Beware of Giant top end bicycles.

[Jurgenbike]

 

TO ALL FELLOW CYCLIST THIS LETTER IS ONLY TO WARN YOU THAT GAINT TOP END BIKES ARE OF A POOR QUALITY AND THE SERVICE IS WORSE THAN SHOCKING. MY AIM HERE IS ONLY TO INFORM YOU OF MY DILEMMA WITH THEM IN THE HOPE THAT IT MAY HELP OR SAVE ONE OF YOU FROM THE SAME FATE.I HAVE ATTACHED MY LETTERS WHICH I HAVE EMAILED TO THE RELEVANT PEOPLE AND WILL TRY AND ATTACHED SOME OF THE PHOTOS OF THE BROKEN PARTS AS WELL. I HAVE LEFT OUT MANY LETTERS AS I SENT ABOUT 10 LETTERS IN TOTAL. I ALSO RECIVED ONE LETTER FROM CHINA AND THEY WERE HORRIFED AT THE SERVICE I WAS RECIVING. HOWEVER WHEN I TRIED TO GET HOLD OF THEM AGAIN THE GUYS EMAIL BOX WAS FULL AND THEY NEVER GOT HOLD OF ME AGAIN.

 

 

 

 

Dear Michael, (dragon, the offical supplier and MD of Giant)

 

When we last spoke which was almost a year ago you assured me that I would get the Blue brakes that my bike came with originally - the original brake broke and was a warranty issue. I still have not received this brake, and since then almost the entire bike has fallen apart. I have attached the letter which I sent to China which mentions all the parts which have now failed. Furthermore, as I’m sure you are well aware the frame of the bike has also broken which was the final straw - the entire bike and all its parts have failed in as little as one year.

 

Despite this fact, I have not heard anything from Dragon since the brake issue and even Giant head office (China) has stopped responding. One of the employees from the head office’s email box is too full to take any more emails (find attached). I was going to demand a new bike, as I believe that my bike and all of its parts are inferior. Not to mention the many broken bones torn muscles and other injuries caused by malfunctioning parts. I have had to spend over 1 third of the bikes cost replacing all the parts myself in order to keep riding.

 

I was very surprised that the frame was replaced so quickly (even though in the wrong colour) given the fact that none of the other warranty issues have been sorted out for some time now (it should be noted that the carbon fiber did not crack due to the normal stress on the bike but came apart from the aluminum lug which secures the back shock to the bike) once again proving this was a blatant manufacture problem. Because I now have a new frame I feel I cannot therefore ask for a new bike, as that maybe unreasonable. However, I am requesting that the group set and other parts be replaced with the now proper group set the new Trance comes out with (XTR). I have mentioned my reasons for this in my letter to China (attached)so I do not want to repeat everything again. It is no point replacing the inferior parts with more inferior parts.

 

I am very disappointed with the poor service I have received over the past year as well as the many setbacks I have faced due to a poorly specked Giant product.

 

Could you please give me a yes or no answer to my request regarding the specs as I am tired of waiting and getting no response from you or China.

 

I believe that it has come time for me to inform my fellow cyclists via the internet of the problems they will face when purchasing “top end” Giant products. From now onwards all correspondents or the lack thereof will be noted on all of the forums and internet sites concerning cycling in the hope of protecting other potential Giant customers from from making the same mistake and suffering the consequences thereof.

 

I look forward to an amicable solution.

 

 

BELOW IS MY LETTER TO GIANT IN CHINA

 

Good day Vincent,

 

 

 

Could you please read my letter below and advise me who the relevant person is I should sent it to. I would like to pass this letter onto somebody who is directly involved with Giant and has some say.

 

 

 

I have been a Giant fan for many years and have owned many giant mtb and road bikes, My second last bike was the anthem 1. However after the Anthem 1 I decided that I wanted the best bike and group set wheels etc money could buy as I was tired of slowly upgrading all the time. After a lot of research I decided to buy the Giant Trance x Advanced sl o 2010 even though the cost of this bike was almost as much as a car in my country. I could have bought any top of the range bike in the world for this price, but because I had ridden giant and the write-ups were good I when ahead and bought it.

