Giant feels the chill from falling demand.

[StuAff]

I feel you're both right and wrong here. I imagine there are 2-3 very large manufacturers, it's the nature of modern industry, so I agree a large percentage of frames are from the same source(s). Are the brands desperate to hide this? No, I don't think so. While a brand may not want talk about where or by who it's frames are manufactured I can't recall ever seeing a major brand shout out about having it's own manufacturing capability. If a brand did have it's own production facility this would be a major plus and one which a brand would shout from the rooftops.

I've never been excited by Giant or even considered their range, similarly with Trek, Specialised, Scott, Canyon etc. which is either my ignorance meaning I've missed a lot of good bikes or a failure by the brands to excite me. I'm not sure which but lean towards the latter.

I've owned and loved a Monoc, Dolans and currently ride a Cervelo and Kinesis both of which are great bikes. The Kinesis ATRV3 ticks every box for gravel/winter/touring and probably good for another 10 years while my Cervelo C3, now six years old, is the best bike I've owned. My love of the Cervelo is such rather than consider a new bike, I worry I would find anything as good, I recently spent £800 on upgrades/full replacements. Dolan, Cervelo, Kinesis and Cannondale would be my first brands to consider. I've seen some very nice Reilly and Mason bikes and would look at these.

Does it worry me these bikes could all have come out of the same factory? Not in the slightest as it's the design and build I can buy which interests me. I must confess to being slightly disappointed two weeks after getting the Kinesis when a friend turned up on his new Reilly with an almost identical frame. A few weeks later two other friends turned out on new Dolans with almost identical frames! I was surprised by this as was my LBS when I told them.

I think it's interesting how people are grabbed by looks. Before Christmas I turned up to a club ride with a buddy on my Kinesis, she on her identical Dolan to find another rider turn out on a brand new Reilly with a great paint job. After a lot of ooohing and aaahing by my buddy over said Reilly I quietly mentioned "you know it's the same Ti frame we are both riding but painted?"

It would be fantastic to see the rise of a quality British bike brand manufactured in the UK. A pipe dream I guess.

As I have explained before, those bikes are not 'the same frame' even if (and it's a big if) they were made by the same people in the same factory.

 

[PaulSB]

As I have explained before, those bikes are not 'the same frame' even if (and it's a big if) they were made by the same people in the same factory.

Can't say I've seen previous remarks about this and to be honest I don't really understand your remark.

In the instance of the Kinesis and Dolan the chain stays are slightly different, the Kinesis has more bosses. In the case of the Reilly the chain stays are again slightly different and its not easy to see. I'd suggest the chain stay difference results from the individual company view on providing comfort. Otherwise the frames are identical.

 

[StuAff]

Can't say I've seen previous remarks about this and to be honest I don't really understand your remark.

In the instance of the Kinesis and Dolan the chain stays are slightly different, the Kinesis has more bosses. In the case of the Reilly the chain stays are again slightly different and its not easy to see. I'd suggest the chain stay difference results from the individual company view on providing comfort. Otherwise the frames are identical.

These are not insignificant differences. There is no evidence they are made in the same factory, but even if they are the bikes are in no way 'identical'. You would not have the same riding position & they would most definitely not handle identically. Every single frame dimension is different.

 

[bonzobanana]

Its common knowledge for a very long time, at least 3 decades. Not only for bikes, for nearly all consumables. Labour arbitrage to production scaling, no labour issue etc. It is the factory of the World. Bike manufacturing is mostly mechanical, it things like frame material and design that is kept close to the chest.

I personally don't see much mention of fuji-ta the largest bike manufacturer in the media its almost as if they don't exist. The fact they call a much smaller scale manufacturer the largest manufacturer is completely inaccurate. I keep seeing many brands described as manufacturers who don't actually manufacture anything. Back in the 70s it was common to see the term 'importers' but now that term has disappeared and anyone can claim to be a manufacturer if they import bicycles. If I imported 500 bicycles from fuji-ta which I have chosen the paintwork, chosen the components and perhaps requested some tweaking of the geometry I could legally call myself the manufacturer. You say frame material is kept close to their chest but in fact there aren't that many. When Dahon call their aluminium 'Dalloy' its just a marketing term it could be any aluminium, 7005, 6061 etc and many brands create fake names for their aluminium or carbon fibre but you have to understand these are just marketing terms not real materials. It's just a way of manipulating gullible consumers who are more vulnerable to such marketing. The expertise regarding materials is with the manufacturer not the importer.

