I'm thinking about getting a trail bike and both the Trek EX8 and the Giant X3 look really good. I'm learning towards the Giant because its a Taiwanese company and Taiwan has a reputation for designing and manufacturing ultra-high quality bikes (and other things too). I have no idea why some people think Giant is a Chinese company
I don't have anything against American built bikes (in fact I love them), and as far as I know Taiwanese and American bicycle design and manufacturing are at an identical quality level. Although, the previous experience I had with an American mountain bike was with Felt and it had gear shift issues, a flat tire and strange sounds from the front disc brake when it wasn't even applied within a week or 2 of purchase. No I'm not an aggressive rider. It could be that my dealer didn't build it properly, but still not a pleasant experience all in all. From what I've heard Giant bikes tend to be extremely reliable and have excellent geometry. Now, don't know about Trek...
The Trek EX8 looks AWESOME (it looks a bit more awesome compared to the Giant), but reviews said it had a conservative cross country feel compared to the Giant, so now I'm not too sure, since I am looking for a real trail bike, not a cross country bike. MBA scored the Trance X3 higher than the Trek EX8, but I'm looking for more opinions.
So I wolud like some informed opinions please. I know from looking at previous posts many people will just say "Buy American, buy Trek", but seeing those "reasons" kind of put me off from my initially firm decision to buy a Trek to be honest
and was what caused me to do more research on the Giant ...
Thanks!