Corporate Relations - Giant & Trek

[Jason Settles]

A friend of mine was recently told that Giant and Trek are owned by the same
company. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

My Googling didn't find any relationship but I could have missed it. My
friend was told this while shopping for a new bike in a major bicycle shop.

Thanks for any light you might shed on this subject.

 

[Rich]

Jason Settles wrote:
> A friend of mine was recently told that Giant and Trek are owned by the same
> company. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

According to the link below they are not.

http://www.1bike.com/Links/Bicycle_Links/Bicycle_Links2/Bikes_A-List/bikes_a-list.html

But things change. And not all info on the web is accurate.

 

[josh]

NO, the two companies are not owned by the same people. Trek is still a
privately held company and only has a working relationship with Giant
Taiwan.


Josh

"Rich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Jason Settles wrote:
>> A friend of mine was recently told that Giant and Trek are owned by the
>> same company. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
>
> According to the link below they are not.
>
> http://www.1bike.com/Links/Bicycle_Links/Bicycle_Links2/Bikes_A-List/bikes_a-list.html
>
> But things change. And not all info on the web is accurate.

 

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

>A friend of mine was recently told that Giant and Trek are owned by the
>same company. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
>
> My Googling didn't find any relationship but I could have missed it. My
> friend was told this while shopping for a new bike in a major bicycle
> shop.
>
> Thanks for any light you might shed on this subject.

As Josh pointed out in his post, Giant and Trek share no corporate ties
whatsoever, outside of normal business arrangements (Giant makes some of the
lower-end import bikes for Trek). Of the "Big-3" (Giant, Trek &
Specialized), only Specialized has financial ties to another company in the
industry, Merida (which manufactures many of their bikes and owns a good
chunk of the company).

Could be that the bike shop, or your friend, was confused by the fact that
Giant does make some bikes for Trek.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

 

[Ken]

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> As Josh pointed out in his post, Giant and Trek share no corporate ties
> whatsoever, outside of normal business arrangements (Giant makes some of
> the lower-end import bikes for Trek).

Mike, do you know what percentage of Trek's bikes are made by Giant? I was
under the impression that it is more than just a few models. Just curious.

 

[[email protected]]

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
> >A friend of mine was recently told that Giant and Trek are owned by the
> >same company. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
> >
> > My Googling didn't find any relationship but I could have missed it. My
> > friend was told this while shopping for a new bike in a major bicycle
> > shop.
> >
> > Thanks for any light you might shed on this subject.
>
> As Josh pointed out in his post, Giant and Trek share no corporate ties
> whatsoever, outside of normal business arrangements (Giant makes some of the
> lower-end import bikes for Trek). Of the "Big-3" (Giant, Trek &
> Specialized), only Specialized has financial ties to another company in the
> industry, Merida (which manufactures many of their bikes and owns a good
> chunk of the company).
>
> Could be that the bike shop, or your friend, was confused by the fact that
> Giant does make some bikes for Trek.

So _that_ explains why the local Giant shop sometimes has Trek bikes.

Does Giant also have relations with Bianchi or is the reason they had
that as their bike on the wall for the last 6 months (19,800 rmb, and
it sold last week) simply because Bianchi are soooo purty...

 

[Fritz M]

[email protected] wrote:

> So _that_ explains why the local Giant shop sometimes has Trek bikes.

New Treks should only be sold by Trek retailers. If your Giant shop
also isn't an authorized Trek shop, then they're cheap knockoffs or
illegal backdoor deals. In China, I wouldn't discount either of those
possibilities.

RFM

 

[[email protected]]

Fritz M wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>
> > So _that_ explains why the local Giant shop sometimes has Trek bikes.
>
> New Treks should only be sold by Trek retailers. If your Giant shop
> also isn't an authorized Trek shop, then they're cheap knockoffs or
> illegal backdoor deals. In China, I wouldn't discount either of those
> possibilities.

They -could- be an authorized Trek dealer.

I'd vote for backdoor deals though. It would neatly explain why,
although I know Treks have been sold through the shop I've never
actually _seen_ one until after it walks out the door.

Just navigating the maze to the bathroom on the first floor gives one a
brief glimpse of how much space _isn't_ display floor. And I've never
been up to the third floor, or figured out how to get to those second
floor windows I can see from outside.

-M

 

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

>> As Josh pointed out in his post, Giant and Trek share no corporate ties
>> whatsoever, outside of normal business arrangements (Giant makes some of
>> the lower-end import bikes for Trek).
>
> Mike, do you know what percentage of Trek's bikes are made by Giant? I
> was
> under the impression that it is more than just a few models. Just
> curious.

In terms of $$$, the percentage is fairly small. In terms of unit numbers, a
much larger amount. For the most part you can assume road & dual-suspension
mtn bikes above $1100 are domestic. Below that, you have bikes that are
sometimes built & painted in the US, but the frames sourced elsewhere. And
below that you have bikes built entirely elsewhere.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com