Giant Bicycles

Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (commonly known as Giant)

Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
is a Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer, recognized as the world's
largest bicycle designer and manufacturer.[1][3] Giant has
manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, the Netherlands, China,and
Company type Public
Hungary. They have future plans for Vietnam to be the fifth
location. Traded as TWSE: 9921 (https://
www.twse.com.tw/pd
f/en/9921_en.pdf)
History Industry Bicycle
Giant was established in 1972 in Dajia, Taichung County in manufacturing
Taiwan (now part of Taichung City), by King Liu and several Founded Dajia, Taichung,
friends. A major breakthrough came in 1977 when Giant's chief Taiwan, 1972
executive, Tony Lo, negotiated a deal with Schwinn to begin Founder King Liu
manufacturing bikes as an OEM, manufacturing bicycles to be Headquarters Dajia, Taichung,
sold exclusively under other brand names as a private label. As Taiwan
bike sales increased in the U.S., and after workers at the Products Bicycles
Schwinn plant in Chicago went on strike in 1980, Giant Production 6.6 million (2014)[1]
became a key supplier, making more than two-thirds of output
Schwinn bikes by the mid-1980s, representing 75% of Giant's
Revenue 81,839,870,000 New
sales. When Schwinn decided to find a new source and in 1987 Taiwan dollar (2021)
signed a contract with the China Bicycle Company to produce
Operating 8,709,287,000 New
bikes in Shenzhen, Giant, under new president Bill Austin income Taiwan dollar (2021)
(formerly vice-president marketing at Schwinn), established its
Net income 6,307,509,000 New
own brand of bicycles to compete in the rapidly expanding Taiwan dollar (2021)
$200-and-above price range. In 1984, Giant also set up a joint
Total assets 58,062,286,000 New
venture, "Giant Europe", with Andries Gaastra of Dutch Taiwan dollar (2021)
bicycle manufacturer Koga-Miyata.[4] In 1992, Gaastra sold his
Number of 10,001+[2]
shares back, and Giant became a full shareholder of Giant employees
Europe.
Website www.giant-bicycles
.com (http://www.gian
By 2018, Giant had sales in over 50 countries, in more than
t-bicycles.com/)
12,000[5] retail stores. Its total annual sales in 2017 reached 6.6
million bicycles with revenue of US$1.9 billion.[6] Giant Manufacturing Co.,
Ltd.
Most of its merchandise is destined for the European Union, the
United States, Japan, and Taiwan. Giant Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Traditional Chinese 巨大機械工
業股份有限
COVID-19 pandemic
公司
With the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for Giant's bicycles
Simplified Chinese 巨大机械工
increased. Bicycle manufacturing skyrocketed in Taiwan, fueled by
业股份有限
global demand sparked by fear of contracting the coronavirus on
crowded buses and trains in Europe or America, or by the need for
公司
outdoor activities after weeks of confinement. With this increase in Literal meaning Giant
demand, Giant is planning to build a new large plant in the Industrial
European Union. In addition, the company is moving factories Manufacturing
from China to Taiwan.[7] Co., Ltd.
Transcriptions
COVID-19's effect on the bicycle industry is evinced by a 55%
increase in Giant's revenue in the first quarter of 2021. E-bikes Standard Mandarin

have accounted for 30% of sales.[8] Hanyu jùdà jīxiè gōngyè gǔfèn
Pinyin yǒuxiàn gōngsī

Sub-brands Bopomofo ㄐㄩˋ ㄉㄚˋ ㄐㄧ ㄒㄧㄝ

ˋ ㄍㄨㄥ ㄧㄝˋ ㄍㄨˇ ㄈ
ㄣˋ ㄧㄡˇ ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄍㄨ
Mosh BMX ㄥㄙ
In 1996, Giant established their Mosh BMX division with the help Giant
of Redline Bicycles founder Linn Kastan and racer Jason Chinese 捷安特
Richardson. Mosh manufactured BMX bikes and parts, as well as Literal meaning Giant
managed a professional BMX racing team.[9] In 2002 Giant signed (phonetic
a three-year sponsorship deal with Satellite Sports Group (a transcription)
company that then managed the former GT Air Show) to begin
Transcriptions
manufacturing Giant branded bikes to boost the Giant label.[10]
Standard Mandarin
These bikes were priced between $150 and $350, filling in the
open entry level price gap that their Mosh labeled high-end bikes Hanyu Pinyin jié ān tè
could not. Giant made bikes using the Mosh name until 2003 when Bopomofo ㄐㄧㄝˊ ㄢ ㄊㄜˋ
it switched to labeling all high end stunt specific parts as Mosh
parts. The parts were sold separately as well as on Giant labeled
BMX bikes.[9] In 2008, Mosh was disbanded.[11]

