I arrived home after 30 miles I still had two lights of charge left.
I plugged it in and it showed fully charged after about an hour, maybe 90 minutes. I did not time it exactly only to look down and notice it was fully charged and thing, "Wow that was fast." For sure this bike can recover quicker than me.
This was the very first ride with the very first charge and I let the bikes computer make all the decisions for me. My route included a lot of starting and stopping. I think my range in auto is about 45-50 miles. Almost for sure further if I take control of the unit as I know I would spend most of my time in the lowest or second lowest power setting.
The bike is QUIET. I mean the tires make more noise on the road than the motor does.
So after my 30 mile ride - the longest in literally decades, I got home and I felt great. Comfortably fatigued. I felt like I had a great workout but I did not feel like I damaged myself in any way.
NEGATIVES
So far the only negative I can think of is that the bike did not come with any documentation at all. No owner's manual, no instructions, no service recommendations. Nothing but a receipt. The LBS did a great job explaining everything to me but still, I would like some documentation.
CURRENT THOUGHTS
Well, I am a big fan of the N+1 formula for buying bikes. This Giant makes for SEVEN (7) bikes right now. And that is only because I recently gave one alway. I am now thinking I might come up with a new formula that looks like this:
(E-all other bikes = the correct number of bikes to own).
I can honestly see myself trimming the herd down to a single bike. I feel like I could do anything, ride any trail I care to ride and go anywhere on this Giant. I am VERY pleased with it.
Any other owners out there?
