Months of looking - finally made my 1st e-bike purchase today!!

[HIGHL4NDER]

Hi all. I've been looking at this forum, watching an obscene amount of e-biking videos and reading a lot of reviews for the past 2 months. Finally took the plunge today with a Giant Stance E+1!

Thanks to all of you who have posted reviews, hints & tips, or even shared your problems. I really feel like I had a wealth of knowledge available before making the jump.

For anyone interested, the choice came down to a few factors:
1. Budget - £3200 was my max price point, unfortunately a relatively low budget in the e-bike world, so no Turbo Levo for me!

2. Kit - I'm on the heavy side at 14.5st (202lbs) and over 40, so I wanted a full sus. I also wanted a 500Wh battery, dropper post, tubeless setup and reasonable finishing kit, all of which I was able to get in budget.

3. Store - I LOVE the look of some of the direct to customer options like the E-Sommet, but Im no bike mechanic and having a dealer that I trust to help if things go wrong was really important. Thankfully I live near to excellent places like Edinburgh Bicycle CoOp and Pedal Power.

Runner up was a Cube Stereo Hybrid 140, but in demo the Stance just "felt right"!

Picking it up early next week. Hopefully lots of e-biking fun ahead.

***
Big thanks to Rob as well, your videos started this e-bike journey when all I had wanted to know was why my Hero 7 Black footage was rubbish!! Footage looks SO much better with your settings, so thanks for that as well!

H.

 

[MitchF]

I bought the same a month ago, you won’t regret it, great bike.
Enjoy ???

 

[JBS215]

I will be quite interested in what you think of the Giant Stance E+1, I am picking up a Giant Stance E+2 on Monday.
Unfortunately my budget wasn't enough for a E+1.
I'm a bit heavier at 15 stone but a little younger.
Can't seem to find many people with the stance most have the trance so it would be good to have other people opinions.

 

[Titch mortimer]

Nice choice i went the other way cube stereo 140 but the Giant stance came a close second purely because my next door neighbour has a collection of giant mtbs and emtb's all Orange and didn't want to copy.

 

[HIGHL4NDER]

Thank you all for the welcome!

@MitchF I seen you just picked up the same bike, glad to see you enjoying it. Hopefully I can add to the pics of our glorious orange frames on the GIANT pages!

@JBS215 The components are very slightly better, but the only difference I think you will genuinely notice is the battery being a 400WH and not a 500WH, so your fun might stop just a little sooner! I actually found getting details or reviews of any lower end bikes really really difficult. Most review sources cover very few bikes under £4000. I literally found no reviews of this entire range other than the Trance E+2 review Knut has on this site.

All I need now is an EMTB shirt and my journey to the dark side will be complete! (I mean e-mtb are quicker, easier... and I dare say more seductive as well!) Sorry Yoda.

 

[AndyH]

Hi all. I've been looking at this forum, watching an obscene amount of e-biking videos and reading a lot of reviews for the past 2 months. Finally took the plunge today with a Giant Stance E+1!

Thanks to all of you who have posted reviews, hints & tips, or even shared your problems. I really feel like I had a wealth of knowledge available before making the jump.

For anyone interested, the choice came down to a few factors:
1. Budget - £3200 was my max price point, unfortunately a relatively low budget in the e-bike world, so no Turbo Levo for me!

2. Kit - I'm on the heavy side at 14.5st (202lbs) and over 40, so I wanted a full sus. I also wanted a 500Wh battery, dropper post, tubeless setup and reasonable finishing kit, all of which I was able to get in budget.

3. Store - I LOVE the look of some of the direct to customer options like the E-Sommet, but Im no bike mechanic and having a dealer that I trust to help if things go wrong was really important. Thankfully I live near to excellent places like Edinburgh Bicycle CoOp and Pedal Power.

Runner up was a Cube Stereo Hybrid 140, but in demo the Stance just "felt right"!

Picking it up early next week. Hopefully lots of e-biking fun ahead.

***
Big thanks to Rob as well, your videos started this e-bike journey when all I had wanted to know was why my Hero 7 Black footage was rubbish!! Footage looks SO much better with your settings, so thanks for that as well!

H.

Congratulations! I suspect you will soon be spending a bit of cash on clothes, food and other kit so you can make the most of your new toy! Welcome to the club!

 

[Lee Dove]

Hi all. I've been looking at this forum, watching an obscene amount of e-biking videos and reading a lot of reviews for the past 2 months. Finally took the plunge today with a Giant Stance E+1!

Thanks to all of you who have posted reviews, hints & tips, or even shared your problems. I really feel like I had a wealth of knowledge available before making the jump.

For anyone interested, the choice came down to a few factors:
1. Budget - £3200 was my max price point, unfortunately a relatively low budget in the e-bike world, so no Turbo Levo for me!

2. Kit - I'm on the heavy side at 14.5st (202lbs) and over 40, so I wanted a full sus. I also wanted a 500Wh battery, dropper post, tubeless setup and reasonable finishing kit, all of which I was able to get in budget.

3. Store - I LOVE the look of some of the direct to customer options like the E-Sommet, but Im no bike mechanic and having a dealer that I trust to help if things go wrong was really important. Thankfully I live near to excellent places like Edinburgh Bicycle CoOp and Pedal Power.

Runner up was a Cube Stereo Hybrid 140, but in demo the Stance just "felt right"!

Picking it up early next week. Hopefully lots of e-biking fun ahead.