Liv
In 2008 Giant launched the Liv/Giant sub-brand with products
focused exclusively on the female cycling market.[12] Giant Cadex 980C first mass-
produced carbon fibre road bicycle
In 2014, the Liv/Giant sub-brand was re-branded to Liv.[13] The re-
branding was meant to further differentiate the Liv brand products
with existing Giant product, communicating the concept of
"designed by women for women". All Liv products are designed
from the ground up including frame geometry and carbon layup,
and utilizes separate molds and designs that separate it from Giant
branded products. As part of the rebranding, dedicated Liv stores
and Liv zones within most Giant retailers were introduced.[14]
A Giant TCX cyclocross bicycle
Momentum
In 2015, Giant announced the global launch of its Momentum
brand lifestyle bikes. The first two models, the iNeed Street and
iWant Park, had an ARP of US$425 and were aimed at a younger,
more urban demographic than Giant's more expensive performance
road and mountain bikes.[15]

Cadex
Liv Racing AGR Women's team
In July 2019, Giant launched CADEX, previously the name of their
bikes
mass-produced carbon fiber bicycle launched in 1987, as their line
of bicycle components, wheels, tires, and finishing kits.[16] Before
the brand was officially launched, UCI WorldTeam teams sponsored by Giant (Team Sunweb on 2018, and
CCC Pro Team on 2019) were seen with components branded as #Overachieve, which Giant says were
race-tested prototypes of the CADEX components. This line was designed to "develop superior cycling
components for pro racers" and compete directly with the Specialized S-Works line.[17]

Technologies and innovations

In 1987, Giant introduced the CADEX carbon fiber road bike.
Giant became the first bicycle maker to apply computer-aided
design and volume production techniques to the production of
carbon road bikes.[18]

In 1995, Giant designed the first road bicycle with a sloping top
tube featuring a smaller rear triangle. The tighter chainstay-seatstay Giant Halfway folding bicycle
configuration is said to be inherently stiffer than a more
conventional frame design, and because less material is used, the
Compact Road design is also said to be lighter.[19] With more
responsive cornering and improved acceleration, as well as
improved aerodynamics, the Giant design became largely imitated.

By 1998, with Mike Burrows, Giant refined the design for racing
by the professional ONCE team. This was only after initial
resistance by the Union Cycliste Internationale and subsequent
amendment to its regulations to allow for bicycles with a sloping
top tube. Alexander Vinokourov's bike from the
2005 Tour de France
Giant road frames were originally made of 6061 (ALUXX)
aluminium alloy and were also characterized by bladed forks and
seat posts to reduce air resistance. Frames came in three sizes (small, medium, and large), with riders fitted
through the use of stems and seat posts of different lengths. By 2018, Giant road frames were available in
up to six sizes (X-Small, Small, Medium, Medium/Large, Large and X-Large).

In 2003, the Total Compact Road (TCR) frame was offered in carbon fiber construction and marketed as
the TCR Composite range. In 2006, Giant added a higher-grade carbon fiber frame marketed as the TCR
Advanced frame, which was characterized by an integrated seat post (ISP). These frames were most
notably raced at the Tour de France by T-Mobile's professional team. Using this design, the seat post on the
new frame must be cut precisely to fit the owner by a trained Giant
dealer. The TCR Advanced SL frames with ISP continued to be
raced internationally, most notably by the Rabobank team (2009–
2013), Team Giant-Shimano (2014), Giant-Alpecin (2015–2016)
and Team Sunweb (2017–2018).

