Giant reign 2022 frame cracking

Nobrks

Active member
Sep 16, 2021
96
118
Denmark
From a ‘high load’ point of view, position of the crack is not, were you would expect high concentration of forces.
Therefor I will put my bet on paint/filler issue.

Paint softness, is the most negative point on these bikes in my opinion.
 

Endorium

Active member
Jan 29, 2022
148
132
Cannock
From a ‘high load’ point of view, position of the crack is not, were you would expect high concentration of forces.
Therefor I will put my bet on paint/filler issue.

Paint weakness, is the most negative point on these bikes in my opinion.
It scratches very easily. It's a nice metallic paint but not hard wearing
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,568
5,060
Weymouth
So it is still welded, but they have ground it flat?
What about the plate welded on underneath? Is that instead of leaving the weld proud?
The plate underneath has been welded on to hold the battery connection plate....and the weight of the battery.
I have no idea how these smooth tube connections are being done. It looks like a fillet brazed joint but as far I know you cannot braze aluminium but that is how smooth tube joints are created on steel bike frames. The frames must be robot "welded" or whatever jointing process it is, on a production line, so I cannot see the production line doing any grinding down of TIG welds. More to the point, to do so merely weakens the weld.
There is a process called fusion welding which I believe can achieve a flat "weld". It basically consists of melting each face to be jointed and then pressing them together under pressure. Whether a version of that is being used I have no idea!! Whatever the process is, it seems to be failing. Someone mentioned the junction of the down tube and the part of the frame carrying the motor housing is not under a lot of stress! Wrong.........the BB area of a frame has to resist the twisting force of the cranks.
 

RustyIron

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
Jun 5, 2021
1,842
2,881
La Habra, California
Whatever the process is, it seems to be failing. Someone mentioned the junction of the down tube and the part of the frame carrying the motor housing is not under a lot of stress! Wrong.........

Yup. I don’t know if it’s a weld, a bend, or anything else. But it looks exactly like a fracture. And even if it’s only the paint, then the distortion of the metal in that small region would be substantial, suggesting a susceptibility to early fatigue.

Until Giant addresses what appears to be a pattern of failures, I’d steer away from purchasing this bike. And if I had a bike that had that crack, I’d be wary of riding it on anything rugged.

Some manufactures are building frames that are just a little heavier than carbon, and a lot less expensive. Pound for pound, carbon is substantially stronger than aluminum. So it stands to reason that if you shave so much off an aluminum frame that it’s weighing close to carbon, you’re giving up some strength. Perhaps Giant flew too close to the sun on this one.
 

Endorium

Active member
Jan 29, 2022
148
132
Cannock
Yup. I don’t know if it’s a weld, a bend, or anything else. But it looks exactly like a fracture. And even if it’s only the paint, then the distortion of the metal in that small region would be substantial, suggesting a susceptibility to early fatigue.

Until Giant addresses what appears to be a pattern of failures, I’d steer away from purchasing this bike. And if I had a bike that had that crack, I’d be wary of riding it on anything rugged.

Some manufactures are building frames that are just a little heavier than carbon, and a lot less expensive. Pound for pound, carbon is substantially stronger than aluminum. So it stands to reason that if you shave so much off an aluminum frame that it’s weighing close to carbon, you’re giving up some strength. Perhaps Giant flew too close to the sun on this one.
You should really stop speculating until something is actually confirmed. Simple trip to a bike shop would do. Surely someone has done this by now? Also saying aluminium pound for pound is weaker is a pointless statement. In a bike it does down to how it's engineering to cope with stresses, all the joints and profiles of the frame. It's not so simple as just saying a blanket it's weaker. Still think it's paint not the frame. It's exactly like the paint issue I had on my bronson
 

xenupy

New Member
May 23, 2022
2
0
Porto Santo
All the pictures including the one a bove suggest that the down tube is welded at the site of the cracks to the frame section that carries the motor housing. Giant appear to have done an "Orbea" on the 2022 models with that weld (flattened the weld...which in my opinion weakens it). I far prefer the very visible weld in the picture of the red Reign above..........you can determine the quality of the weld. So I would guess that joint between the down tube and motor housing frame section is starting to fail. The crack is caused by movement on that joint. It may be superficial to start with but likely to get worse.
"done an Orbea" should be the new normal :)

But Orbea doesnt "flattened" the weld in that place, only in the top tube and in the seat post. I wonder why...
 

Doug Stampfer

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2018
737
756
NZ
I would wait before getting too carried away. It's all guess work and internet hype. Seems odd all these people have this bit no-one has been a bike shop and got it checked yet.
This assumes the bike shop would know what they're looking for.
It may be a case of hoping it's a paint crack & stay riding it or losing your bike for 6-9 months till the next batch are coming through for a replacement. Would be quite cool to see one totally cracked open & then we can see what is causing the problem.
 

