Advice on buying my first e bike

[Darren Turner]

Hi all. I am a newbie to the e bike world and I am days away from purchasing my first bike. I just cant seem to decide which bike to buy. I am hoping someone out there may be able to convince me which e bike to buy between two I have narrowed it down to, being the Trek Dual Sport + 2019 or the Giant Explore E + 4 GTS 2020. They seem to be very similar bikes. Is the Trek worth the extra $1300? The display on the Trek seems to provide more information on the screen and a few other little extras like a light. From what I have seen the Giant does not have a speed read out on a screen, but can be achieved on a smart phone app? However the Giant seems to have a more powerful motor? Are both bikes capable of being DE-restricted? We have a very lame 25 kmph speed limit for e bikes here in Australia. Has anyone owned both or ridden both bikes? Any insight would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Mtl_Biker]

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of ebiking!

I can't advise you about those two bikes but will suggest that one of the most important things is to have a good local dealer you can depend on. An e-bike will often need more care and adjustment than a regular bike and without a good local dealer it can be quite tough. The other thing I'll say is that you really MUST sit on and try any bike you plan on buying. It's got to fit you right and be comfortable. I had test ridden a bike with medium frame size and while I could ride it alright, it was really hard to reach the ground when stopping. So I decided to buy (order from a dealer clear across the country) the bike I wanted with a small frame size. Then I found everything was smaller, not just the height off the ground. I felt really cramped in the "cockpit" of the bike and had to do a lot of changing of parts in order to feel comfortable.

As far as de-restricting an e-bike goes, I don't know about the Trek but at least for Giant, there are gadgets you can buy that plug into the existing motor connections to allow faster speeds. I ordered one for my bike (2019 Giant Explore E+1 GTS) and spent our winter trying to install it. And I finally gave up. There was just no way I was able to fit the device and wires back into the bike without pinching wires when I replaced the motor. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that was because of the small frame size of the my bike having less room in the tubes. So I'm back to having a restricted bike (32kph here in Canada) which I'm going to have to live with.

Oh, and yes, with the Explore E+4 you can use the smartphone app to see your ride statistics and tune the assist levels.

Good luck with your choice!

 

[TMH]

These seem like 2 nice bikes from 2 good manufacturers. Are you purchasing through a local shop? Is one shop better than the other?

Some differences between the bikes I see right off: The Giant has the well respected (some say most reliable) Yamaha based drive system, putting out 80Nm of torque. The Trek has well respected Bosch system, but that specific motor only puts out 50nM of torque. That is a significant difference for powering up hills, etc.

I don't know why Giant continues in this day and age to supply their bikes with 400 Wh batteries. At least the Trek has the minimum (in my opinion) sized 500 Wh battery.

As you have pointed out, the Purion display on the Trek is pretty minimal. Definitely not my favorite because I like more ride metrics (at least average speed). So to me on a Purion equipped bike I always factor in the additional cost of either replacing with an Intuvia, or adding a GPS based bicycle computer. But then you have to have something else on your bars, have to keep it charged, remove it when you park the bike, etc.

So both good bikes and both have pluses and minuses. Now you have to decide which are most important to you personally.

In the end, although I regret their choice of battery size I would pick the Giant. Especially for the price difference you noted. For less than that price difference you could get an additional battery if you needed the range.

 

[Darren Turner]

Hi TMH

Thank you for the responce.

I decided to go wit the Giant. I just couldn't justify the extra money on the Trek. Especially with much less torque in the l motor.

Cheers.

 

[Darren Turner]

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of ebiking!

I can't advise you about those two bikes but will suggest that one of the most important things is to have a good local dealer you can depend on. An e-bike will often need more care and adjustment than a regular bike and without a good local dealer it can be quite tough. The other thing I'll say is that you really MUST sit on and try any bike you plan on buying. It's got to fit you right and be comfortable. I had test ridden a bike with medium frame size and while I could ride it alright, it was really hard to reach the ground when stopping. So I decided to buy (order from a dealer clear across the country) the bike I wanted with a small frame size. Then I found everything was smaller, not just the height off the ground. I felt really cramped in the "cockpit" of the bike and had to do a lot of changing of parts in order to feel comfortable.

As far as de-restricting an e-bike goes, I don't know about the Trek but at least for Giant, there are gadgets you can buy that plug into the existing motor connections to allow faster speeds. I ordered one for my bike (2019 Giant Explore E+1 GTS) and spent our winter trying to install it. And I finally gave up. There was just no way I was able to fit the device and wires back into the bike without pinching wires when I replaced the motor. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that was because of the small frame size of the my bike having less room in the tubes. So I'm back to having a restricted bike (32kph here in Canada) which I'm going to have to live with.

Oh, and yes, with the Explore E+4 you can use the smartphone app to see your ride statistics and tune the assist levels.

Good luck with your choice!

Hi MTL

Thank you for the responce.

I decided to go wit the Giant. I just couldn't justify the extra money on the Trek. Especially with much less torque in the motor.

Cheers.

 

[TMH]

Congrats on your decision - I'm sure you will love your new Giant!