Hello,
So I almost hit 2000km on my Reign E+1 and thought I could do a writeup/review of my experiences with it so far. During the ownership I was also doing an analysis of my rides and battery consumption. Everything is also added in the writeup.
If someone finds it useful here it is, if not also fine.


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Giant Reign E+1 M 2022 Impressions & Analysis
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1. Bike Specs
- True Weight( Pedals, Tubeless, 625Wh Battery ): 26Kg / 57,32 lb
- Tires Stock: Maxxis DHF 29x2,6 EXO+ MaxxTerra / HR 29x2,5 DD MaxxTerra
- Drivetrain Stock: Shimano XT 12 Speed( 36T/10-51T )
- Battery: 625Wh (3983g / 8,78 lb), 800Wh(4341g / 9,57 lb)
- Odometer: 1941 km / 1206 mi
- Motor Max Power: 682W
2. Rider Specs
- Rider Weight: 87Kg / 192 lb + Gear ≈ 90Kg / 198 lb
- Rider Height and Inseam : 178cm / 84cm; 5feet 10inch / 33 inch
- My FTP: 191W
- Riding Type: Mix of Uphill/Downhill/Trails/Parks
- Riding Terrain Split : Asphalt 1/5, Gravel 1/5, Forrest Access Roads 1/5, Loam Trails 1/5, Parks 1/5
- Special Remarks: Do not use assistance on flat asphalt access roads(use it for warmup)
- Pedals: Clipless
3. Analysis Base
- Rides Nr.: 26x ( 13 x 625Wh Battery, 13 x 800Wh Battery )
- Time Frame.: February 22 – Septmber 22
- Ride temperature range: 5°C - 37°C / 41°F - 99°F
- Pressure used: Uphill 2,1 Bar / 31 Psi; Downhill 1,3 Bar / 19 Psi
4. Ride Measurments ( 26x Ride Average )
- Average Altitude Gain: 959 m / 3146 ft
- Average Asscent Distance: 12,7 km / 7,9 mi
- Average Total Distance: 30,6 km / 19 mi
- Average Battery Consumption( Mix of 625Wh/800Wh ): 46% / 325Wh
- Average Battery Consumption: 34Wh / 100m/328ft d+
- Average Assistance Level used: 180% (Giant terminology) = 45% (Specialized terminology)
- Average Incline: 8%
- Average Battery consumption per (100m/328ft d+) at different Assistance Levels at 8% incline:
50% - 17Wh
75% - 23Wh
100% - 26Wh
125% - 28Wh
150% - 30Wh
175% - 33Wh
200% - 35Wh
250% - 37Wh
300% - 39Wh
350% - 40Wh
400% - 42Wh
- Longest Rides:
- ( 625Wh Battery; 63,5km/39,5mi; 1745m/5725ft d+; 4h30m; 6,1 % Average Incline )
- ( 800Wh Battery; 90,4km / 56,2mi; 2108m/6916ft d+; 4h34min; 6,2 % Average Incline )
6. Ride Impresions
- Motor gets qiueter after first 250km/150mi.
- Motor gets hot when ambient temperatures are above 30°C/86°F.
- Motor cuts assistance at 23,5km/h to 24,5km/h in left(50-300%) and middle(75-350%) assistance settings in the App. Motor cuts assistance at 25,5km/h to 26,5km/h in right assistance settings(100-400%) in the App.
- In contrast to the smooth cutout of assistance can the wall effect on the limit be quite annoying as it pulses on/off if the pedaling motion is not smooth and round, usually not a problem at least for(like to spin not mash on the pedals).
- Motor can emitt an annoying resonance sound when chain is not under full tension( high cadence, big cogs on cassette and on flat terrain). 99% of the time you don't use this gear/ride combo, so very rarely it's bothering me.
- Motor response to pedal presures is very sensitive but in contrast the power delivery is so smooth that it easily climbs up everything I throw at it.
- Motor assistance is present in a very broad cadence range up to 120 rpm.
- Motor noise is present to a level that you never forget its there but its quiet enough to not be bothersome.
- By feel for me the motor works most optimal with the 175% assistance mode. The peak efficiency of electric motors is bettwen 55% - 85%. My FTP of 191W + 175% = 525W = 77% of Max Motor Power. So if you know your FTP you can calculate at which assistance level the motor will work most efficient for you.
- After 1941Km there is no play in any parts of the frame, motor, etc…
- The headset area sometimes creaks a bit, but a cleanup usually solves that(I suspect the crown race that is a cut type not the pressfit type.
- I terms of sizing I am right bettwen M and L, I decided for the M because of the fact that ebikes due to their weight are inherently stable already so a smaller/shorter frame would be benficial for tight and twisty trails. Very rarely I miss a longer frame.
- I ride the bike in HIGH position, I think the high position fork angle is the sweet spot for everything a man can ride.
- The charger provided is great, has a 60% charge mode, perfect for battery storage. It is a smart charger, when it reaches 100% it goes on standby.
- One special thing I noticed on one of my last rides is that if I pedal with also pulling up on the pedals(not common on e-bikes) the motor power delivery changes in a positive way. Feels as it's way more powerfull-reccomend trying.
