I love Ubike! Now Giant is providing bikes for the new Ubike second generation 👍. You have good videos. How about a video on one of Taiwans scooter companies 😀
Interesting story to be sure. In 1992 I purchased a Giant Innova Hybrid bike for $350 at the recommendation of the bike shop owner who had recently become a dealer for them. He said they were offering the best value to quality he'd ever seen and that was good enough for me. 29 years later, I am still pedaling the same Giant bike that has given me 3 decades of recreation, transportation and fitness. Literally tens of thousands miles. Easily the best $350 I have ever spent.
Yep, same (almost). Until it was recently stolen, I had fully intended my new 2006 Rincon to be my last , and I’m looking hard for that exact chassis (w a bent center bar). Meanwhile, I grabbed up a Warp, my first rear-suspension bike; I’m pretty happy w it, but I do miss that darn Rincon. I’m glad my bike guy is a Giant dealer.
Giant replaced my motor under warranty when the warranty had expired 8 months because of the Covid 19 lockdown, I was truly grateful to them for doing so on my Quick E + electric bicycle. I thought I would let people know how they stand behind there products. I really enjoyed the video. Thanks.
Giant revolutionized road bicycles with the TCR or Total Compact Road. To those into bicycle history, the TCR defined what is viewed as the truly modern road bicycle in the last 20 oe 30 years. A departure from the straight top tube of the vintage bicycles. It was smaller, more nimble, more aerodynamic due to its compact shape and made other manufacturers follow. It also made sport cycling even more accessible to everyone because the horizontal top tube bicycle dictated custom made sizes which can number to 22 different frames. Giant with the TCR is able to make it in 3 or 4 sizes from XS to XL. Costs went down as a result with a maximum of 4 frames to fit nearly everyone.
It’s a shame Giant won’t have a single bike represented in this years 2021 Tour de France. With Team CCC going bankrupt in 2020 with sponsors pulling out support due to the pandemic. It’s back to drawing again for Giant’s marketing team. They need to find a World Grand Tour level team to partner with as an equipment sponsor to showcase the TCR. Otherwise their brand value would fall in the sports road racing category.
Not sure if the TCR was a "more aerodynamic" design. If you look at a bike straight on, a sloping top tube doesn't make it more aero. As you said, I think the TCR makes it easier for manufacturers to make more universal sizes (S,M,L) instead of 22 different frames. So-called innovations in the bike industry recently have been to make things easier or simpler for the manufacturer (cartridge bearings, PressFit bottom brackets, etc).
@@capmidnite Easier to manufacture means lower production costs equals to higher profits. Just like the recent hookless rims the bike industry is trying to peddle. They figured out a way to produce rims at a lower cost by eliminating the hook bead. While asking you to pay a lot more money for so called new technology.
As a youngster I lived in Taiwan for a few years and my parents got me (of course) a Giant bike. 14 years later we parted because I became too big for the bike but now I still have a Giant bike in my garage. Love the brand! Amazing how many great companies come from Taiwan.
Bought my first carbon road bike from Giant and had defect in head tube after a year and my local bike shop had to scrap it and claim my life time warranty from Giant- they couldn’t replace my frame as they didn’t have any XL sizes left, so they offered me my size XL at Christmas or a size L within 2 weeks or $1000 for the cost of the frame! I went with the size L, so at the end of the day in the middle of a pandemic Giant stood by there word and for that I’m relived and grateful.
I managed to buy a serious bike for the first time in my life. Is a Giant road bike. I love it. It is the most amazing thing i ever had. Worth every cent!
I own a 1990 Giant ATX 780 and I still ride it. It was a great value at the time. I was just out of college and mountain biking was becoming a huge part of cycling. I now own many other bikes, but I love my Giant!
Giant makes great bikes. I just bought one and it's the best bike I've ever owned. I'm truly happy for their success and in my humble opinion is hard earned and well deserved.
I used to deliver Giant bike frames from Vancouver to a container depot in Surry BC where the Bikes would be shipped off to Raleigh Bikes in Ontario. When I looked at Raleigh and Giant bikes being sold in the same store I used to chuckle about it knowing they were practically the same bikes. Fortunately they were all priced the same feature for feature. Both really good bike brands in Canada.
This Canadian has a Giant electric bike, really happy with quality and service. I've also done a road bike tour in Taiwan, great country for cycling, super friendly people, supportive, safe, great biking culture. Thank you.
If there are any thing that can be called scum, it is a bicycle thief. A lot of people think it is not a huge loss if a bicycle is stolen compared to an automobile but it is. It can even be a heirloom hand-me-down that gives it a huge sentimental value.
@@jinngeechia9715 My older brother had his Saracen bike stolen from him by someone who pretended to be a good friend He would strip the entire bike down to pieces and polish every part after every single ride. It took him ten years before he got another bike, and only because it was gifted to him. Bike thieves are the worst kind of scum on this earth.
@@rorychivers8769 that sucks about his bike being stolen, but as a pro bike mechanic myself, stripping the whole bike down after every ride is pretty weird/unnecessary/stupid. Bet he didn’t have a torque wrench either so add dangerous to the list.
My son forwarded one of your videos regarding TSMC water issue with their new Arizona fab, in response to my question to him months ago, before he went for his training in Tainan. He will eventually return to Arizona for that new fab. I agree marketing your own well-made videos is tough and you only reached me by chance. I'm an individual investor and your videos help be to quickly update my knowledge about certain companies and industries. People view your "dry, aka not-for-entertainment" subjects for a reason. It will be interesting to know what others get from it.