***
Big thanks to Rob as well, your videos started this e-bike journey when all I had wanted to know was why my Hero 7 Black footage was rubbish!! Footage looks SO much better with your settings, so thanks for that as well!

H.

If you got it from The Edinburgh Bike CoOp you will be all setup. The guys there are pretty good with EBikes.

 

[HIGHL4NDER]

@Lee Dove they were awesome as always! Happy to do the extra stuff I asked for, very patient. Even ok with a short test ride round the cycle paths at the back of their store. Always get a smile and a laugh in there.

Alpine Bikes over at Glentress were really helpful as well. Had a great day demoing a Cube Reaction Hybrid HD 500 on my usual red/blue trails (my busted back says no to black and is my reason for getting an ebike). Was literally the first time in 5yrs I had made it to the upper car park without being in a great deal of pain! 100% pain free on the e-bike.

 

[Lee Dove]

@Lee Dove they were awesome as always! Happy to do the extra stuff I asked for, very patient. Even ok with a short test ride round the cycle paths at the back of their store. Always get a smile and a laugh in there.

Alpine Bikes over at Glentress were really helpful as well. Had a great day demoing a Cube Reaction Hybrid HD 500 on my usual red/blue trails (my busted back says no to black and is my reason for getting an ebike). Was literally the first time in 5yrs I had made it to the upper car park without being in a great deal of pain! 100% pain free on the e-bike.

With an Ebike riding the Black at Glentress is like riding the Red. It was graded black because of the length and climbs originally I think.

Alpine are good , I have a couple of mates who work there , I only live 4 miles away.

 

[HIGHL4NDER]

@Lee Dove well when you see a fat guy on a bright orange GIANT ebike with orange pedals, say hi!

 

[Lee Dove]

@Lee Dove well when you see a fat guy on a bright orange GIANT ebike with orange pedals, say hi!

Will do . I assume I am not looking for a very big Orange bike

 

[MitchF]

I will be quite interested in what you think of the Giant Stance E+1, I am picking up a Giant Stance E+2 on Monday.
Unfortunately my budget wasn't enough for a E+1.
I'm a bit heavier at 15 stone but a little younger.
Can't seem to find many people with the stance most have the trance so it would be good to have other people opinions.

I have one, good spec for the budget, the amount you could spend is pretty unlimited. Would I be any better or faster , not sure if I would. My smiles per gallon wouldn’t be any better for sure.

Changed my seat for size comfort, pedals as I have big wide feat, bars as I wanted a riser and wider bar. Gone tubeless, that makes a good difference.

Yamaha motor is great imo. No problems with anything so far.

 

[JBS215]

@MitchF
Thanks for the info.
What difference did going tubeless make?
Also one thing that I’m not sure about is how the Yamaha motor handles hitting the 15mph limit, can you pedal past it fairly easily or is there a lot of drag?

 

[MitchF]

You notice the 15mph restriction, it fades out. On the flat it’s easy to hit, they’ll all do it.
That’s when you notice the weight of an e-bike. Yes there is some drag, my mate rides Cube and his is the same. It’s not massive drag but noticeable , use the gears and get a work out?? On the down hill you won’t notice it as you’ll be up above 25mph concentrating and laughing a kid.
The tubeless just gives me confidence , I am less conscious and looking further along the trail for my chosen routes. I’m also running less pressure which is more comfortable and more grip.

 

[33red]

I am pretty sure you will like it. I am considering it, the Yamaha is tought to beat. How much does it weight?

 

[HIGHL4NDER]

Wow!!! Picked it up last night and out on its first run this evening. Took it down to a place called Tinto Hill which I walked up last year and really really struggled with my back. On this beast though! 2000ft (600m) or so of climbing and it just shredded it. No back pain, solid workout and a blast coming down.

So happy

Also, after that climb and roughly 24km ridden, still got over 50% battery, and I needed some serious help at times!

@33red weighed it using me holding it on some scales (so not super accurate) came out as 23kg.

 

[MitchF]

Great choice, aren’t they great fun ?

 

[JBS215]

@HIGHL4NDER
I got mine on Monday, my first ride was 48 km / 30 miles.
It used 47% of the battery, 75% down to 28%. Although I have the smaller battery compared to yours. Elevation gain was 1729 ft / 527 m.
I was really please with it and it has a lot more range than what I thought.

 

[couplands]

Wow!!! Picked it up last night and out on its first run this evening. Took it down to a place called Tinto Hill which I walked up last year and really really struggled with my back. On this beast though! 2000ft (600m) or so of climbing and it just shredded it. No back pain, solid workout and a blast coming down.

So happy
View attachment 16049

Also, after that climb and roughly 24km ridden, still got over 50% battery, and I needed some serious help at times!

@33red weighed it using me holding it on some scales (so not super accurate) came out as 23kg.

Is that Tinto near Biggar...? My folks used to live there in the 80's. Lovely spot..;-)

 

[HIGHL4NDER]

@couplands the very one! As far as a bike trail goes it isn't really that exciting. But the views from the top are just awesome. There isn't another peak anywhere near it so you can see for miles in all directions.

 

[MitchF]

@HIGHL4NDER
I got mine on Monday, my first ride was 48 km / 30 miles.
It used 47% of the battery, 75% down to 28%. Although I have the smaller battery compared to yours. Elevation gain was 1729 ft / 527 m.
I was really please with it and it has a lot more range than what I thought.

If that’s the Stance E+1, it’s the same 500 battery as mine. I get 20mls off road on power setting three with 2 bars left. Try and keep my cadence high.