 

 

 

WELL THIS IS WHERE THE NIGHTMARE BEGAN.

 

 

 

After ONE MONTH the right brake lever snapped in half by the force I was using with my hands to break..(across the metal of the brake, not the clamp) Avid told me that it was a blatant factory fault as the carbon levers did not have a single scratch on them, and they would replace them immediately.

However, because this particular brake was blue and if I wanted it to match with the other one I would need to speak to Giant. I then spoke to the suppliers of Giant in South Africa "Dragon" They said that they felt it was not a warranty claim. Dragon was saying that the brake experts AVID were wrong and that Dragon knew more about brakes. After many emails and phone calls to the managing director of Dragon he told me that they would warranty the brake and would get the blue one for me. ITS BEEN ONE YEAR AND I HAVE NOT SEEN OR HEARD ANYTHING REGADING THIS BRAKE.

 

 

 

TWO MONTHS: after the brake snapped the seat post clamp stopped working and as a result the seat was not held in place.

 

 

 

THREE MONTHS: The seat post clamp was swapped around.

 

 

 

ROAD SEASON STARTED SO I HUNG UP THE MTB AND STARTED RIDING MY ROAD BIKE 3-4 MONTHS LATER.

 

 

 

After SEVEN MONTHS: I Started MTB again and my new seat clamp stopped working (again) and the left break lever broke from the force I used breaking in the same way across the metal of the break lever. Incidentally I was almost killed due to this and sustained bad injuries. I had no choice but to buy a new seat post as I could not keep racing never knowing when the seat clamp was going to give. I had to buy a new brake system as I could not risk my life anymore never knowing when the brakes Giant had put on would fail. Indecently the second brake was also warrantied by avid as it was the exact same situation as the first.

 

 

 

NINE MONTHS the bolts that held the crank blades to the frame ripped through most of the lugs during pedaling the large blade is still intact proving that there was no hard knock to the crank itself. Race face has gone bankrupt in South Africa and now there is a fight between race face and Dragon/giant who should warranty it. In the interim race face did manage to loan me a lower level crank in the meantime. But I can see that like everything else this story will never be resolved and I will have to land up buying a new "better make" crank.

 

 

 

ELEVEN MONTHS later - I had entered one of the best stage races in the country The SANI2C. This race is in the middle of the wilderness and so I was by now understandably nervous due to kind of bike I have. As I turned the corner on day two my handle bar snapped in half sending me crashing into a tree. I had to cycle for 6 hours with blood pouring out of my leg and half a handle bar to get to help. Incidentally, the front gear shifter had snapped as well so I had to clime 2000m without a granny gear. I had to buy a new handle bar and shifters from the race mechanics in order to finish the race.

 

 

 

I have virtually replace this entire bike and all of it was due to poor equipment. The cost of replacing the parts is over 50% of the actual original cost of the bike.

 

 

 

One of the worst excuses I have heard from Dragon/Giant was that those parts are not from Giant. It was Giant who put this bike together and chose these parts to be the best for their bike. If wheels fell off a BMW vehicle I can assure you BMW is not going to blame some factory in China. They will take the responsibility themselves as will any responsible company do .

 

 

 

I have seen the new Trance advance now and it comes with a full XTR equipment. This seems to be the real bike and likewise has proper components .I must have received the bike Giant was testing, before they brought out the proper one.

 

 

 

I trusted Giant with their mix and match components and it was a lot more expensive than its twin trance with the so called lower spec.

 

 

 

I can't help feeling like I was completely and utterly ripped off by Giant, I bought their most expensive bike and received the most inferior parts.

Friends of mine with half the value bike now just laugh at my bike like it's a joke.

 

 

 

 

 

Please note that all of the above information is documented by a private bike shop. Their head mechanic and owner has witnessed all info mentioned above.

 

 

 

I have attached some of my photos but the bike shop may have more.

[MJ the Expat]

Ek kry solank die springmielies.

 

Dude, all this is going to do is raise a lot off hastle. Be prepared to get flamed by this lot.

 

Things snapping off during usage? Well, my opinion is that this will only happen when the force applied is MOERSE!