I have only ever purchased GIANT, and as I have over the years continued to upgrade, I truly miss those models that I have sold on to friends, and good homes at a fraction of the original price tag. Thank you GIANT, your move into composites was a water shed moment for my MTB indulgence, but I have never looked back.
As an avid bicycle rider and proponent of such, I really appreciated your video and analysis of this Giant company that Giant became. I wish you all the success and hopefully you will become a giant within this media. Take care brother!
I thank you for yet another high-quality coverage of a Taiwanese industry and I certainly hope the USA comes out in full support of Taiwan as an independent, self-governing and democratic nation, I have certainly enjoyed my time in Taiwan. Regards, John from Australia
I’ve bought 4 Giant bikes of different types over the course of about the last 12 years and think they’re great, they seem to keep hitting the sweet spot of good quality for sensible money. Interesting to learn about their background
At the end of this past winter, I decided to replace my department store Schwinn bicycle with a genuine road bike. Much online research often lead me to Giant. I narrowed my picks down to Trek Domane, Scott Speedster, and Giant Contend. Ultimately, and largely due to availability - I purchased a Giant Contend a two hour drive from my home. I'm very happy with the bike.
Ah, did not know Giant was Taiwanese, it is still pretty much the only non-dutch company to have any market share in the Dutch market for city / utility bicycles. I must add here that they still manufacture them in the Netherlands.
Remember these two names. Giant and Merida. Both are Taiwanese bicycle companies. You will be hard pressed to find Merida in North America because it is not available there. I don't know if it is an agreement between Merida or Specialized because Merida owns almost 40% of Specialized. The bicycle scene is becoming more like the automobile industry. Giant is akin to VWAG or Volkswagen Auto Group. They make frames not just for themselves but other big brands also. They are not in the liberty to say who they are making the frames for. But in the end, if you can see past the big brand names like Trek, Cannondale, etc. Buying a Giant or Merida bicycle makes you very clever because you didn't pay for the "badge". ;)
Are you saying that a high end giant carbon frame is the same as any high end carbon like specialzed aethos or trek emonda? Im curious. I’ve always wanted giant as its value for money in paper but i wonder if they are quality bikes and re-sellable? Any insights would be great. Thanks
@@PhiyackYuh They are similar in quality but not exactly the same. Giant, Specialized and Trek design their own original carbon frame molds designs and have their own specific way of laying down sheets of fibers. Cheap no name Chinese carbon uses an Open Mold Design. They are cheaper because the can cut corners by using lower grade carbon fiber and cheap resins. There are some bike brands that use existing Open Mold Designs. They can be made into high quality carbon frames. If you don’t skimp out on the quality of build materials and labor.
We get merida in Ausfalia. I own 2 meridas now only because they lose all their value after 1 year. Merida is like the Hyundai of bicycles, good quality, reliable but worth nothing 2nd hand and often sold to a 3rd,4th,5th buyer in a few years. They charge $1000 new and after 1 year everyone realises how basic they are and sell them 2nd hand. No one wants to be seen on a merida so they sell stupidly cheap, 1/3 to 1/4 of retail. I would never buy a new merida, total waste of money when a brand name is cheaper with the identical shimano components
Thanks for your presentation, the business side of cycling is fascinating. And there's a book titled No Hands, the Rise and Fall of the Schwinn Bicycle Company, written by two journalists in Chicago. And it tells the story of Schwinn and Giant, which was pretty much the final chapter of Schwinn as a bike builder in Chicago for nearly a century.
My first job as a teenager was fixing and assembling bicycles, at a bike shop and also a department store. Back then, in the mid 1970s, some of the imported Taiwanese bicycles were rather poor, mostly ones which didn't use "imported" Japanese components like Shimano derailleurs and Dia-Compe brakes. Years later, a buddy of mine got a Giant dirt bike which was of very good quality. Maybe the welds were a bit unappealing, but otherwise an excellent product.
Bought Giant X1 mountain bike. After 15 years, its still running strong. The bike stand but the biker getting old. Recently change latest greatest bike group set, change brake etc. Now it run like new. Giant bike stand for quality, second to none.
I owned a Giant TCR 2 composite carbon road bike with Shimano 105 components in 2012.. Giant manufactured good quality bike that is to say it is bang for the buck things. it still served me well in fact I enjoyed riding my Giant TCR instead of my Italian bike These days Giant is making better bike with the latest technology and material that surpass the European and American brand
It's a bit of a niche Taiwanese company, but I like Meanwell. Excellent quality power supplies at a reasonable price. Taiwanese electronics companies are generally excellent
@@microwave311 This is true, the arcade industry uses many mean well power supplies. If I need to replace a PSU in a game, I always try to get the mean well version of it. Never had one explode on me yet, unlike the no-name brands.
I thoroughly enjoyed this analysis. The informative content, with your presentation and style, make for very engaging viewing. I look forward to seeing others. Thanks!
Congratulations on creating a very believable channel with fascinating, factual information professionally presented in an honest, interesting manner.thank you.
Yup, that's how I remember it. From 1970- 1990, as the overall market for bikes in the USA split into different types (BMX, Road, Mountain, kids), our own manufacturers were slow to respond, not wanting to lose the efficiencies of scale and a captive market, and went abroad to fill niche markets. Europe for road, Japan for Mountain, and Taiwan for BMX and childrens bikes. By the time they began to feel threatened, their old 'mass market' was gone, their WW2 era machinery and techniques were junk, and Asian makers had shown the ability to produce quality goods for less than re-investment would have been worth. 'Giant' didn't strictly *win* our market, it was handed to them.
