The Reign E+ 1 has 160mm of twinlink ‘Maestro’ suspension, a ‘mullet’ wheel set-up and long, low and slack geometry. It’s fitted with a Giant/ Yamaha co-developed SyncDrive Pro motor touting 85Nm of max torque. We struggled to get more than 1,700m of ascending from the 625Wh battery on a single charge, even in the lowest support mode. But it feels like it has more power than Shimano’s EP8, sitting close to Bosch’s Performance Line CX drive unit in terms of grunt.

This is amplified when setting off; the Yamaha motor is keen to get going, causing wheelspin if you’re not careful. You can feel the motor surging and engaging as it senses rider inputs. This sensitivity means it’s quick to react, but makes its assistance very binary (on/off), detracting from the ride and making controlling the bike tricky.

The Giant’s steep 77-degree seat tube angle dominates its uphill feel, positioning your hips over the BB and distributing your weight evenly between the wheels, which helps with generating traction. Over small bumps, the suspension is fluttery, but doesn’t have the ‘bottomless’ feel of some bikes. With 100 per cent or lower antisquat at sag in all gear ratios, there’s no perceptible kickback when pedalling, but the rear wheel can get hung up on bumps, especially as the bike gets deeper into its travel.

On the downs, the Reign E+ is a rocket ship, and feels incredibly direct and taut. Hard, quick rider inputs translate to decisive changes in direction. Its stiffness and weight help it hold lines well, too, although it requires a confident, powerful rider, as one wrong weight shift can cause it to shoot off-line just as quickly. In bumpy terrain, it feels overly harsh, the wheels’ spokes twanging and pinging on every hit. The deep-profile rims and wheel build clearly accentuate its direct ride.

We hoped the Giant would be a top performer on the type of fast downhill terrain its slack 63.7-degree head angle and low 329mm BB height are designed for, but muscling it down the trail proved tricky, especially when cruising, and it was unforgiving and fatiguing to ride hard all the time. At full speed it’s devilishly quick and super-responsive to deliberate inputs, but the commitment required to get it to ride well isn’t equal to the reward, with softer-feeling, more forgiving bikes achieving the same speeds with less rider involvement.

If you’re a heavier, faster or more committed rider, we’re sure you’ll get a lot from the Reign E+, but for lighter or less experienced folk it’s just too much bike to manhandle around.

Exhilarating to ride at full chat, but its stiffness, weight and long chassis otherwise make it tricky to tame