Beware of Giant top end bicycles.

['Dale]

Where's Andydude for a point of view?

 

On another note, every manufacturing line has its 'bad apple'.

Is this it from the manufacturer?

[reteid]

what is J.R.A.?

[Danger Dassie]

what is J.R.A.?

 

Just Riding Along .... ie: I was 'just riding along' and my frame broke in three.

 

J

[Eldron]

what is J.R.A.?

 

Just Ridin' Along

[reteid]

thanks eldron and danger dassie i think i must go and JRA.

[reteid]

I guess jurgenbike is not in the market for a giant stationery trainer then.

[Dustman]

Hi Guys

My 2 cents worth on Giant. I have been riding a giant mtb for 6 years now, i have broken 2 frames and can only say positive things about Dragon sports.The dealers though can be a different story. I have found the local dealer to be very disinterested and seems to have lost his passion for cycling. But then there are other dealers around.

regards

[Tjokkits]

 

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.

 

 

wat op aarde eet jy vir breakfast?

[Wil6]

It would indeed - It would also be great if Jurgen took the trouble to actually interact on the thread he has created. i see him commenting on the W2W thread.

 

My personal opinion on ultra lightweight components - carbon bars and such like - unless you treat your bike with kid gloves and don't hammer the downhills - leave well alone. I have never broken any aluminium components in 17 years- even brake levers despite numerous crashes - the worst has been a dented frame - a Giant at that, but it was mine and a tree stumps fault, not Giant's.

He has not been seen today after the rant about Giant 11:03 am.Think we will hear something from the op before the end of the day.I hope so...

['Dale]

I can totally sympathise. I sent pictorial evidence of failed components and my excrutiating injuries to China and nobody has sent me a new bike yet.

 

Sensitive viewers, look away now:

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a1n7eCT0Emw/TVqUbfO4WmI/AAAAAAAAADQ/IAAiYkSISRU/s1600/body_cast.jpg

 

Stage 3 of the 2010 Epic, I had to crawl for 7 hours with my balls in a sling made from prickly pear branches to finish before the cutoff.

 

No response whatsoever from the Chinese manufacturers.

 

http://www.southdacola.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/normal_BrokenBicycle.jpg

 

Wicked, Luke!!!

[Eddy Gordo]

..

[Pronutro]

This is a Giant Mistake

[Pronutro]

I will never again be Facing the Giant(s)

[nickc]

I can totally sympathise. I sent pictorial evidence of failed components and my excrutiating injuries to China and nobody has sent me a new bike yet.

 

Sensitive viewers, look away now:

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a1n7eCT0Emw/TVqUbfO4WmI/AAAAAAAAADQ/IAAiYkSISRU/s1600/body_cast.jpg

 

Stage 3 of the 2010 Epic, I had to crawl for 7 hours with my balls in a sling made from prickly pear branches to finish before the cutoff.

 

No response whatsoever from the Chinese manufacturers.

 

http://www.southdacola.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/normal_BrokenBicycle.jpg

 

Now that was f#( king funny.

[andydude]

Where's Andydude for a point of view?

 

On another note, every manufacturing line has its 'bad apple'.

Is this it from the manufacturer?

 

Me?!

 

I don't know enough about this topic to comment so I'd rather stay quiet. No use throwing in useless comments (like this one )

[The Drongo]

OH NO !

 

And here I am about to embark on a rebuild of a Giant Trance. The Landcruiser of Mountainbikes!

 

And now it's all going to fall APART !?!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C H O P !