"What should have been an easy life, turned into a troubled existence"
Here's our long term review of the Giant Reign e+3 eMTB. We owned the bike for approximately 18 months and put it to use for everything from the very occasional technical enduro MTB tracks to long non technical routes and gravel rides.
Why we bought the bike? We're lucky to have our own fleet of road, gravel and MTB hire bikes and personal bikes and most of our bikes have a relatively easy life. They're serviced far more regularly than most and we don't keep them long enough to let them go tatty, as we want our guests to have a fantastic hire bike experience.
The Reign was purchased with intention of using it for a bit of everything, but primarily to give a me the option of a break from long days of back to back riding. Sometimes, I can be guiding guests every day for three weeks or more and no matter how fit you are, an easier day is often welcome.
I have several other 'accoustic' or non electric mountain bikes that I love to ride, including a Cannondale Scalpel and a Mondraker Foxy and so my expectation was always that the Reign would see limited riding on challenging terrain or long epic XC days.
The specifications
Here's a brief overview of the key specs. You can find the official specs online.
Giant Reign e+3 2022/23
Size Medium
170mm Front suspension
160mm Rear Suspension
625Wh Battery
85Nm Yamaho Motor
4 Piston Shimano brakes
29/27.5 Mullet wheel setup
Shimano 12 speed Drive train
Less than 64 degree head angle
It's a big and heavy full fat enduro E-MTB, with a long, low and slack geometry, with a powerful motor and lots of battery life. For most of it's life, its been a comfy armchair but when called upon, it rips and there's not much terrain it can't handle.
How does it ride?
Climbing on non technical gravel roads is a hoot and the level of assistance available often means you can storm up climbs, keeping your heart rate in check and staying in zone 2 where you'd otherwise be huffing. puffing and swearing.
Technical climbing is a hoot too and for the most part, you can point and shoot and the bike will just roll over things. The rear wheel does bash into things more than a 29" wheel would, but there's so much power on tap it will eventually find some grip and keep on going. However, most of the same, it's simply not safe or necessary to use full power. On routes with exposure, I would generally keep it in the first two powerbands (there are five).
Despite the slack geometry, I didn't find the front wheel wandered too much when going up. The seat tube is steep, the saddle comfortable and plush suspension keeps things planted and rolling.
However, technical riding in the Low or Slacker position resulted in pedal strikes all of the time. It was better in High, but again not perfect, despite the short crank arms.
The low slung posture of the bike and geometry does make for a confidence inspiring descending bike when everything is working as it should. It could not be described as a playful or poppy bike. but point it at any kind of chunky gnar and it steamrolls over everything, in a straight line. Cornering at the speeds the bike allows you to approach a corner really requires some physical effort. A physically strong and advanced rider may be able to muscle it around more than I could, but often I ended up scrubbing speed off to give my self more confidence getting it turned. Point. Shoot. Brake. Turn.
Given the 26kg plus weight of the bike and my tendency to over brake unless "on it" meant that on tighter and twisty trails, the bike isn't that exciting and nvever gets going. It mutes the terrain and remains poised waiting for a long stretch to be set off the leash.
Changes Made to the bike Not many! I changed to a 35mm stem to reduce the reach a little bit and cut the bars to 760mm to better fit my 171cm height. I also fitted a bottle cage, which could accommodate a small 450ml bottle without rubbing the top tube.
Online, you'll read about folks complaining about the Shimano Deore 4 piston brakes and organic pads. However, in region of Valencia it rarely rains and the trails are dry, dusty and rocky. I found that keeping pads clean was usually enough to ensure good braking. A much faster or heavier ride than me might however want to consider braking upgrades.
The Good
The motor and pedal assist never skipped a beat.
The wired power controller worked and I enjoyed not having to look at a screen or the LED status bar on the bike.
The dropper post worked perfectly every time, with zero maintenance of play. The Giant wheels remained true and air tight.
The quality of the frame finish and paint is excellent.
The Bad
Where do we start? During our time with the bike it was beset with problems. There was nothing that could not be fixed, but the issues we did face only served to highlight how important choosing a brand and model, with parts and a motor that is supported and serviced by a local bike shop.
The battery charger simply stopped working after 6 months, with minimal usage. This was replaced under warranty and took a couple of weeks.
The Fox Float shock "cavitated" or collapsed mid ride when on a rocky route, resulting in pedal smashes and the down side of the down side getting bashed. It was also pretty scary.
This was repaired under warranty.
The battery managed to disconnect itself from the motor several times.
Shimano 12 speed derailleur cages are made of cheese. Soft French cheese and the bike managed rip through 4, yes 4 derailleurs (Deore, SLX and XT) by twisting the inner cage and pulley so much as to make the bike un-rideable. It did this once setting off from the Casa. Another time, I was only 1km from the Casa but twice it happened in the middle of nowhere, resulting in long walks. And no the issue was not B-tension screw adjustment!
Rockshox Domain r fork would lose all compression damping, making technical riding positively scary and incredibly jarring, with no ability to absorb or track the terrain. After having it serviced twice locally, which did not remedy the the problem, it was eventually repaired under warranty at SRAM.
Anytime you have to hike a bike, it is akin to lighting heavy weights at the gym for far longer than you'd choose to do, with no option to stop and put them down. The walk assist mode is mostly useless it is smooth and open.
Our thoughts and recommendations
When the bike worked, it worked brilliantly for its intended purpose. However, it really is too much bike in many situations. For a fit rider, I don't think a 625Wh battery is really necessary either, unless you plan to use it as an uplift alternative. I rarely came back with it close to drained, so if you're in the market for a full fat bike with a 750Wh or bigger battery, give some serious consideration to the option of model with a small battery and optional extender. We had many rides ruined by a multitude of small but annoying problems, but sold the bike having fixed everything. It did highlight the need for local support and a good warranty and we are happy that we fixed the problems in a timely manner. If it was our only bike, we would probably feel differently at being without the bike on so many occasions.
The suspension platform is excellent, as is typically with Giant Maestro bikes. We even used the bike with no power assistance and it pedals remarkably given its girth. The stock suspension is basic, but works well enough when setup correctly.
The bike absolutely has to be ridden in the high geometry position and even then small cranks or running firmer air spring rates is recommended. It's really a Super Enduro bike that would be most at home at a steep and flowy bike park rather than the natural rocky trails of the Valencia mountains. That said, for a new rider looking to build confidence on a big, burly arm chair ride of a bike, it could tick the box too. However, for our next ebike, we've chosen a sub 20kg SL model. For most of its time with us, we looked longingly at the other bikes in our fleet and would typically choose not to take the eReign out. During my MTB life, I've loved Giant Anthem, Trance and Reign bikes perhaps more than any other bikes, but sadly I never fully gelled with the big orange electric beast. In hindsight, an electric Trance might have been the better choice.
I still think it's a great bike for the right person with the right use case and that Giant are a great brand. But there's no getting away from the weight, limited usage sweetspot and chequered life it lead with us.
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