I always raced Cannondales and later Litespeed bikes in the early 00s. Cross country only (and some mild cyclocross). I never considered Giant as a bike in my price point, but they were not all that rare in the semi-pro and pro XC racing scene. I also recall Giant bikes generally being rated well in the magazines back then. But there was something about the brand itself that didn't quite catch my eye. Cannondale was doing quirky stuff, and was what my nearest bike shop had. Litespeed was marketed as *the* titanium bike back then, which I moved over to. The other brands like Trek, Giant, Gary Fisher, Specialized, etc just didn't grab my attention. I still ride my racing Litespeed from 2005. With upgrades as needed. Something about newer bikes annoy me and I can't put my finger on it. But you certainly have to spend a whole hell of a lot more money now to get a good amount of bike, compared to the price/performance ratio back then.
Giant today really is a Giant. Some brands specialize in cheap affordable bikes for the masses, while others specialize in premium bikes for hobbyists and athletes. Giant is the only brand I can think of that excel on both ends of the price range.
Germany was one of the largest aluminum producers and manufacturers of aluminum products until the 1950s. The production of cheap aluminum products in Germany was then given up and Taiwan filled this gap in the market. The technologies for the production and processing of aluminum were then further developed in such a way that Taiwan became the producer of the best quality aluminum products for the consumer market. As a result, Taiwan was able to achieve a dominant position in the production of top quality aluminum bicycle frames. Taiwan also has the dominant position in the corresponding successor technology for the production of carbon fibers and carbon fiber products such as carbon fiber frames.
Giant is the only major bike brand that has it's own carbon fiber weave machine. I own several nice road bikes and one of them is Giant. In terms of value, Giant TCR is a better deal than Specialized, Pinarello, Trek and other european brands. In the US, only the high end bikes are manufactured 100% in the US. The mid and low end carbon bikes are made by giant. But really a 10K Trek isn't actually better than a 3K carbon bike, you're just paying 1000.00 to reduce the weight by 1lb.
Trek no longer builds bikes in America. The Trek Wisconsin plant closed down production in 2017. Specialized is 40% owned by Merida. Merida has a special agreement with Specialized that prohibits the sale of Merida bikes in North America.
@@TougeGrandTour ya, i think Mike now might regret it, however without Merida Specialized wouldnt be as big, probably alot smaller of a company, the manufacturing and retailing side, and probably cheaper unit cost.
I bought a Giant bicycle the other day, excellent value thanks to Giant, Tektro, and Shimano. Bicycles are also a lot cheaper at retail here in Wyoming than they were back in Ontario. I always wanted disc brakes, and Tektro is making that a thing for everyone.
Branding is hard. It starts with figuring out what you're about, and building a persona that reflects those values. The rest seems to just build from there (through hard work and relevance to those core values, of course).
@@PhiyackYuh what do you mean by boutique brands? Trek, Specialized, Giant and Merida are not by any means a boutique brand. Boutique brands would be something like Moots, Sarto, Tommasini, Ciocc, Bastion Cycles to name a few
As a Dutchman and thus in a country where plenty of bikes are made, Giant is among the best. Especially be cause they more or less standard have frames that are made from aluminium or another alloy and as a result light weight, and be cause everything mounted on it sits well in place, won't come off quickly, and works well together. I have only one gripe: for a country that is flat, it is hopeless of you as your only option have a "mountain-bike steer", that is mounted of a horizontal extension that sets it (like) a totally undesirable 10 centimeters forward in horizontal direction, that fucks up the way you sit on the bike, strains your neck (largely making it impossible to look forward and see incoming traffic coming) and makes the whole biking experience worthless. IF YOU ARE NOT (GONNA RIDE) IN THE MOUNTAINS, YOUR DON'T WANT A MOUNTAIN BIKE STEER! Jees, don't those guys EVER try their own product? How come they didn't figure that out in nearly FIFTY YEARS?
@@agunlogisteam Even Fox Shocks that cost $1500 is just next to DNM shocks, Which i believe uses the same CNC machines, The main difference is just the R&D. LOL That's why a $100 DNM shocks can compete to a $500 Shocks. LOL
I got into India's 14th best technical institution and have chosen electronics and communication engineering your semiconductor videos induced intrest in me . Thank you.
In Australia Giant have a great reputation for customer support. Occasionally a particular model has had cracking problems and Giant always swiftly warranty the frame with no fuss. But that’s rare and most of their models are just great. I’ve had several and still have two - a high end carbon fibre mountain bike and a carbon fibre road bike. Both are a joy to ride. Should be noted though that Giant did engage in some dodgy business practices by essentially stealing a suspension design for mountain bikes…
Unfortunately, stealing is basic with business unless it is patented ans the patent is worth enforcing. Apple and Microsoft "stole" a lot of innovative designs from Xerox, look at where they are now.
I love Giant and have used their bikes for years. Great quality at great price. Unfortunately, with the bike boom, they have become a lot more expensive, so I´m afraid they are going to loose the quality/price ratio that made them so successful. My next bike might not be Giant if this trend continues, since bike prices have become ridiculous due to ridiculous profit margins from manufacturers.
A great lesson in product versus marketing. Marketing is King (no pun intended) as long as the product is sufficient. Giant always had great products but lacked marketing ability in foreign markets. Now they have caught up and have both aces marketing and product. Specialized are No 1 for marketing but struggled to match Giants product. Me? I'll take my TCR anyday
I really like the market insights one get from this channel. Keep up the good work 👍🏻 My company also does supply bikes in Europe sadly the main brand got split of because of a mistake in the early days of the company the main brand is now split in two one that makes motorcycles and the other one that makes bicycles with the same brand and now the go into the market again with two brands and it seems like they bikes are all already sold out till 2023 ..
