General Question about Giant Popularity

[cappuccino34]

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.

Motor cover strikes when climbing over rocks is definitely a thing on the Giant but, to be fair, I've bashed mine pretty hard several times and I've only had to replace one cover.

What's really bad (unless you modify it) is that the speed sensor wire is nipped between the cover and the motor so a decent impact and the wire breaks.

After making a better job of waterproofing the connectors I tucked it up over the back of the motor and up into the bottom of the seat tube out of harm's way and further away from the water.

 

[cappuccino34]

I also got rid of the external charging port too because I clean the battery contacts after every ride anyway, so I can charge it whilst it's out.

Getting rid of the port wiring freed up lots of space inside the covers so the rest of the wiring isn't as strained. (Which causes grommet distortion and a water pathway into the wiring)

 

[ilostmypassword]

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.

HAHAH. I have a Toyota

 

[ilostmypassword]

View attachment 102879
That to me, is just dead ass ugly.

That is an old model. New models look very different.

 

[Dax]

I’ve not ridden the Giant ebikes, but have ridden a bunch of Giant mtbs over the last 15 years as rentals, they’ve all been solid, got the job done, but been totally forgettable.

 

[Ronan1001]

Motor cover strikes when climbing over rocks is definitely a thing on the Giant but, to be fair, I've bashed mine pretty hard several times and I've only had to replace one cover.

What's really bad (unless you modify it) is that the speed sensor wire is nipped between the cover and the motor so a decent impact and the wire breaks.

After making a better job of waterproofing the connectors I tucked it up over the back of the motor and up into the bottom of the seat tube out of harm's way and further away from the water.

Hell, the engineer didn't think about the possibility of shocks... He needs to think better during engineering!
This modification didn't turn out to be very difficult for you?

 

[cappuccino34]

Hell, the engineer didn't think about the possibility of shocks... He needs to think better during engineering!
This modification didn't turn out to be very difficult for you?

Moving the wire and connector was dead easy.
Cutting out the unnecessary wiring, changing connectors for better ones and waterproofing it all properly was less easy but perfectly doable with the right kit

 

[Kingerz]

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.

Giant don't use Shimano, they have Yamaha motors.
Yamaha know about motors.
I rate my Specialized and Giant the same.
Luckily my Specialized has not broken in 4 years, unlike all my friends' ones.
Also consider the price.
Also, your one rider might not be as good, or have a bad luck bike.

 

[Kingerz]

View attachment 102879
That to me, is just dead ass ugly.

That's an old model.

 

[Labrador29]

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.i

Brilliant. I have owned Toyota's for years. Corollas and Corona's. Huge miles, few if any problems. Basic I agree, but so reliable. I have owned a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, a BMW. Both were expensive to run and maintain and I got rid of them quickly. I think Giant is the Toyota of the MTB world.

 

[cappuccino34]

Brilliant. I have owned Toyota's for years. Corollas and Corona's. Huge miles, few if any problems. Basic I agree, but so reliable. I have owned a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, a BMW. Both were expensive to run and maintain and I got rid of them quickly. I think Giant is the Toyota of the MTB world.

I think Giant are definitely more Tata than Toyota.

 

[Julie_X1]

Isn’t Giant the world’s largest bike manufacturer?

Might be a regional or country thing. There’s a good amount of Giant’s here. But like others said, they don’t have the brand cache of, say, Santa Cruz.

My husband’s first bike was a Giant which was a great value at the time for the price (Giant Defy Advanced).

I didn’t look at their e-mtb because I am interested in the lighter weight ones and they don’t have one in that category (yet).

 

[Wilbur]

1. Giant make frames for Merida/ Specialized.
2. Yamaha motors are known to be significantly more reliable than Brose.

 

[cappuccino34]

1. Giant make frames for Merida/ Specialized.
2. Yamaha motors are known to be significantly more reliable than Brose.

The issues that we had with our Giant e bikes were mostly down to Giant's own firmware and nothing to do with the Yamaha motor itself, but also the very poor quality wiring, (which I completely replaced with much better quality wiring).

The mechanical part of the bikes has mostly been fine. Poor gear shifting due to torturous cable routing around the motor.