Giant lafree Twist

Sniper45

Pedelecer
Apr 27, 2019
33
0
Hi I have the chance of buying a 2002 giant lafree Twist I know it's old but are they any good what should I look for and can it be improved
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,993
Basildon
Hi I have the chance of buying a 2002 giant lafree Twist I know it's old but are they any good
It depends what you want it for. I know a few people that found that they work quite well as a garden trellis. Others use them as a decoy bike. You put your normal bike securely locked in the shed and a Giant twist in the garage.When the stupid thieves brake in, they don't know what it is, especially if it's dark, so they steal it and leave your other stuff alone. That normally works out cheaper than insurance.

My advice is that unless you like the advice above or you just want a project and don't care about how much it costs, keep well clear of it. The battery is probably knackered, so a fairly expensive repair might get some life out of the bike, but it's under-powered compared with modern bikes - better than nothing, but not by much.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: flecc

Hunterz

Just Joined
Jun 11, 2021
1
0
I've had one for a couple of years they aren't as good as some newer ones but it's as good as the £700 one I got from Halfords.build quality is excellent and it's been reliable.if you just want one to use on roads or smooth tracks it does the job just be careful of the battery you can't buy an original replacement but you can get them converted to lithium for around £300 or if your good at tinkering you can get a generic one for £150+that you can persuade to fit.ive still got the original battery and I get on average 12 mile still
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,209
30,608
As both VFR400 and Hunter say, it's a very risky buy but if you are lucky and it's reliable and the battery is good might be worth it, but don't pay too much. It's 19 years old and only cost £850 new including VAT, so anything over £100 is too much.

They do have some inherent faults that randomly occur and there are no spares available.

To put this into perspective member georgehenry bought a far more recent second hand e-bike for £100 which has turned out to be a great buy.

You can read about it on this link
.