Excellent video and very informative. Yes, Giant is the world's largest bike manufacturer and I do have a cyclocross made by Giant. Keep up the good work.
Great video thanks man. And you have no idea how happy my bro is for hearing you saying aluminium correctly. xD Americans really are butchering that word. The same with Wolfram.(Tungsten) what are they, Norwegians. :D I am Danish. Thanks a lot man.
Great vid! Now if someone could make a video about how some of the people from Giant went on to form Kinesis which in turn makes not only most if not all the bikes for Bikes Direct as well as bikes for other big brand names.
I think what should also be mentioned is how Giant and the Taiwanese bike industry in general has achieved massive economies of scale with modern automated factories that can't be duplicated elsewhere. Giant still manufactures for companies such as Trek. It is a virtuous cycle, where economies of scale leads to lower production costs, which leads to more brand-name bike companies realizing it's cheaper to sub-contract Giant to manufacture their mid-level bikes and slap their label on it.
Excellent video!!! But as a bike geek I wanted even more bike footage... how many brands do they supply etc and how many UCI teams & if that helped them rise!
9:57 - "This steel alloy [CroMoly] is very strong and resistant to corrosion" - well, it IS strong (and elastic and resistant to fatigue - also, easy to repair) but its corrosion resistance is not it's strongest point. In fact, it is rather susceptible to it, as any bike mechanic can attest.
Been trying to buy another giant e bike all year, the shop near me just couldn't get any in . Sadly because of this the shop has now closed . So i got a Specialized turbo sl
I remember in the mid-90's, Taiwan made products were synanymous to crappy products. But now I buy everything but Chinese made. I have a 2009 Giant Defy3 by the way, bought used in 2012, enough for a hobby rider like me.
so that explains why i own an imported Giant Bicycle that is only made for Taiwan market (Propel SL Disc 2021), which you won't see on any international website/reviewers
Have you guys used YouBike before?
Watch other company profiles here: ruclips.net/p/PLKtxx9TnH76Qod2z94xcDNV95_ItzIM-S
I love Ubike! Now Giant is providing bikes for the new Ubike second generation 👍. You have good videos. How about a video on one of Taiwans scooter companies 😀
What is 'the' MRT? Don't expect people from around the world to know what the abbreviation for a local transportation company means..
Interesting story to be sure. In 1992 I purchased a Giant Innova Hybrid bike for $350 at the recommendation of the bike shop owner who had recently become a dealer for them. He said they were offering the best value to quality he'd ever seen and that was good enough for me. 29 years later, I am still pedaling the same Giant bike that has given me 3 decades of recreation, transportation and fitness. Literally tens of thousands miles. Easily the best $350 I have ever spent.
Yep, same (almost). Until it was recently stolen, I had fully intended my new 2006 Rincon to be my last , and I’m looking hard for that exact chassis (w a bent center bar). Meanwhile, I grabbed up a Warp, my first rear-suspension bike; I’m pretty happy w it, but I do miss that darn Rincon. I’m glad my bike guy is a Giant dealer.
０．０
Giant replaced my motor under warranty when the warranty had expired 8 months because of the Covid 19 lockdown, I was truly grateful to them for doing so on my Quick E + electric bicycle. I thought I would let people know how they stand behind there products. I really enjoyed the video. Thanks.
Giant is unique that they rebrand a yamaha motor. Interesting how that works out. No other do motor rebranding.
Giant is a pretty solid company they stand behind there bikes that means a lot to to a rider like me THANKS GIANT!
Giant revolutionized road bicycles with the TCR or Total Compact Road. To those into bicycle history, the TCR defined what is viewed as the truly modern road bicycle in the last 20 oe 30 years. A departure from the straight top tube of the vintage bicycles. It was smaller, more nimble, more aerodynamic due to its compact shape and made other manufacturers follow. It also made sport cycling even more accessible to everyone because the horizontal top tube bicycle dictated custom made sizes which can number to 22 different frames. Giant with the TCR is able to make it in 3 or 4 sizes from XS to XL. Costs went down as a result with a maximum of 4 frames to fit nearly everyone.
It’s a shame Giant won’t have a single bike represented in this years 2021 Tour de France. With Team CCC going bankrupt in 2020 with sponsors pulling out support due to the pandemic.
It’s back to drawing again for Giant’s marketing team. They need to find a World Grand Tour level team to partner with as an equipment sponsor to showcase the TCR. Otherwise their brand value would fall in the sports road racing category.
@@iMadrid11 Yeah this is sad. The first win was with Tom Dumoulin on a TCR in the 2017 Giro d'Italia.
Not sure if the TCR was a "more aerodynamic" design. If you look at a bike straight on, a sloping top tube doesn't make it more aero. As you said, I think the TCR makes it easier for manufacturers to make more universal sizes (S,M,L) instead of 22 different frames. So-called innovations in the bike industry recently have been to make things easier or simpler for the manufacturer (cartridge bearings, PressFit bottom brackets, etc).
@@capmidnite Easier to manufacture means lower production costs equals to higher profits. Just like the recent hookless rims the bike industry is trying to peddle. They figured out a way to produce rims at a lower cost by eliminating the hook bead. While asking you to pay a lot more money for so called new technology.
@@capmidnite it's less aero for sure, all the new aero bikes are not compact frames.
As a youngster I lived in Taiwan for a few years and my parents got me (of course) a Giant bike. 14 years later we parted because I became too big for the bike but now I still have a Giant bike in my garage. Love the brand! Amazing how many great companies come from Taiwan.
