General Question about Giant Popularity

[Labrador29]

I belong to a group of NZ geriatric MTB riders, most with e-mtbs. Riders of varying experience and skill levels. Quite a few of the better riders own 2020/2021 carbon fibre Specialized e-mtbs that retail for around NZD$18,000. (Some have had electrical problems and one or two motor problems).
I am the only one riding a Giant ( 2022 Giant Trance X +1 29'er) I am delighted with my e-mtb, my only complaint, the Giant is not as nimble around tight switchbacks due to the 29" wheels.
Previous e-mtb was a 2019 Giant Trance +1 Pro. Great run from that, Over 12,000 km in two years.
My question is: Why are Giants seldom mentioned on this forum. I understood Giant are one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world. Are they not common/popular in GB, Europe, USA and Australia?
In my humble opinion, Giant are under-rated.
I've got broad shoulders, so let the comments fly!!

 

[Rickster]

More like overrated… Keep your bike cool and dry…Everything is a “Secret “ with Giant. If you’re handy good luck getting any tech info from them, even a simple current parts list. Having owned a 22R/0 and the nightmare I went through with them almost required legal action, but that’s another story.
Alot of ebikes seem basically the same until you have to get technical with the manufacturer, then the difference becomes Very obvious.
Rant over Good luck and enjoy your ride

 

[RustyIron]

Are they not common/popular in GB, Europe, USA and Australia?

They're pretty huge in the U.S. I think of them like the Chevrolet of bicycles. They're a Goliath and they build a solid product. There are a LOT of dealers, and they provide good service. They're not a "boutique" manufacturer, but they never claimed to be. If I had to distill it down to a single sentence, it would be, "Giant offers a good product at a good price."

 

[ilostmypassword]

I thought of this too. I think they don't need to shout about their products online as people buy them regardless. I mean I don't even see any marketing online anywhere!

On my Trance I often pass other riders on more expensive branded bikes. Its the rider really - as most modern bikes are dialled AF- but that does not make for good marketing

 

[Kingerz]

They are extremely popular and the world's largest bicycle designer and manufacturer, just look at the sales figures and consider too that they make frames for other brands like Scott and Trek.
There is a lot of snobbery in the bike world just as with cars and people in Audis often think they are better than those in Toyotas.

 

[dave_uk]

just one Giant used in our group. Poor quality compared to any other model in our group - Specialized/Trek/Vitus - I would never buy a Giant, I would never buy a ebike using a shimano motor again either.

WRONG: we do have a chinese ebike in the group. Now that is just crap, dont waste your money IMHO.

 

[JP-NZ]

My question is: Why are Giants seldom mentioned on this forum.

There is a whole section on Giant further down the page... They get mentioned there plenty

 

[ilostmypassword]

just one Giant used in our group. Poor quality compared to any other model in our group - Specialized/Trek/Vitus - I would never buy a Giant, I would never buy a ebike using a shimano motor again either.

WRONG: we do have a chinese ebike in the group. Now that is just crap, dont waste your money IMHO.

I disagree. Specialized have more issues with their ebikes than any other brand and they are overpriced Merida frames

Giant frames are just fine if you look past the paint finishes - which is really what the other brands do better..... MARKETING.

TREK bikes may be also made by Giant?

 

[dave_uk]

I quite understand and accept your reply: you have to support Giant if you sell/ride them.

Its the norm for lesser model owner/sellers to attempt to vitiate Specialized.

 

[VWsurfbum]

I think they do what they do very well, and they were on my shortlist of bikes to consider. As pointed out above they aren't boutique and I'm a little bit of a tart, but I do like their Yamaha motors, and their spec to price point.
Their website is frustrating with the lack of weights, but I do understand why.
My Daughter has a Liv version ebike, it's bleeding great, and I would have the matching one but they are just so heavy compared to my Heckler.

 

[Ssscrudddy]

Perfectly happy with the Giants I've had.
ATX1000 in the late 90s, my first decent bike (pictured here when I got it back 11 years after it got nicked!)

Then a Trance in the noughties

& now a Fathom E+2 29er for the 20s

 

[RustyIron]

Dude! That thing is awesome!

 

[ilostmypassword]

I quite understand and accept your reply: you have to support Giant if you sell/ride them.

Its the norm for lesser model owner/sellers to attempt to vitiate Specialized.

You were the one to bring up how Specialized and other more flashy brands are better than Giant.. not me.

Anyway, I actually don't care what bike brands people own, and what labels they have on the "stuff" while being slave to debt

I'm more interested in riding bikes and having fun and adventure. I've owned many bike brands over the years and it irrelevant if it works as a tool to get you out on the trails.

Happy trails

 

[ilostmypassword]

Dude! That thing is awesome!

Totally! I lusted after these in the 90's. The paint job was so good too.

 

[cappuccino34]

I've had (and the wife has one too) a trance for 2 1/2 years and at the moment it's being reliable, fingers crossed.
The bike itself has been pretty OK, but the electrics are GARBAGE.
For some reason they decided to do their own firmware and software for the Yamaha motor, and their own battery management stuff. That's where most of our problems have been. The wife's bike had a duff battery for MONTHS before they'd accept that it was faulty, despite being able to swap batteries between bikes and thus prove where the fault lay. I even went as far as looking at the CANbus communication between the devices to show that the battery was stuck in charging mode and wouldn't turn on.

The wiring was dreadful and there's too much of it to fit nicely inside the cases. I ripped all the excess out and replaced it all with proper stuff and properly waterproof connectors. Since doing that it's been ok.


