Giant factory taiwan.

jbbcj said:

Which bike brands are made in the giant factory in taiwan and if they're made by the same people wouldnt they all be the same quality.

Don't take this as gospel, but, I am under the impression that Giant also makes Specialized and Avanti frames. They probably make frames for more bike companies, but I don't know who they are.

You could presume that the workmanship would be of same/similar quality, however, frame materials, and geometries vary from brand to brand, as you know.

The overall quality of the frame depends on much more than who makes it.

In any case, Giant do make decent bicycles for decent prices.

Saw an article in my LBS about the Giant factory in Taiwan with pictures showing Trek frames coming down the assembly line!! Apparently Trek were pretty [censored] and withdrew their Advertising from the issue.

I was in T. a few months ago; mine host said to me that Marin (or some other brand with an M?) were also made in the Giant factory.

Mind you, just because they are made in the same factory does not necessarily imply same quality - that depends also on the design. You might weld a [censored] design as good as you can, it will always be a POS.

nerdag said:

The overall quality of the frame depends on much more than who makes it.

.

err...revise?

Yes, I also saw the picture of the trek bikes in the Giant factory. Another HUGE bicycle manufacturer is MERIDA, who are the ones who make the majority of Specialized frames, I believe.

I actually have more confidence in the Taiwanese manufacturing process than those of America and, dare I say it, Europe. (apart from Colnago and Campy). Merida, for instance, have invested an awful lot of money in robotic welders in order to modernise their construction of frames. I was speaking to an industrial welder about this, and he was saying that there was no way possible that a human hand could match the precision, consistency and thoroughness of a welding pass by a robot. I had a look at the welds on my Stumpjumper and thought "yep, 'ol Robbie the robot is a deft touch with the torch". Okay, so I'm rambling, but if you look into it, the Top Shelf Taiwanese guys really have their act together.

F.

^ agreed. I took my Giant frame to an Alum. restorer, he thought the welds were remarkable and that he could not hope to duplicate that.

And there I was thinking that just about everything came out of the Kinesis factory (ie: Avanti, Specialised, Kona etc..)

Kinesis

Marx SS said:

And there I was thinking that just about everything came out of the Kinesis factory (ie: Avanti, Specialised, Kona etc..)

Kinesis

'Everything' probably does; It's just that I was thought that Giant and Merida were the Big Two. Anybody know the real answer?

F.

Giant (Taiwan) makes bikes for: Giant, Scott USA, Specialized, Trek
Giant (China) makes bikes for: Giant, Iron Horse, Specialized, Trek

Marin does not use Giant, they use:
- China: A-Pro, Aluforce, CTS, Sunrise
- Taiwan: A-Pro, Farily, Sunrise

Kinesis (China) makes for: Haro, K2, Raleigh
Kinesis (Taiwan) makes for: Haro, Iron Horse, Jamis, K2, Kona, Raleigh, Titus

Don't forget about Ideal (China and Taiwan), who makes for Bianchi, K2, Pacific (aka GT, Schwinn, Mongoose, etc.), Trek, Fuji, K2

A-Pro (Taiwan) is another biggy that nobody's mentioned: Fuji, Haro, Iron Horse, Marin, Norco, Raleigh

Issue 30 Ride Cycling review mag have said that Colnago now have 3 frame models that are outsourced to factory in Taiwan. The bike with brand name
"Blue" have their frames made in Taiwan (MIT) as do some Cannondale, Specialized and BMC. All on pages 188, 190, 192, 196.

I probably missed all the others but the workmanship on all of these bikes gets the nod from the reviewer plus making it more affordable to the purchaser (page 196).

Good on them.

Ok I know this is old but excellent thread guys!

I kinda new to the cycling world but Im an MBA who just recently returned from a China Trip and Im working on planning an Open Streets (Ciclovia) type event for the City of Fort Worth.

I find this information very interesting and its actually expected. A frame manufacturer is a frame manufacturer...I think many people are under the impression that these bicycle brands are exclusive which is likly just not true (and not really a bad thing).

If any of you guys have any links to articles or more information Id love to read it.

Thanks and OH BTW thanks for haiving me on the forums!

CHM

Hey Wingnutt,
Is it then possible to go to one of those factories in China/Taiwan and actually buy a bike from them??
I know there's a Giant expo some time, not sure when though..

Would appreciate some info 🙂
Thanks

The overall question is if the higher prices of some frames are justifiable or mostly a mark up? E.g. perhaps the value added by a good warranty/replacement program means something too. Or maybe some higher end frames are tested and confirmed to perform better in some way? Is this documented anywhere or is it just opinion that more expensive frames must be better?