Bought my first carbon road bike from Giant and had defect in head tube after a year and my local bike shop had to scrap it and claim my life time warranty from Giant- they couldn’t replace my frame as they didn’t have any XL sizes left, so they offered me my size XL at Christmas or a size L within 2 weeks or $1000 for the cost of the frame! I went with the size L, so at the end of the day in the middle of a pandemic Giant stood by there word and for that I’m relived and grateful.
I own two GIANT bikes and I LOVE them. They will always have my business and I cannot recommend them enough.
I managed to buy a serious bike for the first time in my life. Is a Giant road bike. I love it. It is the most amazing thing i ever had.
Worth every cent!
I own a 1990 Giant ATX 780 and I still ride it. It was a great value at the time. I was just out of college and mountain biking was becoming a huge part of cycling. I now own many other bikes, but I love my Giant!
Giant makes great bikes. I just bought one and it's the best bike I've ever owned.
I'm truly happy for their success and in my humble opinion is hard earned and well deserved.
I used to deliver Giant bike frames from Vancouver to a container depot in Surry BC where the Bikes would be shipped off to Raleigh Bikes in Ontario. When I looked at Raleigh and Giant bikes being sold in the same store I used to chuckle about it knowing they were practically the same bikes. Fortunately they were all priced the same feature for feature. Both really good bike brands in Canada.
I'm watching from Burnaby , BC
This Canadian has a Giant electric bike, really happy with quality and service. I've also done a road bike tour in Taiwan, great country for cycling, super friendly people, supportive, safe, great biking culture. Thank you.
Taiwan will welcome you to pay visit to us again😉
Well come to Taiwan again
My second bike, a Giant, was stolen after one year as a young child.
I now associate Giant with sadness and pain.
I had my first Specialized Mountain Bike stolen from outside a Chinese takeaway in London, I also still feel the pain.
If there are any thing that can be called scum, it is a bicycle thief. A lot of people think it is not a huge loss if a bicycle is stolen compared to an automobile but it is. It can even be a heirloom hand-me-down that gives it a huge sentimental value.
@@jinngeechia9715 My older brother had his Saracen bike stolen from him by someone who pretended to be a good friend
He would strip the entire bike down to pieces and polish every part after every single ride.
It took him ten years before he got another bike, and only because it was gifted to him.
Bike thieves are the worst kind of scum on this earth.
@@rorychivers8769 that sucks about his bike being stolen, but as a pro bike mechanic myself, stripping the whole bike down after every ride is pretty weird/unnecessary/stupid. Bet he didn’t have a torque wrench either so add dangerous to the list.
I had my Schwinn Apple Krate stolen in 1968: what kind of God makes a world where monsters thrive…
My son forwarded one of your videos regarding TSMC water issue with their new Arizona fab, in response to my question to him months ago, before he went for his training in Tainan. He will eventually return to Arizona for that new fab. I agree marketing your own well-made videos is tough and you only reached me by chance. I'm an individual investor and your videos help be to quickly update my knowledge about certain companies and industries. People view your "dry, aka not-for-entertainment" subjects for a reason. It will be interesting to know what others get from it.
I have only ever purchased GIANT, and as I have over the years continued to upgrade, I truly miss those models that I have sold on to friends, and good homes at a fraction of the original price tag.
Thank you GIANT, your move into composites was a water shed moment for my MTB indulgence, but I have never looked back.
As an avid bicycle rider and proponent of such, I really appreciated your video and analysis of this Giant company that Giant became.
I wish you all the success and hopefully you will become a giant within this media.
Take care brother!
I thank you for yet another high-quality coverage of a Taiwanese industry and I certainly hope the USA comes out in full support of Taiwan as an independent, self-governing and democratic nation, I have certainly enjoyed my time in Taiwan. Regards, John from Australia
I’ve bought 4 Giant bikes of different types over the course of about the last 12 years and think they’re great, they seem to keep hitting the sweet spot of good quality for sensible money. Interesting to learn about their background
At the end of this past winter, I decided to replace my department store Schwinn bicycle with a genuine road bike.
Much online research often lead me to Giant.
I narrowed my picks down to Trek Domane, Scott Speedster, and Giant Contend.
Ultimately, and largely due to availability - I purchased a Giant Contend a two hour drive from my home.
I'm very happy with the bike.
Ah, did not know Giant was Taiwanese, it is still pretty much the only non-dutch company to have any market share in the Dutch market for city / utility bicycles.
I must add here that they still manufacture them in the Netherlands.
Yes, I thought it was an American brand!
Is the management there Taiwanese or Dutch.
Remember these two names. Giant and Merida. Both are Taiwanese bicycle companies. You will be hard pressed to find Merida in North America because it is not available there. I don't know if it is an agreement between Merida or Specialized because Merida owns almost 40% of Specialized. The bicycle scene is becoming more like the automobile industry. Giant is akin to VWAG or Volkswagen Auto Group. They make frames not just for themselves but other big brands also. They are not in the liberty to say who they are making the frames for. But in the end, if you can see past the big brand names like Trek, Cannondale, etc. Buying a Giant or Merida bicycle makes you very clever because you didn't pay for the "badge". ;)
Specialized does have a special agreement with Merida. Which prohibits Merida from selling their bikes in North America.
Are you saying that a high end giant carbon frame is the same as any high end carbon like specialzed aethos or trek emonda? Im curious. I’ve always wanted giant as its value for money in paper but i wonder if they are quality bikes and re-sellable? Any insights would be great. Thanks
@@PhiyackYuh They are similar in quality but not exactly the same. Giant, Specialized and Trek design their own original carbon frame molds designs and have their own specific way of laying down sheets of fibers.