Edited November 15, 2011 by The real MJ

[Caerus]

Jeez, not good Will the bike shop where you bought the bike not sort you out? Surely they should be honoring the warranties

[MTB_Roadie]

Your probably the first person to snap a crank like that at the blades, and to be honest judging by that pic it looks like you properly abuse a bike .....judging by the way the bar snapped looks like you do a lot of drops?

 

I always got good services from Giant...but if your brake snaps why should they replace it? How do you break a brake?

[Zula]

Wow dude that is really unfortunate. I cannot believe that so much can go wrong with one bike!

 

Distributors in this country rest on the laurels way too much and think because they have brands that effectively sell themselves, they don't have to do much work. Dragons are also the Mavic agents and there was a thread last week about how rubbish the service is.

 

I think by posting your issue here you have given Dragons more than a fair opportunity to tell us why they think we should still support them, and how they are going to remedy your nightmare.

 

Good luck bud, don't give up!

[gummibear]

I have seen the new Trance advance now and it comes with a full XTR equipment. This seems to be the real bike and likewise has proper components .I must have received the bike Giant was testing, before they brought out the proper one.

 

I trusted Giant with their mix and match components and it was a lot more expensive than its twin trance with the so called lower spec.

 

So what you are saying is that you want a XTR specced bike?

 

Do you have any photos of the complete bike?That crank looks like it has seen some good use.

[TNT1]

Dunno, hey? Smear Giant all over the place, and the first pic clearly shows the Raceface brand? Is it just me that is confused?

[schmoose]

May I ask how much you weigh?

Edited November 15, 2011 by schmoose

[zuludog]

this is an interesting situation - i have a Giant and if it starts giving me trouble i would want my bikeshop to sort me out. i wouldnt want to find out who the agents are and deal with them - less so with china. isnt this how it is supposed to work the oukd you bought it from sorts you out?

[MariusL]

Are you by any chance a 29" man?

[MTB_Roadie]

So what you are saying is that you want a XTR specced bike?

 

Do you have any photos of the complete bike?That crank looks like it has seen some good use.

 

That is what I was thinking, sounds more like crash landing on rocks that broke the blades off? And now he wants XTR....I want to trade in my E46 BMW M3 for a E96 M3 cause the rim broke....

 

Dunno, hey? Smear Giant all over the place, and the first pic clearly shows the Raceface brand? Is it just me that is confused?

 

I think the same...

[Lamber]

Your probably the first person to snap a crank like that at the blades, and to be honest judging by that pic it looks like you properly abuse a bike .....judging by the way the bar snapped looks like you do a lot of drops?

 

I always got good services from Giant...but if your brake snaps why should they replace it? How do you break a brake?

 

Well, it IS a proper MTB. If you're only gonna do gravel rides you might as well buy a R2k MTB.

 

Good luck bud, keep trying and keep us posted...

[TNT1]

Oh, f*&k me. I'm editing the thread title. WTF is a bicicle? A pair of icicles?

[(Deon)]

Your probably the first person to snap a crank like that at the blades, and to be honest judging by that pic it looks like you properly abuse a bike .....judging by the way the bar snapped looks like you do a lot of drops?

 

I always got good services from Giant...but if your brake snaps why should they replace it? How do you break a brake?

 

I am not sure these comments are really necessary, unless you are just stirring, then you should probably say your'e kidding.

 

 

I'd also like to hear what the LBS has done to help, did you go back to them when the sh*t started?

[Nickzta]

Dude! Sounds like a classic PEBSAHB !

 

I struggle to believe that so much could go wrong with 1 bike and in so many different areas. So what kind of riding are you doing on this bike?

[Tubehunter]

MTB_Roadie how can you say whether someone abuses a bike or not?? One fall at low speed on a pebble stretch and the cranks can look like this. These are after all mountain bikes, not fine china. They will get ridden and used in some heavy situations.

 

I can't believe this much can go wrong with one bike without it being some form of issue. The thing that makes it hard to believe is that these are all seperate parts from different manufacturers all failing. Most would put these collections of failures down to a heavy incident outside of a typical warranty situation, if they chose not to believe your account of the timeline and circumstances around these breaks.

 

Good luck. Hope you get the result you're looking for!

Edited November 15, 2011 by Tubehunter