There's absolutely no way that I'd buy another Giant. Between mine and the wife's they've been broken more than they've been working.

 

[cappuccino34]

I suppose I should add, I wouldn't buy a Brose powered bike either, or a Shimano EP8, because everyone I know who has either of those has had aggro.

 

[Curt_H]

just one Giant used in our group. Poor quality compared to any other model in our group - Specialized/Trek/Vitus - I would never buy a Giant, I would never buy a ebike using a shimano motor again either.

WRONG: we do have a chinese ebike in the group. Now that is just crap, dont waste your money IMHO.

IMHO? You don't sound humble at all. As far as Giant, If you've had and are aware of broad scale problems or issues with this manufacturer, then by all means, share. If your making a blanket statement about a brand by "one giant used in our group" I'd suggest to readers of this post to pass over your extensive insights. BTW I've had great luck with Giant bikes and their e bikes, and agree with comments in this post; decent value but certainly not boutique but prices generally reflect that.

 

[Curt_H]

IMHO? You don't sound humble at all. As far as Giant, If you've had and are aware of broad scale problems or issues with this manufacturer, then by all means, share. If your making a blanket statement about a brand by "one giant used in our group" I'd suggest to readers of this post to pass over your extensive insights. BTW I've had great luck with Giant bikes and their e bikes, and agree with comments in this post; decent value but certainly not boutique but prices generally reflect that.

I disagree. Specialized have more issues with their ebikes than any other brand and they are overpriced Merida frames

Giant frames are just fine if you look past the paint finishes - which is really what the other brands do better..... MARKETING.

TREK bikes may be also made by Giant?

I wish I could share with you guys pics from late 80's early 90's on specialized frames I had. Mountain (down tube completely snapped off head tube going uphill) and road (carbon Epic 6 inch cracks on top of both chainstays). I realize a long time ago but when you've had really bad historical experience with a brand it's hard to forget. Point being; comparing older models with new and judging a manufacturer based on that? Can be hard and maybe unreasonable at times for sure. It's the old grain of salt thing I guess...

 

[cappuccino34]

I quite understand and accept your reply: you have to support Giant if you sell/ride them.

Its the norm for lesser model owner/sellers to attempt to vitiate Specialized.

My god Spesh can do that perfectly well without anyone else's help.

I think they average 3 replacement motors every two years don't they? And that's before we start on wiring, controller and battery issues.

They had to increase the warranty to four years otherwise they'd be dead as a brand by now.

A friend of mine (foolishly) bought the new Levo, it's on its third motor in six months. I told him to get a Bosch powered bike but he wanted the 'brand'.
Mind you, he also drives an Audi and that's been nothing but aggro too. I told him to buy a Toyota but he knew best, apparently.

 

[rochrunner]

I'm no longer sure where I'd go to buy a Giant nearby these days. For example, the Specialized/Giant LBS where I bought a Giant many moons ago has been purchased by Specialized and it was goodbye Giant! Similarly, the local Trek stores are being bought out by that corporation. I'm sure there's someplace I could find, but the places I'm comfortable dealing with now carry only one brand apiece...

 

[cappuccino34]

I'm no longer sure where I'd go to buy a Giant nearby these days. For example, the Specialized/Giant LBS where I bought a Giant many moons ago has been purchased by Specialized and it was goodbye Giant! Similarly, the local Trek stores are being bought out by that corporation. I'm sure there's someplace I could find, but the places I'm comfortable dealing with now carry only one brand apiece...

And I personally think an ebike is the wrong kind of product to buy online.

 

[Buckaroony]

Love my giant reign e+. Have previously owned Specialized and Orange. No issues with Giant at all, in fact rate them highly.

 

[cappuccino34]

Love my giant reign e+. Have previously owned Specialized and Orange. No issues with Giant at all, in fact rate them highly.

Water ingress into the connectors and onwards through the looms has been a major problem for them, even the gen 3 motor has had issues.

 

[cappuccino34]

PWX-3.

 

[cappuccino34]

Water ingress induced corrosion.
They still haven't learned the lessons from the old ones.

 

[cappuccino34]

It is wet here though

 

[Chairman]

Only one giant in our group a new reign seems a little sluggish but reliable enough. We have a bunch of Levos and a couple of Kenovos. Frames seem rock solid but not so much the rest particularly motors. One guy is on his fifth. Of the two new sworks in the group one is on its 3rd motor the other just blew its first one on Tuesday. Warranty service is exceptional though so that kind of offsets things a lot. The 4 bosch have had 0 motor issues but the rails have some battery connection issues. My Cannondale has been rock solid

 

[Edd]

Had a giant 2019 trance Pro +1,.... I liked the bike however, I went through two motors through pedal strikes and the handlebar controller had lots of issues due to water ingress. Warranty was good although I had long waits for new motors to arrive. Things I didn't like, it had an exceptional heavy battery and a very long chainstay, both of which made the bike feel dead and hard to bunny hop. Traded to a Merida e160, very nimble bike and great riding geometry and although it feels much better and faster than the Giant, I'm still yet to beat some of the times I did on the Trance.
I noticed the latest model Giants have much shorter chainstays and they got rid of that battery armour specification.
Giants are also renowned for best bang for your buck for componentry.
As for Levos, they are great bikes although not that good to justify the price. Also found them to be a bit flexi in the rear end although it doesn't seem to detract from handling.

 

[PennywiseTheDancingClown]

I just dont like how the giants look... especially the way the motors look hanging down like, I dont know, a bowling ball where the bottom bracket should be.

 

[PennywiseTheDancingClown]

That to me, is just dead ass ugly.