Large (or Giant) bull ***t

flappy

Saw the review of the Giant Anthem x 29er 1 and decided to take a look.

Jumped to the Full specs section and looked for the weight and found this gem

How much does this bike weigh? It’s a common question, and rightly so. But the truth is, there are no industry standards for claiming bike weights—and this leads to a lot of misinformation. Variances exist based on size, frame material, finish and hardware. And as bikes get lighter, these differences become more critical. At Giant, we believe the only way to truly know the weight of any particular bike is to find out for yourself at your local retailer.

What a load of crap that is. I've thought of a method that could help Giant out. Get small framed model, put on scales, record result, put it on website under weight (S). Get medium framed model, put on scales, record result, put it on website under weight (M). This method can be extended to work with large and extra large frames too. It will work whether the finish is matt or gloss, and will cope with frames made of alloy or carbon. It also works with sugar, potatoes, and flour for fairy cakes.

At Giant, we believe the only way to truly know the weight of any particular bike is to find out for yourself at your local retailer

The Giant 'boutique' near me can't even tell me the weight.......

rockmonkeysc

Manufacturers claimed weights are meaningless. They are all weighed differently and very few are done with the bike in the state it reaches the shop. Most calculate weights using claimed weights of components added on to the weight of a raw, unpainted frame. They don't include cables or fork oil. Some take the weight that their CAD modelling software says that the frame will be.
It's just a meaningless figure which has no relation to what you actually get.
My Nukeproof Scalp is a pound and a bit heavier than claimed, my mates Specialized Enduro is three quarters of a pound over the claimed weight. My local shop put a Cannondale 29er on their scales and that was just over half a pound over.
Giant are saying that rather than give you a figure which cannot be accurately compared to other manufacturers claimed weights which may or may not be correct they will leave it up to you to test ride or pick one up in your local shop and see what you think.

flappy

The should (and could) weigh a built up version of any particular model. Not just Giant - all of them. If they claim weight without oils or essential cables they are misrepresenting their products under consumer law. What if Tate & Lyle only put 900g of sugar in a 1kg packet?

rockmonkeysc

Thats not true. They aren't selling by weight. Weights are calculated and in some cases given to marketing types long before even the first prototype is built. Engineers will be given target weights for the frame and use the properties in their CAD software to hit or exceed those targets. Also bike manufacturers use lots of components that they buy in, if Shimano increase the weight of the cranks or Fox increase the weights of their forks does that mean that every manufacturer who uses those parts then has to re-issue all marketing info with revised weights? Also very few manufacturers build their own frames so they don't even have 100% control over them.

bennett_346

What the hell has sugar got to do with a bike?

I think Giant are right not to publish a "weight" since some sly manufacturer could weigh theirs with no pedals, lightweight tyres, helium in the forks etc etc and thus Giant could lose out on a sale because some idiot belived the dodgy "weight" on the other manufacturers website and decided it was lighter (even if it wasn't).

cooldad

I enjoy these OCD threads.

ddraver

Hah, yeah that's pretty lame...

They may as well just put "Yes, to be honest our bikes weigh a little bit more that others, but it ll make no difference to the 99% of non racers that buy our bikes as they ll never notice. If you want light just buy Scott or Merida, we probably make them anyway so meh"

rockmonkeysc

Giant's bikes generally aren't the lightest but they don't tend to break very often

nicklouse

flappy wrote:

The Giant 'boutique' near me can't even tell me the weight.......

sorted.

bartimaeus

Very much this ^

Clank

To be fair, if this is the most important thing the OP has to get wound up about, I envy the dude.

He's gonna be mightily p****d when he finds out the Specialized concept store can't sell him the Ark of The Covenent.

bartimaeus

And of course no one will ever weigh one of them for you... oh hang on

Weight (kg):
12.2
Weight (lb):
26.8

supersonic

To be honest, it annoys me too ie why they cannot weigh a specified spec.

nicklouse

supersonic wrote:

To be honest, it annoys me too ie why they cannot weigh a specified spec.

But why would they? As no other maker would measure the same spec but would weigh a lighter one.

If any thing hey should list frame weights. Bare for fullys.

And by bare I mean in retail condition but with nothing fitted but again for a fully all pivots present but no shock.

supersonic

Either way, is not hard to do. X bike with Y spec weighs Z pounds.

stubs

Surely the best way of weighing a bike is to pick it up, if it feels okay then thats it its the right weight. Got 2 bikes and I couldnt tell you the weight of either I just know that the rigid single speed with only a front brake and slick tyres weighs about 6 or 7 ish pounds less than the bouncer with 18 speeds and big bars.

97th choice

My lbs has scales hanging from ceiling for just this scenario. They are truly groundbreaking.

On the subject of weights, if manufactured components have a weight tolerance or variation, then when you factor all those in you could have a not insignificant difference. So, you go look at a bike that is claimed as 12.5kg +/- 0.5kg are you going to get the shop to weigh all they stock so you get the lightest one?

bluechair84

Even geometry can be off from the stated numbers on the spec. But really, aren't these variances small enough that you wouldn't notice? I 'upgraded' to carbon bars and post, didn't notice the difference in weight. Waste of money IME. But yes, I agree that manufacturers should be more rigorous with their specs (which won't happen).

Kowalski675

nicklouse wrote:

flappy wrote:

The Giant 'boutique' near me can't even tell me the weight.......

sorted.

I've got a set just like that, but with yellow handle and buttons, lol. Coincidentally, I just weighed my bike with them this afternoon.

Kowalski675

ddraver wrote:

Hah, yeah that's pretty lame...

They may as well just put "Yes, to be honest our bikes weigh a little bit more that others, but it ll make no difference to the 99% of non racers that buy our bikes as they ll never notice. If you want light just buy Scott or Merida, we probably make them anyway so meh"

I like that post.

The Rookie

I like Ginats position, they could
1/ Tell you the real weight, loose sales to those who are less truthful OR
2/ Join in with the others and lie so they appear to be competative

Neither I'd find particularly palatable as a corporate approach if my name was Mr Giant

Personally I'd like a nice standard weighing method, give the manufacturers 2 years and then introduce it, people who quote weights can either do their own thing or stick to the standard (ansd state that as so).

Some thoughts
1/ Has to be the size they describe as medium
2/ No pedals
3/ All fluids to nominal
4/ Air in tyres to 30psi (MTB's), 80psi (Road)
5/ Air in suspension for an 80Kg rider (nice average weight ready to ride).
(not that air will make a lot of difference).

rockmonkeysc

Removal of reflectors and bell could be acceptable, they come off as soon as you get the bike home. Next problem is that suddenly all manufacturers medium frames will be 14".

nferrar

Yeah it's annoying it's often so hard to get hold of bike weights but as has been said unless there was an agreed industry standard to follow then you wouldn't be able to do a fair comparison and no manufacturer would want to risk losing sales just because they were honest and gave the showroom weight rather than a theoretical weight.

felix.london

Everything is easily found online these days so really no need for manufacturers weights IMO.

Saying that, it is refreshing to see clear weights on Canyon's site for example - makes it a lot easier to compare bikes from the same manufacturer when they do this.

Presuming different paints and coatings will weigh different amounts so if there was a universal standard it should be, bare frame, no components (not even shock for full sussers) and no finish