Cheap no name Chinese carbon uses an Open Mold Design. They are cheaper because the can cut corners by using lower grade carbon fiber and cheap resins.
There are some bike brands that use existing Open Mold Designs. They can be made into high quality carbon frames. If you don’t skimp out on the quality of build materials and labor.
@@PhiyackYuh Giant made Trek.
We get merida in Ausfalia. I own 2 meridas now only because they lose all their value after 1 year. Merida is like the Hyundai of bicycles, good quality, reliable but worth nothing 2nd hand and often sold to a 3rd,4th,5th buyer in a few years.
They charge $1000 new and after 1 year everyone realises how basic they are and sell them 2nd hand. No one wants to be seen on a merida so they sell stupidly cheap, 1/3 to 1/4 of retail.
I would never buy a new merida, total waste of money when a brand name is cheaper with the identical shimano components
Bet you felt pretty clever with that title deer.
@Mark his profile photo, along with his siki deer or Nara park and Taiwan video.
@Mark cheers mate.
Oh deer
*dear in this context. Yo
In the 90's everyone I knew had or wanted a chrome Giant or Royce Union. As an adult I have a Giant road bike.
I just found this channel and I love it!!! I also love my Giant MTB and Taiwan 🇹🇼!
I'm a proud Giant user.
Wow, I literally bought a Giant bike a few hours ago
do it
@@blahaj___ Contend AR. Been trying to get one for over a year!
Thanks for your presentation, the business side of cycling is fascinating. And there's a book titled No Hands, the Rise and Fall of the Schwinn Bicycle Company, written by two journalists in Chicago. And it tells the story of Schwinn and Giant, which was pretty much the final chapter of Schwinn as a bike builder in Chicago for nearly a century.
My first job as a teenager was fixing and assembling bicycles, at a bike shop and also a department store. Back then, in the mid 1970s, some of the imported Taiwanese bicycles were rather poor, mostly ones which didn't use "imported" Japanese components like Shimano derailleurs and Dia-Compe brakes. Years later, a buddy of mine got a Giant dirt bike which was of very good quality. Maybe the welds were a bit unappealing, but otherwise an excellent product.
I had no idea that Giant was taiwanese, I always thought they where American. Shows that their American marketing strategy worked very well.
Bought Giant X1 mountain bike. After 15 years, its still running strong. The bike stand but the biker getting old. Recently change latest greatest bike group set, change brake etc. Now it run like new. Giant bike stand for quality, second to none.
Bicycle industry insider fact:
Trek and Giant are made in the same factory
Some Treks are made by quest composites, not owned by Giant.
@@madmonkeycycling9098 I just looked that up...I wonder if we can get a frame direct with some bitcoin...haha
N Scott
I thought Merida were made by Giant too. I worked in Taichung years ago and used to pass on my way to work
@@graham2954 they probably are...
The way you tied Giant's story to your channel's development was very interesting!
Taiwanese watching this video ended up knowing more about Schwinn, what a nice surprise.
Excellent choice of topics. Good research. Great reporting !
I owned a Giant TCR 2 composite carbon road bike with Shimano 105 components in 2012.. Giant manufactured good quality bike that is to say it is bang for the buck things.
it still served me well in fact I enjoyed riding my Giant TCR instead of my Italian bike
These days Giant is making better bike with the latest technology and material that surpass the European and American brand
It's a bit of a niche Taiwanese company, but I like Meanwell. Excellent quality power supplies at a reasonable price. Taiwanese electronics companies are generally excellent
It is not a niche company, it's the gold standard for several large industries
@@microwave311 This is true, the arcade industry uses many mean well power supplies. If I need to replace a PSU in a game, I always try to get the mean well version of it. Never had one explode on me yet, unlike the no-name brands.
love to see u talk about taiwan’s economy and its companies in general, such as asus, Chimei, which didn’t get International attention or branding.
I thoroughly enjoyed this analysis. The informative content, with your presentation and style, make for very engaging viewing. I look forward to seeing others. Thanks!
Congratulations on creating a very believable channel with fascinating, factual information professionally presented in an honest, interesting manner.thank you.
Yup, that's how I remember it. From 1970- 1990, as the overall market for bikes in the USA split into different types (BMX, Road, Mountain, kids), our own manufacturers were slow to respond, not wanting to lose the efficiencies of scale and a captive market, and went abroad to fill niche markets. Europe for road, Japan for Mountain, and Taiwan for BMX and childrens bikes. By the time they began to feel threatened, their old 'mass market' was gone, their WW2 era machinery and techniques were junk, and Asian makers had shown the ability to produce quality goods for less than re-investment would have been worth. 'Giant' didn't strictly *win* our market, it was handed to them.
I always raced Cannondales and later Litespeed bikes in the early 00s. Cross country only (and some mild cyclocross). I never considered Giant as a bike in my price point, but they were not all that rare in the semi-pro and pro XC racing scene. I also recall Giant bikes generally being rated well in the magazines back then. But there was something about the brand itself that didn't quite catch my eye. Cannondale was doing quirky stuff, and was what my nearest bike shop had. Litespeed was marketed as *the* titanium bike back then, which I moved over to. The other brands like Trek, Giant, Gary Fisher, Specialized, etc just didn't grab my attention.
I still ride my racing Litespeed from 2005. With upgrades as needed. Something about newer bikes annoy me and I can't put my finger on it. But you certainly have to spend a whole hell of a lot more money now to get a good amount of bike, compared to the price/performance ratio back then.
