Cycling Plus, is Giant the best bike manufacturer ever?
DonDaddyD
Posts: 12,689
Ever since the 2009 road bike of the year and probably before that, Giant road bikes have consistently scored highly in the Cycling Plus magazine. Individual reviews of see the bikes scoring 4 stars or above and any comparisions against a range of other brands always see a Giant road bike featuring in the top five.
Honestly, I have never seen a bad review of a Giant bike in that magazine.
Is Cycling Plus on the take or are Giant bikes just that good?
Of us road bike enthusiasts should a Giant (bike) be on the top of our lists when choosing a bike?
Was a Giant bike on your radar when you chose your bike? If so of if not then why?
Honestly, I have never seen a bad review of a Giant bike in that magazine.
Is Cycling Plus on the take or are Giant bikes just that good?
Of us road bike enthusiasts should a Giant (bike) be on the top of our lists when choosing a bike?
Was a Giant bike on your radar when you chose your bike? If so of if not then why?
Food Chain number = 4
A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
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Giant make most of the frames for most other brands in the world...
make of that what you willBMC TM01 - FCN 0
Look 695 (Geared) - FCN 1
Bowman Palace:R - FCN 1
Cannondale CAAD 9 - FCN 2
Premier (CX) - FCN 6
Premier (fixed/SS) - FCN30 -
Giant's name is kinda appropriate then.spasypaddy wrote:Giant make most of the frames for most other brands in the world...
make of that what you will0 -
I test-rode a TCR Advanced and a TCR Advanced SL a week ago. Both were nice bikes - well finished and nicely balanced. To ride, the SL was as good as, possibly better than, my Supersix. The finish was lovely too.
As spasypaddy wrote, they make a lot of the frames for other brands - so access to research and knowledge isn't hard to come by. They also work with a lot of other component makers to produce house-branded components. The P-SL0/P-SLR wheels are pretty good for the price.
The best? Far too subjective.0 -
spasypaddy wrote:Giant make most of the frames for most other brands in the world...
make of that what you will
Must admit that I thought that Giant had a huge factory in collaboration with a Chinese manufacturer; multiple brands come from one factory. Essentially, Giant put the investment in and now have the monopoly on frame manufacture for the right price?
I don't dislike Giant bikes, I think that the colours chemes are crap and if I had to have a 'massive' manufacture build, I would probably go for a Specialized.....**I am not counting Colnago/Pinarello/Bianchi and so on as 'massive' - only counting Trek, Specialized and Giant!**0 -
I rode my friends Giant Defy and it was nice. I went to test out a Defy 1 from a Giant showroom, but they don't let people test their bikes - you have to buy it first and for that reason I am out. (then I went and bought a bike from Wiggle without test riding it first :-))0
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I've got a Bowery, can't complain. No problems with it, only one puncture but I might get a shorter h/b stem in the new year.Cannondale Trail 6 - crap brakes!
Cannondale CAAD80 -
Their bikes are fine, but Cycling Plus (and most magazine) reviews would be close correlated to advertising revenue than anything else.
I've seen stuff get 10/10 one year, then 5/10 the next.
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I'm a big fan of Giant bikes in general (I own a TCR Alliance Zero, XTC 1 29er & XTC composite) previous to that had an XTC 1 26" and a Giant NRS so I may be biased but...
...Giant bikes consistently offer good value for money for the kit you get, very well built, stiff and good looking frames (last bit is personal I guess) Exotic they are not, but for a machine they are brilliant.
I used to work in a LBS who sold Giants, which may have influenced my decision to buy them, but I do love mine.0 -
Good bikes. Unfortunate logo.
Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX0 -
I've had three bikes from them (2 mountain, 1 road) as well as having had a number of different bikes from other manufacturers and test ridden several more. I really like them. They happen to suit me as a rider, I guess. Does it mean they're the best? Of course not. Are they worth a test ride? Absolutely.FCN 3 / 40
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I thought it was Merida that made most of the bikes in the world?http://www.georgesfoundation.org
http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.com/
http://www.12on12in12.blogspot.co.uk/0 -
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mroli wrote:I thought it was Merida that made most of the bikes in the world?
Don't know about that but this article contains a nice little table from InnerRing on who makes what and an even better article on who makes your bike again from Inrng too.
as for Cycling Plus I'm not sure I've ever read it nor have I ridden a Giant bike. I do read MBR though and they certainly are keen on Specialized.FCN = 40 -
All that time I've been buying Pearl Izumi and I've been thinking 'premium' a notch down from Castelli and its actually Shimano.
Still, I'm gonna buy a Focus and scratch Cervelo over the logo....
I saw the same done to a Skoda, only it had VW on it.
ANYWAY, for me, the Cycling Plus reviews are starting to lose meaning. The reviews are mostly the same year in, year out. Giant will always score highly, Specialized often. Get a star or half a star less than Giant, and the new manufacturers get 3 - 4 stars unless the bike is proper rubbish.
Also how difference is 4.5 stars to 5 stars. Why not mark out of 10 and make sure 7 is good and not considered average.Food Chain number = 4
A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game0 -
Lots of things fall into the same thing as bike frames - loads of well-know (and less well-known) consumer electronics are made by Flextronics in China. The economies of scale and the know-how are important factors.ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH0
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I just ignore the scores and try and pick through the articles to see if the bike looks like it'll do the job. Nothing beats a test ride and seeing them in the flesh though...FCN 3 / 40
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I don't even waste brain power thinking about this cr@p.0
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Paul E wrote:I don't even waste brain power thinking about this cr@p.
And this post is a great example of brain power well spent... :roll:Food Chain number = 4
A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game0 -
It's probably just because Giant are good enough that very few people would ever be unhappy with their stuff, and the economies of scale they have mean that at any given price point their stuff is at least as good, if not better value than the competition.
So in your typical bike mag comparison review they're always likely to come out at or near the top.0
