Singletrack World editor Benjamin Howarth (Benji) tested Giant’s full-fat (full power) E-bike, the Reign E+ 3. Benji admires the Reign E+ for its powerful motor and massive 800Wh battery. He tested the Reign E+ for two months, giving him ample time to give his verdict on the electric mountain bike.
Benji opens his review discussing the suspension, describing the 170/160mm setup as ‘super progressive geometry’. He continues by suggesting that fore-bore electric mountain bikes are a completely different sport/vehicle and the Reign E+ gives the EMTB people what they want.
The Reign E+ runs the Energkypak 800Wh battery and the SyncDrive Pro 2 85Nm motor. The Singletrack World editor rode the Reign E+ in the top assist mode and still packed plenty of distance. He writes “In terms of range stats, a recent ride was 43.62km long with 1,135m of climbing, done entirely on top assist mode (‘Power’), and I still had about 15% battery remaining.”
“I’d actually put this bike way up there with the best full-power EMTBs I’ve ridden.”
Benji was also admirable of the SyncDrive Pro 2 motor. He particularly loved the power and sound. Going into more detail on the motor, he writes; “They have a pleasing amount of thrill and power but without any surprises or unhelpful shoves. I also like the noise they make; it really helps you know what the motor is doing which is, again, particularly good for technical climbing.”
Giant’s SyncDrive Pro motor uses PedalPlus 6-sensor technology. In short, you can put your E-bike into auto-assist mode, where the motor will give you the appropriate assist depending on the terrain or slope. However, you can also tune the motor to your specific needs using the Giant RideControl App.
Benji wrote the following on the RideControl App.
“The app by the way is one of the better ones out there. Quick, reliable, pretty straightforward and allows you to do a decent amount of motor tuning also.”
So how does the Reign E+ perform on the trails? The Singletrack World editor claimed he was surprised by the Reign E’s mobility.
“Not only does it seem to look really cool once it’s out there and someone is riding it, but it also showed a very high level of manoeuvrability for such a seemingly OTT steamroller of an eMTB.”
To summarise, Benji describes the Reign E+ as an E-bike that could convert a lot of people from ordinary/mechanical mountain bikes. He continues “It can just do so much more terrain than a regular bike, both in terms of sheer mileage but also severity of terrain. It does borderline feel like a different sort of sport.”
Read the full Singletrack Reign E+ review
Shop the Reign E+ range