We have two used Giants... They resell at high-ish prices, but are absolutely worth it if long life is what you are looking for.
Giant today really is a Giant. Some brands specialize in cheap affordable bikes for the masses, while others specialize in premium bikes for hobbyists and athletes. Giant is the only brand I can think of that excel on both ends of the price range.
Germany was one of the largest aluminum producers and manufacturers of aluminum products until the 1950s.
The production of cheap aluminum products in Germany was then given up and Taiwan filled this gap in the market.
The technologies for the production and processing of aluminum were then further developed in such a way that Taiwan became the producer of the best quality aluminum products for the consumer market.
As a result, Taiwan was able to achieve a dominant position in the production of top quality aluminum bicycle frames. Taiwan also has the dominant position in the corresponding successor technology for the production of carbon fibers and carbon fiber products such as carbon fiber frames.
Great info. I've new-found respect for Giant now.
Giant is the only major bike brand that has it's own carbon fiber weave machine. I own several nice road bikes and one of them is Giant. In terms of value, Giant TCR is a better deal than Specialized, Pinarello, Trek and other european brands. In the US, only the high end bikes are manufactured 100% in the US. The mid and low end carbon bikes are made by giant. But really a 10K Trek isn't actually better than a 3K carbon bike, you're just paying 1000.00 to reduce the weight by 1lb.
Trek no longer builds bikes in America. The Trek Wisconsin plant closed down production in 2017. Specialized is 40% owned by Merida. Merida has a special agreement with Specialized that prohibits the sale of Merida bikes in North America.
@@iMadrid11 I haven't kept up. that means more than half the high end carbon frames are made in Taiwan or China.
Giant is the largest bike manufacture in the world, and Merida another Taiwan bike company is second largest bike manufacture in the world
Merida also owned wholly or majority stake at specialized
Kinesis is one of the largest too. Even though they don’t make a lot of products in their own brand name.
@@budiprasodjo8815 Merida paid $30M for a 49% stake in Specialized back in 2001. Rest of the 51% stake is still owned by Mike Sinyard.
@@TougeGrandTour ya, i think Mike now might regret it, however without Merida Specialized wouldnt be as big, probably alot smaller of a company, the manufacturing and retailing side, and probably cheaper unit cost.
Taichung is such a pretty city. Also the supposed birthplace of bubble tea.
Nice!!
Now I know who to blame for putting spongy garbage into nice tea...
@@kidShibuya if it tastes spongy something has gone really wrong.
Not really. Its from Tainan City!!
I bought a Giant bicycle the other day, excellent value thanks to Giant, Tektro, and Shimano. Bicycles are also a lot cheaper at retail here in Wyoming than they were back in Ontario.
I always wanted disc brakes, and Tektro is making that a thing for everyone.
Tektro is another Taiwanese company.
You should make more videos about bicycle manufacturing in Taiwan!
Branding is hard. It starts with figuring out what you're about, and building a persona that reflects those values. The rest seems to just build from there (through hard work and relevance to those core values, of course).
Ride Life and the rest is history.
Giant's taiwanese? Never knew that. I own one too, they make good bikes
I think they also make bikes for Trek, Scott, Colnago. I believe Liv is also Giant, but branded for women.
90% of bikes and bike parts are designed here and made in Taiwan
@@DQridesbikes can you give botique bicycle brands apart from trek, specialized, giant, merida? Are they good quality or hit and miss?
@@PhiyackYuh what do you mean by boutique brands? Trek, Specialized, Giant and Merida are not by any means a boutique brand. Boutique brands would be something like Moots, Sarto, Tommasini, Ciocc, Bastion Cycles to name a few
Taiwan as a whole is a titan in the bicycle industry
...and yachts, of all things.
interesting how Taiwan has been there competing from the beginning and there isn't too much exposure about it
Do it well and quietly, people who demands it would naturally come.
Thanks to the China dk suckers.
Giant builds some great bikes.
Thanks for the history lesson.
As a Dutchman and thus in a country where plenty of bikes are made, Giant is among the best. Especially be cause they more or less standard have frames that are made from aluminium or another alloy and as a result light weight, and be cause everything mounted on it sits well in place, won't come off quickly, and works well together. I have only one gripe: for a country that is flat, it is hopeless of you as your only option have a "mountain-bike steer", that is mounted of a horizontal extension that sets it (like) a totally undesirable 10 centimeters forward in horizontal direction, that fucks up the way you sit on the bike, strains your neck (largely making it impossible to look forward and see incoming traffic coming) and makes the whole biking experience worthless. IF YOU ARE NOT (GONNA RIDE) IN THE MOUNTAINS, YOUR DON'T WANT A MOUNTAIN BIKE STEER! Jees, don't those guys EVER try their own product? How come they didn't figure that out in nearly FIFTY YEARS?
Fantastic high quality videos as always!
Well done! Absolutely love my Giant Defy!
I love your voice and all the details you bring about Asia..😍 And especially technology and sometimes biodiversity...😍
One more Fact 99% of Top quality Bikes are made in Taiwan. Even the $10,000 USD Trek and Specialized are made in Taiwan! HAHA
Trek is made in Giant factory , that is fact . Specialized is made by Merida .
@@krunoslavloncar9171 Merida is also a taiwanese brand.
@@LongLIN-ol6es I know
Not just frames. SRAM got their factory on Taiwan too.
@@agunlogisteam Even Fox Shocks that cost $1500 is just next to DNM shocks, Which i believe uses the same CNC machines, The main difference is just the R&D. LOL
That's why a $100 DNM shocks can compete to a $500 Shocks. LOL
Smug face coming up with the title. Love it!
