akcapbikeforums

Came across a Giant bike made in Holland, circa 1986, lugged 4130 steel, I think biopace crank.

Does anyone know if these bikes were sold in the US -- or really anything about these bikes?

T-Mar

Often duties make importing unduly expensive. Some importers resort to the option of having them manufactured locally under license. Depending on the duty structure, another option may be to assemble imported frames and components. I know this was the case with Koga-Miyata during this period.

So my question is, was it actually manufactured or just assembled in the Netherlands? Neither would surprise me. However, at this time Giant was just beginning to export under their own brand in Europe, so I suspect it was only assembled in the Netherlands.

I don't believe Giant was even exporting to the USA in 1986. I believe that commenced circa 1988. So, if you're correct about the age, it may predate Giant USA and it's possible that some dealer was importing these bicycles directly to the US from the Netherlands. However, once Giant set up their US offices, I believe all the bicycles were coming from Asia, first Taiwan and later China.

Elev12k

I believe Koga were importer for Giant in Holland in the beginning. ''Quality touched by Koga'' was the slogan. Frame constructed in Holland sounds unlikely to me.

svensson

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Mar

So my question is, was it actually manufactured or just assembled in the Netherlands? Neither would surprise me. However, at this time Giant was just beginning to export under their own brand in Europe, so I suspect it was only assembled in the Netherlands.
I don't believe Giant was even exporting to the USA in 1986. ... So, if you're correct about the age, it may predate Giant USA and it's possible that some dealer was importing these bicycles directly to the US from the Netherlands. However, once Giant set up their US offices, I believe all the bicycles were coming from Asia, first Taiwan and later China.

Koga-Miyata founder Andries Gaastra, in a 2009 interview, revealed that in the 1980s he held a 50% stake in Giant Europe, which he later sold back to Giant Taiwan. The European line of Giant bicycles, which was launched in 1984, was assembled in Heerenveen, Netherlands, with frames and components from Japan, Taiwan (frame), and the Netherlands. The quality was excellent; in fact, it was so good (as was the price-performance ratio) that the Giant-branded bikes were cannibalizing sales from the Koga-Miyata line, and in 1988 the experiment was abandoned.
At the same time, Giant made the majority of bikes sold as Schwinn in the U.S. By the mid-1980s, more than two-thirds of Schwinn’s bikes, representing 75% of Giant’s sales, were made by Giant in Taiwan. This also explains why Schwinn and Giant bicycles during this period, not to mention the Koga-Miyata bikes, were remarkably similar.
Click to enlarge.