Rohloff_Brompton_Rider
Formerly just_fixed
i posted this as a reply to another thread. but i'd like to know your guys views on what i was told by my lbs.
i was down at my lbs today where i got my giant tcx1 from. i was enquiring about the possibility of getting a set of alloy forks. i just don't seem to be able to settle down when riding with the carbon forks it came with, my reasons to be unsettled is that my scott genius ltd full carbon fibre mtb (£5000's worth) snapped in half due to a manufacturing fault (fracturing my eye socket and wrist and i was knocked unconscious for a short while). the frame was replaced by scott and the bike rebuilt by lbs, but i ebayed it.
the bloke at the lbs (craig at rideon in rossendale) is very knowledgeable and is involved in quite a few research and developments (bike related). rideon are giant dealers and craig goes to all the meetings a dealer has the opportunity to goto. he's been to a few where giant rep's talk about quality and prices and some others where they demonstrate the manufacturing process and quality control.
apparently not all cf is the same, i.e giant get the actual fibre's from the same place as boeing and f1 teams. in other words they get the best available, then they weave it in house and produce the components in house and keep a tight grip on quality. apparently giant have the ethos of it has to be 'fit for purpose' (which causes passionate arguments at dealer meetings, dealers want cheaper bikes to compete) and not built to compete with 'boutique' brands on lightness (eg, pinarello, colnago etc etc) the boutique companies buy in the already woven cf matting and 'swatch build' their frames with the ultimate goal being lightness and stiffness (fair enough, horses for courses).
giant actually build and have their bikes tested to some crash test standards (craig said EN summat or other) and are heavily involved with improving the standards of all bicycle frames and forks. craig says he really believes the company (giant) operate a show all policy and gets monthly emails regarding failures and recalls. he reckons in all the time he's been a dealer he's not heard (not even on the grapevine) about any problems with giant cf frames or forks.
now i'm not naive enough to believe everything i'm told by a dealer (obviously he may have an agenda) but craig seems to be a straight up guy and wouldn't sell cf mtb bikes until he started being a giant dealership.
what do you guys think? has he been straight with me (or giant straight with him).
i'm particularly happy with how he told me giant make their cf forks; a swaged end on an alloy steerer tube and then inserted into the machine that bonds the tube to cf & resin, i.e., not cold glued into a crown like a lot of companies used/do.
ribble bikes was one of the companies that was mentioned in the cheap chinese carbon category.
i was down at my lbs today where i got my giant tcx1 from. i was enquiring about the possibility of getting a set of alloy forks. i just don't seem to be able to settle down when riding with the carbon forks it came with, my reasons to be unsettled is that my scott genius ltd full carbon fibre mtb (£5000's worth) snapped in half due to a manufacturing fault (fracturing my eye socket and wrist and i was knocked unconscious for a short while). the frame was replaced by scott and the bike rebuilt by lbs, but i ebayed it.
the bloke at the lbs (craig at rideon in rossendale) is very knowledgeable and is involved in quite a few research and developments (bike related). rideon are giant dealers and craig goes to all the meetings a dealer has the opportunity to goto. he's been to a few where giant rep's talk about quality and prices and some others where they demonstrate the manufacturing process and quality control.
apparently not all cf is the same, i.e giant get the actual fibre's from the same place as boeing and f1 teams. in other words they get the best available, then they weave it in house and produce the components in house and keep a tight grip on quality. apparently giant have the ethos of it has to be 'fit for purpose' (which causes passionate arguments at dealer meetings, dealers want cheaper bikes to compete) and not built to compete with 'boutique' brands on lightness (eg, pinarello, colnago etc etc) the boutique companies buy in the already woven cf matting and 'swatch build' their frames with the ultimate goal being lightness and stiffness (fair enough, horses for courses).
giant actually build and have their bikes tested to some crash test standards (craig said EN summat or other) and are heavily involved with improving the standards of all bicycle frames and forks. craig says he really believes the company (giant) operate a show all policy and gets monthly emails regarding failures and recalls. he reckons in all the time he's been a dealer he's not heard (not even on the grapevine) about any problems with giant cf frames or forks.
now i'm not naive enough to believe everything i'm told by a dealer (obviously he may have an agenda) but craig seems to be a straight up guy and wouldn't sell cf mtb bikes until he started being a giant dealership.
what do you guys think? has he been straight with me (or giant straight with him).
i'm particularly happy with how he told me giant make their cf forks; a swaged end on an alloy steerer tube and then inserted into the machine that bonds the tube to cf & resin, i.e., not cold glued into a crown like a lot of companies used/do.
ribble bikes was one of the companies that was mentioned in the cheap chinese carbon category.
They've posted the certificates on their site and footage of testing. Possibly coming from the same factory as the Giant in your m8's shop. 