I got into India's 14th best technical institution and have chosen electronics and communication engineering your semiconductor videos induced intrest in me . Thank you.
You can never have any problem with giant bicycles. My college went thru cycling giant bicycles
wow taiwan has many global companies
yes but you never realized
I had a Giant bike in the 90s, it was nice.
In Australia Giant have a great reputation for customer support. Occasionally a particular model has had cracking problems and Giant always swiftly warranty the frame with no fuss.
But that’s rare and most of their models are just great. I’ve had several and still have two - a high end carbon fibre mountain bike and a carbon fibre road bike. Both are a joy to ride.
Should be noted though that Giant did engage in some dodgy business practices by essentially stealing a suspension design for mountain bikes…
Unfortunately, stealing is basic with business unless it is patented ans the patent is worth enforcing. Apple and Microsoft "stole" a lot of innovative designs from Xerox, look at where they are now.
My son failed a frame at the headstock, GIANT supplied a new replacement at absolutely no cost.
I love Giant and have used their bikes for years. Great quality at great price. Unfortunately, with the bike boom, they have become a lot more expensive, so I´m afraid they are going to loose the quality/price ratio that made them so successful. My next bike might not be Giant if this trend continues, since bike prices have become ridiculous due to ridiculous profit margins from manufacturers.
A great lesson in product versus marketing. Marketing is King (no pun intended) as long as the product is sufficient. Giant always had great products but lacked marketing ability in foreign markets. Now they have caught up and have both aces marketing and product. Specialized are No 1 for marketing but struggled to match Giants product. Me? I'll take my TCR anyday
I had to re read that tile a couple times lol
I'm confused. The Plaza Accord which resulted in the JPY appreciating was mid-1980s while the bike boom was early to mid 1970s.
I really like the market insights one get from this channel. Keep up the good work 👍🏻
My company also does supply bikes in Europe sadly the main brand got split of because of a mistake in the early days of the company the main brand is now split in two one that makes motorcycles and the other one that makes bicycles with the same brand and now the go into the market again with two brands and it seems like they bikes are all already sold out till 2023 ..
KTM?
Excellent video and very informative. Yes, Giant is the world's largest bike manufacturer and I do have a cyclocross made by Giant. Keep up the good work.
There is subtle buzzing noise in the background, can you hear it? Or is it just me?
You are right. I can only just hear it though.
Just wanted to say your English is so good I thought you were a native speaker
Great video thanks man.
And you have no idea how happy my bro is for hearing you saying aluminium correctly. xD Americans really are butchering that word. The same with Wolfram.(Tungsten) what are they, Norwegians. :D
I am Danish. Thanks a lot man.
I noticed how he said aluminium instead of aluminum.
Great vid! Now if someone could make a video about how some of the people from Giant went on to form Kinesis which in turn makes not only most if not all the bikes for Bikes Direct as well as bikes for other big brand names.
I think what should also be mentioned is how Giant and the Taiwanese bike industry in general has achieved massive economies of scale with modern automated factories that can't be duplicated elsewhere. Giant still manufactures for companies such as Trek. It is a virtuous cycle, where economies of scale leads to lower production costs, which leads to more brand-name bike companies realizing it's cheaper to sub-contract Giant to manufacture their mid-level bikes and slap their label on it.
Excellent video!!! But as a bike geek I wanted even more bike footage... how many brands do they supply etc and how many UCI teams & if that helped them rise!
Wow I didnt know that chromoly frames only started in the 1980s
Very right, technical science of making bike n brand very important
i know 1 person that a GIANT - He is a GIANT - biggest bike i have ever seen!!!!
Can you do a profile video on Shimano? Great content btw. Big fan.
Started loving cycling in my mid 50's, got me a Liv mtb, tomorrow, am picking up my Liv RB, my very first RB.. love the brand!! 🚵♀️🚵♀️🚵♀️
Giant is the biggest bike brand in the world
9:57 - "This steel alloy [CroMoly] is very strong and resistant to corrosion" - well, it IS strong (and elastic and resistant to fatigue - also, easy to repair) but its corrosion resistance is not it's strongest point. In fact, it is rather susceptible to it, as any bike mechanic can attest.
Super interesting video! :) Thanks for posting :)
Really informative. Thanks! I love my Giant bike!
Been trying to buy another giant e bike all year, the shop near me just couldn't get any in . Sadly because of this the shop has now closed . So i got a Specialized turbo sl
Ignaz Schwinn
Mustache
Would you like to add Shimano (group set maker) to your future topics?
Your videos are damn interesting.
I remember in the mid-90's, Taiwan made products were synanymous to crappy products. But now I buy everything but Chinese made. I have a 2009 Giant Defy3 by the way, bought used in 2012, enough for a hobby rider like me.
Taiwan only made crappy toys. Always good at these car parts and any tech prods.
The photograph used in 11:38 was taken from Damshui station!
Hodaka import a cheap off road dirt bike into the US in the 70's. Chrome gas tank. Cheap and pretty good starter bike.
It was a very good bike for price. A good friend of mine had a Hodaka 90, and it really was as good as any Yamaha or Suzuki at the time.
No mention of LIV?
I worked in a bike shop when Giant launched in Australia. They (Taiwan) had a good reputation then.
Does giant still have good reputation up to date?
Kusheen was here...
I have one a Nutra ! Lots of maintenance compared to my one Schwann Mirada, and Jamis bicycles!
All the moves are like a chess match!
so that explains why i own an imported Giant Bicycle that is only made for Taiwan market (Propel SL Disc 2021), which you won't see on any international website/reviewers