 

[Andy in Germany]

It's attitudes like this that is pushing bike brands to the wire, if no one buys new bikes than all these brands might as well file for bankruptcy now

Crikey, then I must be the industry's worst nightmare.

I've got a couple of old Giants in the shop at the moment, now I come to think of it.

 

[tyred]

Crikey, then I must be the industry's worst nightmare.

I've got a couple of old Giants in the shop at the moment, now I come to think of it.

Keep them. If Giant do go under, Old Giants might suddenly become collectors items...

 

[Elybazza61]

It would be fantastic to see the rise of a quality British bike brand manufactured in the UK. A pipe dream I guess.

There is a thriving UK bike manufacturing industry (including parts manufacturers like Hope,Middleburn,Chater-Lea etc) although it is mostly small scale and at prices that would make a lot on here faint .

https://formebikes.co.uk/formed-by-the-uk

Deffo not made in the uk.

 

[Bollo]

Forme say Asian factories on their site…

Forme are just a brand owned by cycle and accessories distributor Moore Large. If they want, I can teach them how to use CSS margins.

 

[Arjimlad]

I was looking into getting a Liv road bike for my wife last year, but the model which would've best suited her just wasn't available. The local Giant store seemed to be having real issues getting stock, in fact there were hardly any of that model in the UK.

 

[gzoom]

Looks like Ribble is about to go.....Next 12 months we are going to see some big losses. Reduction in choice is never a good thing for consumers, even though that wouldn't bother most forum members here

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04149504/filing-history

 

[Jameshow]

I think they are the world's biggest bike manufacturer by revenue not production. A quick look shows they manufacture about 6 million bikes a year but fuji-ta have made as many as 20 million bikes per year and also make frames for many assembly plants around the world. A huge number of western brand bikes are made by fuji-ta and I think they are huge for aluminium frames and in fact have the largest aluminium frame production factory in the world. A list of brands that use them either for complete bikes or frames would include; Specialized, Scott, Trek, Cannondale, Carrera, Btwin, Bianchi and tons of others. Giant have lost a huge amount of OEM work in recent years as their prices have increased so many western brands only use them for their premium high end models but use fuji-ta for their budget to mid-range bikes. I think its the same for the other big Taiwanese brand Merida. Despite having strong links to Specialized many of the lower end Specialized bikes are made by fuji-ta. It's just more expensive to make in Taiwan nowadays and while Giant has mainland China factories, Fuji-ta has factories in Cambodia and Vietnam which means they can avoid EU tariffs on their production.

I think the issue is there is a lot of hidden information in the bike industry and the industry doesn't want consumers to realise a huge percentage of bikes are effectively coming from the same manufacturer and are similar quality or that many brands are not actually manufacturers at all and simply buying production from the same big Chinese manufacturers.

Looks like Ribble is about to go.....Next 12 months we are going to see some big losses. Reduction in choice is never a good thing for consumers, even though that wouldn't bother most forum members here

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04149504/filing-history

Brought by true capital earlier in the year...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/road.c...ycles-bought-true-capital-investment-firm?amp

 

[Dogtrousers]

I remember when I heard that they had opened a giant bike shop in Norwood, I went to see it and was rather disappointed.

I mean, it was a bit bigger than average, but no more than that.

 

[Bollo]

I remember when I heard that they had opened a giant bike shop in Norwood, I went to see it and was rather disappointed.

I mean, it was a bit bigger than average, but no more than that.

I thought you were better than that.

 

[Alex321]

I was looking into getting a Liv road bike for my wife last year, but the model which would've best suited her just wasn't available. The local Giant store seemed to be having real issues getting stock, in fact there were hardly any of that model in the UK.

Last year, there was an extreme shortage of new bikes available at all, including Giant. When I bought in August last year (2021), I had narrowed my search down to about 5 bikes, but there were only two of those in stock in my size anywhere in the country (and no chance of any close enough to test ride).

 

[Fab Foodie]

Last year, there was an extreme shortage of new bikes available at all, including Giant. When I bought in August last year (2021), I had narrowed my search down to about 5 bikes, but there were only two of those in stock in my size anywhere in the country (and no chance of any close enough to test ride).

Have to remember that bicycle manufacturing being predominantly SE Asia based will also be feeling the effects of the pandemic. Supply chains are still not back to normal.
The current cost of living crisis will also impact many markets and cycling is not immune.