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First ride: Giant Road E+ 1

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Dave Atkinson

Dave lives at the top of a big hill and his office is at the bottom, so he's all in favour of a helping hand. Plus, e-bikes are fun! He's the editor of ebiketips and one of the founders of EBT's road cycling sister site, road.cc. He used to work on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike back in the day, and he's a former mountain bike bog snorkelling World Champion. Really.

4 comments

5 years 9 months ago

At 76 with a new hip and a doggy heart mine is great with no problems keeping up with the club run and dropping even the young bulls up the hills regularly completing 60 - 70 hilly Welsh miles @ around 12mph average with more than 50% charge left in the bag.  My advice is to husband the power assist as much as you can and not forget the Yamaha motor is not continuously rated to run at full power.    I average between 2 to 3 miles per 1% discharge rate. 

Best bike I’ve had in years. 

5 years 9 months ago

March 2nd 2018 I took delivery of my 75th birthday present to myself a new road 3+1 pro Ebike.  Reason- needed a complete new hip ball and socket following an aurgument with a deep pothole.   Now 12 months later husbanding the pedal assist mode in Ecco mode I am regularly getting 2.5 to 3 miles per 1% batter discharge when riding with group who regularly do 60-70 miles at an average of 14 15 mph.  Always keeping with group and always dropping them off the back up the hills I have as yet never gone below 50% battery discharge.  It’s the best thing that I have since my heart attack two years ago.  The  upper support limit is a bit disconcerting especially with a head wind when my group fight to keep the pace.  I find power assist drops out at 19mph but will not come back in until I drop to 16.5 that’s when I notice just how heavy it is compared to my old Giant road bike.  I am so secure when out knowing I’m not going to be off the back chasing hard to catch up all time as they all wait for me at the hill top. 

Centuary ride coming soon now weather is warming up.  

For me 5 big stars. 

5 years 11 months ago

I am 73 and purchased a Giant Quick E Plus Bike a year ago. I am fairly fit with no health problems. I have not cycled since I was about 18. I live in Tenterden, Kent and ride frequently to Rye, then along the coast to Littlestone and back up to Tenterden. There are a lot of 10-12 degree climbs along the way and the bike just about gets me up the steepest hills. I cycle and average of 45 miles and average 13 mph and the battery still has 10% left. The way I ride the bike ensures that I get a good workout and I enjoy pushing myself. I decided to do the Camino de Santiago (Pilgrimage route in Spain) in early Oct last year on my bike. I did the last 200 miles of the Camino, over 5 days, so I could get my Pilgimage Certificate. It involved long climbs through the mountain area with some climbs 6-12 kilometres. The E Bike was perfect without any problems. Only once did the battery die and I was under a mile from my destination. At the end of the 5 days I was fitter and had lost 5 kilos weight. My advise to anyone thinking of getting an E Bike is-DO IT but dont be tempted to get a cheap one. To get the range and the quality it costs around £2000+. The cheap bikes that say "up to 30 miles range" in reality do 15-20 miles which is not enough if you want to go out for the day.

Niteman67's picture
6 years 8 months ago

Dave,  Thanks for the insightful review, and yes I have purchased one.  The difference being that I am in the US and the speed is limited to 28mph on the assist, which is a blast.  It is a blessing to a 67 year old who now can keep up and ride with  friends again.  I can't attest to climbs as Florida is flat, but with a 10 mph headwind off the Atlantic, dialing in more assist and gearing correctly makes it a pleasure.

Thanks again for a good site.

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