Buyer's Remorse, How can I fix this

[sparks91]

I just bought a 2010 Giant Twist Express. I got it practically new for an unbelievable price so I went with it even though I knew I wouldn't be satisfied as-is. The bike itself is very well built and has a couple of cool features. It has a down tube with a channel in the bottom through which all the wires run and has a nice sturdy rack with a pannier bag on one side and the battery slides right into the other side. The specs are: 250w motor with up to 400w initial torque and a 26v li-on battery.
My initial idea is to either upgrade to a larger battery and/or a whole new setup with larger motor and battery. I would also like to have a throttle instead of just peddle assist mode. I would be willing to sell the entire bike or just remove the kit and sell that on its own.
Any input or ideas?? Thanks

 

[neptronix]

Of course you got it for a good deal, electric bikes like that depreciate rapidly and are sold early on once the novelty of being able to go very very slightly faster wears off.

Sell it and convert another bike. Let someone else buy it, be excited, and then pass it on.. lol

None of the parts on that bike have any potential for adding more power, they will all have to be replaced.
The frame isn't even very good for an eBike conversion from what i have seen either.

Even the parts themselves aren't going to be worth much on the market so the bike is worth a lot more complete..

 

[SunCoaster]

Is this it?

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/twist.express/7335/44074/

So, front hub motor; what are the battery specs?

 

[liveforphysics]

Sell it and move on.

Lame ass ebikes give ebikes a bad rep.

 

[neptronix]

Is this it?

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/twist.express/7335/44074/

So, front hub motor; what are the battery specs?

The battery appears to be 24/26v.

I had 3 eBikes like this for a moment. Flipped 2 of them and made a profit after having more than a few lycras blow past me and laugh on those.

I still have one of them, my girlfriend rides it at the moment. I blow past her on a hybrid bike with 1in. wide tires LOL... We're gonna upgrade that thing soon, she's tired of her 250w bike too.

 

[dogman dan]

Agree, try to sell for a slight profit. For what it is it's not that bad looking. But what it isn't is a bike that can go 25 mph for 25 miles.

Perfect bike for some, the tiny wattage and the tiny range is just right for those unable to ride a regular bike more than 1 mile, who couldn't imagine riding 10 miles even if they never pedaled.

 

[icecube57]

Wow... Move on. I think we all have had a purchase like this.

 

[sparks91]

Ouch! Thanks for all the comments, they will make me stronger. LOL :wink: I really appreciate the honesty and you guys are right I should sell and build my own creation which is what I wanted to do but sometimes baby steps help you get to where you want to end up. Also I am actually I pretty strong rider it's just that I am also a gadget freak and more importantly I am looking for an alternate means of transportation.

 

[Hillhater]

Wow... Move on. I think we all have had a purchase like this.

OR ...if you like the frame and the battery is strong.....
..... upgrade the controller to see how many amps that little hubby can take before it smokes !
....then ... fit one of cellmans $150 motors and carry on !

 

[georgefromvt]

I just bought a 2010 Giant Twist Express. I got it practically new for an unbelievable price so I went with it even though I knew I wouldn't be satisfied as-is. The bike itself is very well built and has a couple of cool features. It has a down tube with a channel in the bottom through which all the wires run and has a nice sturdy rack with a pannier bag on one side and the battery slides right into the other side. The specs are: 250w motor with up to 400w initial torque and a 26v li-on battery.
My initial idea is to either upgrade to a larger battery and/or a whole new setup with larger motor and battery. I would also like to have a throttle instead of just peddle assist mode. I would be willing to sell the entire bike or just remove the kit and sell that on its own.
Any input or ideas?? Thanks

The Giant Twist is a well made bike. Rather than selling, add an ebike conversion kit. It can be all wheel power with the add-on throttle controll. You already have the bike, just add more power.
http://www.e-bikekit.com/

 

[andrew.box]

A bike like this has its place and ridden properly probably has a decent range, but if you want more power I too would suggest selling it and building up your dream bike using kit and aftermarket parts.

 

[sparks91]

Should I replace the controller or put a larger motor on? What are the advantages/disadvantages of either. How about upgrading to a more powerful battery?

 

[999zip999]

Sell it before you have a rear flat the rear tire is like triing to put the cap back on a beer. ( old stlye ) and seal it.

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

When I first got the 1000W rear hub running, it was surprisingly fast and impressive.
Less than 2 years later, and i'm bored with 7KW and 100V, looking to move towards 150V and 15KW.

Just dump it and get some real power.

 

[neptronix]

Should I replace the controller or put a larger motor on? What are the advantages/disadvantages of either. How about upgrading to a more powerful battery?

If you want to keep that bike, you should replace the controller, motor, battery, all the wiring, the throttle, and front fork.
As for the remaining stuff ( which is all useless and has no power potential whatsoever ), you'd be lucky if you can sell it for a few hundred dollars.

Think of this bike as a $1000-$2000 frame. All the electrics are useless and have been specced that way so that nobody hops it up, gets in an accident, and sues Giant bike corp.

Sell it and make your money back, buy a *good* bike, and put real parts on it! even an eBikekit 350w geared hub would be major improvement over this slowpoke.

 

[dogman dan]

Though that frame is not bad, the problem is that it lacks the geometry to run a front suspension. Adding shocks to that frame would change the headset angle too much. That could be dealt with by running a small front wheel. Most find that once they build a bike in the 25-30 mph range, and ride it more than 5 miles per trip, they want some shocks.

