Silvercivic27

Yes

Accordion

Ah, of course. My mistake. My answer is maybe.

sced

Yes.

My wife has an aluminum TCR that she loves. She gets a lot of complements when out and about on it.

justkeepedaling

Giant makes very very good bikes, both mountain and road. Considering their carbon expertise, I would be surprised to hear that any of the new bikes is lacking in performance

gitarzan

Giant bikes are hard to get onto and off of.

rdtompki

I've put about 4000 miles on a Giant OCR1 between the 7000 miles of tandem riding this past 2-3 years. The bike offers very good value and is probably an excellent first road bike, but it's stiff and I'm dreading this Saturday's century, the first 100 miles on a single since we took up riding 3 years ago as senior citizens (we've ridden centuries on the tandem). This comfort thing is, of course, very personal and the single doesn't really fit me as well as my tandem.

bdaigleus

recently purchased Giant Defy advanced its my first road bike love it so far
all bontrager components, added puncture resistant tires after about 6
flats in the first 180 miles of riding.

Jed19

I have been a cyclist for a while. In my view, Giant bikes are good, but like a lot of other manufacturers (US and overseas) I won't name, their bikes just don't push my button. I really think bike design can benefit tremendously from designers that are as talented as Jony Ive, the head industrial design guy at Apple. It does not matter how good a bike is, for me, the "looks" has to push my buttons, then I'll test-ride to see how it rides. In my view, nothing spectacular is happening looks-wise with Giant bikes. And I put T*** and Sp********* in the same boat.

If the bike is "ugly" or "ho-hum" looks wise, then I'll be damned if I am gonna straddle it to find out how it rides.

Human beings are very visual and tactile animals, thus the looks thing. Think of courtship/dating. You have to like the looks before approach, even if the object of your desire has the manners/goodness of a Mother Teresa.

YMMV.

pgjackson

So far I love my Defy 1. What caught my eye was the beautiful paint, the tasteful badging, and the smooth welding. I've had guys ask if this is a carbon frame.

pgjackson

Different strokes. I actually really like the look of Giant bikes, particularly the Defy frame. They look different. Plus you don't see them on every street corner like you do some brands.

ilovecycling

I personally think the bikes are hideous. They pretty much have the most sloping top tube design in the industry. Their bikes look like bmx bikes with huge wheels. They also have a poor marketing and sales strategy, which is why you never see them around. They don't care though considering they are the manufacturing superpower of the carbon fiber bike industry and make their money one way or another.

Rowan

Taiwan is not China. China would love to get a hold of Taiwan, as it did Hong Kong. But the Taiwanese are a very proud and industrious bunch of people who defend their island's independence vehemently.

LesterOfPuppets

They got Horiz. TTs on their Tri/TT line. Still not pretty tho.

JustinHorne

Not 100% on topic, but:

I can't even imagine being comfortable that low down. Obviously not set up for me, but that's a hell of a bar drop.

chasm54

Maybe the UK market is different, but I see plenty of Giant bikes around and my fairly small LBS carries a pretty comprehensive range, from kids bikes through commuters to Defy advanced and TCR advanced. I have a TCR advanced myself. It's a very good bike, better in my view than the Cervelo I test-rode at the same time. Personally I like its looks, but that isn't a defining issue for me.

I think the reason they aren't more popular is simple snobbery. Some people would never buy a Ford even if it were conclusively proved that the Ford was a better car than the BMW. What matters to them is the badge, not the mechanicals. And if the badge costs more, that's all to the good because it reinforces their image of themselves. Same applies with bikes, lots of people are more interested in being seen on them than in actually riding them.

Jed19

True.

It's gonna be someday, though. I say in another 30years or so.

AdelaaR

"Giant" sounds like "******bag" somehow.

AdelaaR

... and that is why we are TT racers and you are not

znomit

Its no beach cruiser.

Rowan

Funny you should use that analogy. Top Gear, IIRC, decided that a certain Ford Focus hotrod was as good a car as much more expensive equivalents from prestigious European marques.

Giant is a very popular brand across the board here in Australia. I'm not sure, but I think Giant also led the way with compact frame design.

roadwarrior

That's hilarious because you absolutely cannot be serious.

roadwarrior

Let me help you with a little something here...Giant is the largest bike manufacturer on the planet. I work in the #1 shop in the nation for Giant sales (so we are talking millions here). They have depth in carbon with three frames in both the TCR and Defy lines. In the Defy, in the composite frame they are offering a bike for $2,200 with Ultegra. They make a high mod in both TCR and now the Defy. Don't like ISP's, you can still get the TCR high mod without one.

There are two types of riders. One, the ones I know, understand performance and can ride different bikes and tell what the engineers had in mind. Two, the ones that go strictly for looks because they would not have a clue so they go for a cool looking bike. High performance bikes are generally not for them.

Giant's line, in aluminum is really nice considering they are building a $1,300 bike on the same frame as the mid $600 bike. Trek, for example switches frames. For the price buyer, you are getting a much nicer frame which was redesigned again for 2012. Cannondale does not offer much at that price point, only the CAAD8.

This thread is like being in a bike shop. What's totally hilarious is that a company can be this large and people can say their marketing sucks. Marketing is for people that like bright shiny things and know no better.

BTW...Giant makes every tube, be it carbon or aluminum or cro moly (kids bikes and the entry Cypress hybrid) themselves from scratch. Every metal tube extrusion, every sheet of prepeg. They have total control of everything. If I didn't have a manufacturing relationship, Giant TCR Advanced SL would be my frame of choice.

roadwarrior

Good lord...that's the full seat post. You cut it for the rider. The same seat post shows up in different sizes. We have test ride seat posts to use so riders can get on them.

We had one of those last year. Giant released six to shops in the US and since we are the largest dealer in the US we obviously got one. It takes about a month to manufacture that frame. Three stems come with it to assist with fit.

BTW...we sold the one we had without a problem.

roadwarrior

Well said, and they are easy to ferret out in this forum. If people are going to criticise a manufacturer, at least have the decency of having some clue what you are talking about.

roadwarrior

Low volume shops have limited resources with which to carrry high end bikes. See, they have to buy the bikes from the manufacturer, and since we are all in the busines of SELLING bikes, not carrying them in a window like a museum piece, the shops that move product, well duh, get product. That's why, for example where I am we don't get Trek stuff first because Trek is our third brand and they take care of Trek only shops first.

Sheesh.