Aside from the above, how can a buyer know if a specific frame is made any better than a less expensive one with similar specs that came out of the same factory? Why wouldn't a Giant brand frame be as good as a similar frame they made for Scott, Trek, Specialized, or anyone else? As for various designs and geometry... since Giant has made so many frames, why wouldn't Giant be equally or more knowledgeable about this and how to construct it than anyone who specifies a particular design?

Sure the the china man that walks or rides on his bicycle to work in the rain from his hut to weld bicycle frames that builds the "high quality brands" get 2 fish heads for lunch during his 12 hour shift on his 6 day work week instead of 1 fish head.

All the same, same factories. Its been that way since the 1970s. Remember, Nixon went to China. What do you think he was doing there, sight seeing. We consume , they produce, cheap. Its big business, unfathomable .The Chinese do build good bikes and alot cheaper. Remember its communist so all the factories are the same,State owned. It takes them a few years sometimes but the market will adjust and the quality that is acceptable will eventually be delivered.

Yes, it'd be handy if the company could give guys like this a nice carbon bike to ride to work on. Ha. :-)

[IMG]cyclingforums.com255Open ↗[/IMG]

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by bearcat [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Sure the the china man that walks or rides on his bicycle to work in the rain from his hut to weld bicycle frames that builds the "high quality brands" get 2 fish heads for lunch during his 12 hour shift on his 6 day work week instead of 1 fish head.

All the same, same factories. Its been that way since the 1970s. Remember, Nixon went to China. What do you think he was doing there, sight seeing. We consume , they produce, cheap. Its big business, unfathomable .The Chinese do build good bikes and alot cheaper. Remember its communist so all the factories are the same,State owned. It takes them a few years sometimes but the market will adjust and the quality that is acceptable will eventually be delivered.

Giant is a Taiwanese company not Chinese. Taiwan is not a communist country and the company is privately owned and operated. I think your image of China may also be a bit out of date.

Giant builds the most bikes on mainland China and under the very same roof as many Dorel brands are built that you find in Target & Wal-Mart, and these brands change manufacturer about as often as you change your socks. Taiwan is not a democracy, there have been reforms but the bottom line is for the most part it is ruled by the Republic of China. As for my outdated image of China/Taiwan, go there and drop a gum wrapper on the ground and walk off, get back with me after your whelps heal from your public caning and tell me what your impression is then. There are no real "private companies allowed" there, they are joint ventures with the state. Lets see, thousands of pets in the US die from being poisoned from there Chinese food because gypsum was added to bring up the calcium content to meet the US name brand criteria, gypsum , really!!! These are the facts my friend. Its all governed by economics and there's nothing wrong with that. You can believe what you choose to.

Giant is not owned by any communist party. The average income in Taiwan in 2005 was $30K. Income and the standard of living in China has been increasing dramatically. I don't have any idea what you are getting at regarding bicycle quality but American companies and companies from other countries also build lots of things in China and Taiwan too. If you don't like China or Taiwan, that is your prerogative.

Taiwan (ROC) still lays claim to mainland China. And mainland China (PRC) has been trying to take over Taiwan since around 1948. Taiwan was pretty much a dictatorial state but has evolved into a democracy. It remains to be seen if China will do the same. But China has greatly expanded capitalism.

I have been to China (Beijing, HK, Chengdu, western provinces, Tibet) and Taiwan.

en.wikipedia.orgTaiwanOpen ↗

But my question remains... if Giant builds high end carbon bike frames in Taiwan for some companies, (with a reasonably well paid workforce) what makes those frames better than other carbon frames that Giant also makes in the same factory in Taiwan? So can you answer that without counting fictitious fish heads or spewing unrelated complaints about the country or company?

There’s nothing new about this practice, happens all the time, all over the world, with many different products. I know of a plant who makes their own nationally distributed coffee but they also make other national brands that would surprise you as well as boutique brands. This allows them to run three shifts, everyone has their own formula, no one’s the wiser, and we all win.

These are business people and Giant knows better than any what happens when you bite the hand that feeds you. Giant wouldn’t even exist as we know it without the paranoia of the Schwinn family. They couldn’t afford to modernize in the US due to the unions. They outsourced to a small bike manufacture in Taiwan. They ended up do so much business with them, they became afraid of them and bought a [censored] factory in China, moved production leaving Giant with a bunch of inventory to move, they did and the rest is history.

The lesson was learned, Schwinn never recovered, Giant makes bikes using everyone’s own formula, economy of scale triumphs, and we all win.

Based on all this info and experiences anyone has an idea where Wilier Triestina do their frames...? --- I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?nr1kkq