If you got it that cheap, nothing wrong with keeping it awhile, but keep the eye open for something better. Big strong hardtail frame (idealy steel) with 1 1/8 headset shock forks is often the choice. Look for lots of room in the frame triangle for battery carrying.

Meanwhile, you will need a better battery when you upgrade to more power, so look at maybe getting a 48v 10 ah pack from cellman, a 48v 15 ah pack from ping, or going whole hog and getting into lipo. 8)

Once you have a good battery, then a cheap new controller would allow you to see how much you can wring out of that motor before the smoke blows out of it. Everybody needs to smoke at least one motor and get in the stinky garage club.

As funds allow, then get a motor and controller that is more powerfull, such as a Mac, Bmc, 9 continent, or crystalyte, in a rear drive hub.

Nothing at all wrong with keeping it for a spare bike. I have 4-6 ready to ride most of the time. Break one, hop on another, and fix stuff in bad weather.

 

[georgefromvt]

When I first got the 1000W rear hub running, it was surprisingly fast and impressive.
Less than 2 years later, and i'm bored with 7KW and 100V, looking to move towards 150V and 15KW.

Just dump it and get some real power.

Maybe you need a motorcycle. A bike is a bike, if you want/ need that much power; buy a motorcycle. I hope you are not riding your overpowered bike on the streets. It's the 1000w bikes that give legal ebikes a bad name.

 

[dogman dan]

1000 w though illegal in some places is not a problem. 7000 w though, is a race track, or off road beast. Sure, you can ride that 7k watt bike nice, but likely you may even be exceeding posted speed limits. It could come down harsh for all ebkies in your area, if you piss off the local cops.

In the long haul, perhaps you should be looking at stuff with a vin number on the frame.

 

[neptronix]

I'm just doing a value comparison between selling the bike itself as a working unit and buying another bike + adding on real man(tm, pat pending) parts.

As for the frame, if you took all the electric stuff off and asked me if it was good for a conversion, i'd say hell no! Get a bike with front suspension and some meaty rear dropouts, build a torque plate / get torque arms and put a powerful motor in the rear, battery in the front triangle, and enjoy going at mach 5 with no issues of frame strength coming up

So you can get a fairly good brand new mountain bike with front suspension for $500, or buy one that is slightly used and even higher quality for that price.

Either way you are going to spend around $800-$1000+ to do a proper electric conversion on this bike since you're going to replace all of the parts including the front fork.

Wouldn't it make sense to recoup your money on this bike and put that $ down on a bike that was capable of more power from the get go? ( IE front suspension, dual disc brakes, strong fork, big space in the triangle for a battery, stronger frame.. )

 

[neptronix]

When I first got the 1000W rear hub running, it was surprisingly fast and impressive.
Less than 2 years later, and i'm bored with 7KW and 100V, looking to move towards 150V and 15KW.

Just dump it and get some real power.

+1
I got bored with low power in about a week after getting my first 250w kit.
Now i run either 1500w peak or ~2500w peak depending on where i'm going. 2500w is for going over 30mph on country roads that have no bike lanes, and also no cops to be seen. 1500w is for about 26mph.. riding the edge of legality. I'm actually quite happy with the power.

7KW is batshit crazy though dude :lol: I agree with dogman here. I hope no law man decides to make an example out of you.

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

I don't really see why having a bike capable of being somewhat powerful should be a remote issue.
I generally go <<20 on the street, with the throttle limited. Theres no need for WOT on roads with traffic, its terribly dangerous.

However, why wouldn't I want to be able to have more power at the flip of a switch? If my setup is capable of it, why not have it available?

 

[liveforphysics]

When I first got the 1000W rear hub running, it was surprisingly fast and impressive.
Less than 2 years later, and i'm bored with 7KW and 100V, looking to move towards 150V and 15KW.

Just dump it and get some real power.

Maybe you need a motorcycle. A bike is a bike, if you want/ need that much power; buy a motorcycle. I hope you are not riding your overpowered bike on the streets. It's the 1000w bikes that give legal ebikes a bad name.

No, it's the weak-as-snot ebikes that give ebikes a bad name. Everyone who sees or tries a >5-10kw ebike is left going, DAMN! I want one! How do I get one!


Also, 10kw, even 20kw on a motorcycle is a snooze-fest that you pay to register and insure and then can't ride on trails, bike lanes, parks etc. 10-20kw on a bicycle is a thrilling monster beast that puts a smile on your face you can hardly wipe off.

 

[sk8norcal]

about 3 months ago, I ran into this guy with a super expensive triathalon bike on the back of the car, and we talked about his bike a bit.
anyways, I told him I was looking into electric bikes and he told me he just bough this Giant ebike from Performance at a steep discount.

I asked him why he got it. He said he was riding around Marin headleads and some tourist blew past him on a uphill and now he wants one.
After meeting extremegreenmachine, I think it was probably EGM who he saw...
but too bad this guy's new Giant probably wont live up to his expectation..

 

[liveforphysics]

I passed a few cyclists at the Marin headlands at 50+mph...

 

[sparks91]

What would be the net result of simply upgrading to a 500w motor and leaving The rest of the setup as is. Would I get more torque, more top end speed. Also is there a way to disable the 15 mph cutoff. That is probably my main beef with this bike.