Endorium

Active member
Jan 29, 2022
148
132
Cannock
I know, right?
Yours hasn't cracked yet, but it's only a matter of time until it does.
Just to show that I'm not all bad, I'll give you 200 quid and an almost new Specialized jersey for it.
🚴🏽‍♂️💷👕
I've been over 15 bike park days (revs, dyfi, antur) on mine plus over 1000 miles riding, it's fine 😃
 

Kevjob51

Member
May 22, 2022
114
81
Colorado
I've been over 15 bike park days (revs, dyfi, antur) on mine plus over 1000 miles riding, it's fine 😃

it is curious to me that before this thread no one else mentioned any cracked frames. Some on here have had their bikes for 6 months or more. I am going ride this bike in the terrain it is intended for and if something happens I will take it back to my LBS. I bought from my LBS specifically for any warranty issues as it is my first emtb.
 

Spudley

Member
Dec 16, 2021
83
101
New Zealand
Hi eberyone,
I attach a Pic of my wife's brand spanking new trance 2022 with paint cracking in the area.
This is as of yet unridden.
Also my personal reign which has taken 645 hours of bike park abuse and is on its second wheelset and never been washed also showing this marking with no issues so far as noise etc.
When I first posted some pics after my second or third ride in this forum relating to the my coil spring conversion.
Tomorow my shock someone has commented on that 645hr old photo and pointed out the crack.
For sure there is something that could be done but I'll be without a bike so will conduct a minor investigation
I'm not worried at this stage that it's serious though

16535916251992080615554488147539.jpg


16535916523532144690493080402108.jpg


16535917349486399463249516559894.jpg
 

Ride.dm123

New Member
May 22, 2022
70
24
North wales
Hi eberyone,
I attach a Pic of my wife's brand spanking new trance 2022 with paint cracking in the area.
This is as of yet unridden.
Also my personal reign which has taken 645 hours of bike park abuse and is on its second wheelset and never been washed also showing this marking with no issues so far as noise etc.
When I first posted some pics after my second or third ride in this forum relating to the my coil spring conversion.
Tomorow my shock someone has commented on that 645hr old photo and pointed out the crack.
For sure there is something that could be done but I'll be without a bike so will conduct a minor investigation
I'm not worried at this stage that it's serious though

View attachment 88884

View attachment 88885

View attachment 88886
 

JP-NZ

E*POWAH Elite
Feb 17, 2022
1,201
916
Christchurch - New Zealand
Also my personal reign which has taken 645 hours of bike park abuse and is on its second wheelset and never been washed also showing this marking with no issues so far as noise etc.
When I first posted some pics after my second or third ride in this forum relating to the my coil spring conversion.
Tomorow my shock someone has commented on that 645hr old photo and pointed out the crack.
For sure there is something that could be done but I'll be without a bike so will conduct a minor investigation
I'm not worried at this stage that it's serious though

Holy hell that crack is HUGE. I would not be riding that bike anymore, decent 4-6 foot drop and I'd say you may end up with some alloy somewhere you don't want it.

This is getting very concerning re: Giant cracking, if you look closely at all the pics they look to start from the middle of the downtube and all crack towards the drive side.
 

Endorium

Active member
Jan 29, 2022
148
132
Cannock
Holy hell that crack is HUGE. I would not be riding that bike anymore, decent 4-6 foot drop and I'd say you may end up with some alloy somewhere you don't want it.

This is getting very concerning re: Giant cracking, if you look closely at all the pics they look to start from the middle of the downtube and all crack towards the drive side.
It's still not confirmed it's anything but paint damage
 

JP-NZ

E*POWAH Elite
Feb 17, 2022
1,201
916
Christchurch - New Zealand
It's still not confirmed it's anything but paint damage

Thats 4 different coloured bikes including 2 different models that all have "paint cracks" in the same place. I know you want to give giant the benefit of the doubt here but there is no way all the pics on this post are just "paint cracks".
 

Kevjob51

Member
May 22, 2022
114
81
Colorado
Hi eberyone,
I attach a Pic of my wife's brand spanking new trance 2022 with paint cracking in the area.
This is as of yet unridden.
Also my personal reign which has taken 645 hours of bike park abuse and is on its second wheelset and never been washed also showing this marking with no issues so far as noise etc.
When I first posted some pics after my second or third ride in this forum relating to the my coil spring conversion.
Tomorow my shock someone has commented on that 645hr old photo and pointed out the crack.
For sure there is something that could be done but I'll be without a bike so will conduct a minor investigation
I'm not worried at this stage that it's serious though

View attachment 88884

View attachment 88885

View attachment 88886
What coil are you running now? Same one or different, the spring looks white in that pic.
 

Kevjob51

Member
May 22, 2022
114
81
Colorado
Hi guys.

H
View attachment 88606 Has anyone come across this on the new 2022 giant reign with the frame cracking? This would be near the bottom of the down tube near the two small holes for the gear and brake cables?
Any info would be great.
This is my mates bike only 5 months old andI checked mine today and I have the start of a crack also in the same place!!!

So what did Giant say?
 

2WheelsNot4

E*POWAH Master
Oct 17, 2021
918
712
Scotland
We see on other frames that area has a weld on it. So at some time in the stress modelling, theres been an indication of movement which was addressed by having a welded join.
So if its flexing at least and not stiff, something is eventually going to give.
Sure maybe not, might be within acceptable movement parameters, but usually when materials flex, that is the area of weakness and more often than not a point of failure
 

Doug Stampfer

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2018
737
756
NZ
I can confirm that the suspected crack in the frame I mentioned above has been deemed a crack in the weld & the owner has a loaner frame from Giant until the new one arrives.
 

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