- The battery efficiency follows the typical li-ion discharge curves that point to a 15 to 20% loss of energy. For my measurments I took the numbers where ai noticed extremly low efficiency, those were the first 2% and last 13% of the battery which coresponds to a 15% loss of energy(heat, chemistry, etc…) per full battery charge. In laymans terms, every li-ion battery inherently has minus 15% juice from the stated one because off losses. By my measurments the first 2% and last 13% the efficiency is extremly low, you can expect that from any emtb battery as its inherent to all li-ion batteries.
7. Comparing Giant Assistace Levels vs Specialized or other similar type Assistance Levels(say if you have a buddy with a Levo and want to compare the Assistance level).
50% = 13%
75% = 19%
100% = 25%
125% = 31%
150% = 38%
175% = 44%
200% = 50%
250% = 63%
300% = 75%
350% = 88%
400% = 100%
Keep in mind that on the Levo it's also possible to decrease max torque( not possible on the Giant).
8. Upgrades or Replacement Parts
- Had to change the KMC chain at 1200km as it has stretched up to 1,0 level. Running an XT chain now(perfect shifting).
- Changed and cut the bars for more compliant carbon bars with more rise.
- Changed the FOX 38 small fender to the XL fender(best choice).
- Running an upsidedown front Mudhugger FRX on the rear, looks a litle Moto, but works like a charm.
- Changed the lowest grade Shimano Rotors(that were not up to the task) to Galfer 223mm/203mm E rotors. Due to the 2mm thickness of the new rotors is the caliper alignment crucial, but once you get it perfect the Shimano XT/Galfer combo works incredible.
9. What I miss:
- A possibility to see the charge state in % during charging without unpluging the charger and connecting the App.
- A possibility to change Assistance level in 10% increments like Specialized new TCU has, in one Yt reviev it was proven that using that way of assistance control increases range.
- Possibility to change the assistance mode settings without the use of the App that needs data reception.
- A display showing battery state in %(I solved this by connecting a Garmin watch with an E-bike field, that also in post in the App showes assistance levels, battery consumption in a graph.
- A possibility to decrease max torque in the settings(it would aid for better range).
- An ergonomic(human friendly design) remote, the butons tilted towards the thumb and with haptic or/and audio feedback, as in MTB environment it is realy not recomended to look down if your press was succsesfull or not.
- Longer dropper post( stock a 150mm on the M size ), planning to change that to a 180mm.
10. Issues
- The Fox X2 shock had cavitation problems from the get go, its loud on the first few compressions, then it goes quiet. Otherwise its working fine.
- The shifting can be clunky if you shift under load(I blame the 3 pawl freehub ratchet design with a longer engagement angle).
- Had only one occasion that the motor decreased power due to overheating(realy hot day, hard/fast/long) climb with high cadence. 》》》Update - I thought I should describe the occasion: So the power decrease lasted maybe about 10 seconds overall, happened just under the top of the mountain(biggest incline), motor was still pulling but with less power and it was back to normal in the next minute(cooldown). I finished the rest of that ride without any issues. Must remark here the climb was a bit of an casual uphill race in higher assistance modes among friends it was 7km long with an altitude gain of 800m d+ on real mtb terrain, so you can imagine the system had to work extremely hard. As an electrical engineer by education I think the implementation of this kind of power decrease software is a good thing, to so protect the motor and battery system.
11. Good Stock E-bike Parts
- Good - Freehub is a DT Swiss 350/370 Steel design – Strong(for the cassette not to eat into the splines), easy and cheap to swap for different brand cassettes.
- Good – Suspension FOX 38 Performance Elite Grip 2 E-Tuned, FOX X2 Performance Elite E-Tuned. The E-Tune does make a difference(like sending a regular fork for a specific tuneup).
- Good – Dropper Post being a generic Giant branded one is working suprisingly well and smooth.
- Good – The tires are excellent, although the rear High Roller DD is wearing fast-the smaller/mullet size and the e-torque isnt helping here (probably going to last just one season). The front DHF EXO+ is still in great condition.
- Good – Chainring Praxis Steel E-bike specific, good wear, easy goes 2 seasons.
Bad Stock E-bike Parts
- Bad – Disc brake rotors Shimano SLX RT-66 are completly inadequate for stoping a 26kg Ebike downhill. They were loud, heated up fast and didnt do the job.
- Bad – KMC Chain, while it lasted it has streched to fast and to long and with it you loose the Shimano Hyperglide shifting smoothnes(could be Giant speced the bikes with it because of supply shortages).
- Bad – Fork crown race being a simple cut design not the pressfit design. It tends to start creaking here and there and once dirt gets inside.
Update:
Overall Ride Impresions are that the bike is extremely stable at higher speed(feels planted - first what came to my mind was - like a Tank with suspension), climbs up anything because of the so smoooth power delivery and almost 78° seat tube angle, If you go smaller frame also very maneuverable(you just wonder where did all the weight go). The E-tuned Fox suspension package is incredibly plush and in contrast very supportive midtravel, I think the E-Tune is a must for ebikes. Till this time I didn't have any serious problems with the motor, battery, charger, frame, suspension...so I think I can say it's been reliable for me. Would I buy it again, Yes, what you get is really a lot of bang for buck.
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If anyone didn't see it yet also attaching some snaps of the PW-X 3 guts...
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Happy riding