In terms of other innovations, Giant also introduced its Maestro

suspension in 2006. Maestro Suspension (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20151221164710/http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bike-cata
logue/series-for-block/x-road/?block_id=9), according to Giant, is Giant-Alpecin rider John Degenkolb
designed to deliver an efficient rear suspension power transfer.
Maestro utilizes a setup of four pivot points and two linkages to
create a floating pivot point that is designed to reduce pedal bob and enables the rear wheel to travel
vertically.

As of 2020, Giant categorizes its bicycles by user:

On-Road
X-Road
Off-Road
E-bikes
Youth
Within each Level are several Uses, such as Race, Endurance, City, Cruiser, etc.

In late 2016, Giant announced the Road-E+ e-Bike, which features:

HCT (Hybrid Cycling Technology) drive system

500 watt 80Nm Yamaha mid drive motor
400Wh or 500Wh EnergyPack integrated frame battery
PedalPlus 4-sensor technology
RideControl[20] display & control pad with Bluetooth integration.[21]
E-Bikes have become an increasingly popular type of bike of late. They now come in many different
offerings, just like Giant offers with their normal bikes. The main three types are sorted into categories
which are: Electric Road Bikes, Electric Mountain Bikes, Electric Adventure Bikes.

Sponsorships
Giant's first foray into professional road cycling was with the defunct
Spanish Team ONCE directed by Manolo Saiz using Giant TCR
frames in custom sizes for each individual rider. Laurent Jalabert was
one of the most notable cyclists in the ONCE Team.

Giant currently sponsors a number of cycling teams as well as

individual athletes.
Giant banners in Mashhad
In road cycling, Giant celebrated multiple achievements as the bike Samen Velodrome
supplier of UCI WorldTeam Team Sunweb (both men and women),
which competes in the highest level of road cycling. They are most
noted for when both men and women teams won the Team Time Trial
event at the 2017 UCI World Championships in Bergen, Norway.
Notable riders include Tom Dumoulin, winner of the pink jersey in the
2017 Giro d'Italia; Warren Barguil, winner of the polka-dot jersey in the
2017 Tour de France, and Michael Mathews, winner of the green jersey
in the 2017 Tour de France.
Team Sunweb's Giant TCRs
In 2019, Giant switched sponsorship from Team Sunweb to CCC Pro
race bike.
Team.

Giant also sponsors many individual teams and athletes who range from ex-pros to current world
champions.[22]

Kristian Blummenfelt is arguably Giant's most popular sponsored athlete, as he is

currently one of the best triathletes in the world. He recently won an Olympic gold
medal in Tokyo this summer as well as holds the records in the 70.3 and the 140.6
distances.

Hector Leonardo Paez is another well known sponsored athlete, as he is a previous

world champion XC mountain bike champion.

Rahsaan Bahati is a former 10-time U.S. National Road Champion as well as the
founder of the Bahati Foundation which works to build strong communities by Kristian
Blummenfelt
providing underserved youth with bicycles.
2016 Rio
Olympics
Some of the teams that Giant sponsor include: The Giant Off-Road Factory Team, The
Black Foxes, and Team Onyx.[23] Team Onyx is an all-black expedition racing team
who have appeared on the show Worlds Toughest Race while competing in an Eco-Challenge.

In 2022 Giant entered a sponsorship with Team Jayco–AlUla.

See also
List of companies of Taiwan

References
1. Ratcliffe, Alison. " 'Secret' Giant is world's biggest bicycle manufacturer and still growing" (htt
ps://www.cips.org/supply-management/news/2016/january/secret-giant-is-worlds-biggest-bic
ycle-manufacturer-and-still-growing/). Supply Management. Chartered Institute of
Procurement & Supply. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
2. "Giant Group 巨大集團 Linkedin" (https://au.linkedin.com/company/giant-bicycles).
3. "Size matters: How Giant became the biggest bike maker in the world" (https://www.cyclist.c
o.uk/go/8910). Cyclist. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
4. Interview with Andries Gaastra (Dutch) (http://www.vakantiefietser.nl/px/pers/gaastra.pdf)
5. "About Giant" (http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/aboutgiant). Giant Bicycles.com.
6. "Giant posts revenue decline for 2017, predicts single-digit growth for 2018" (https://www.bic
ycleretailer.com/international/2018/03/27/giant-posts-revenue-decline-2017-predicts-single-d
igit-growth-2018#.W6kuwy-ZNBw). Retrieved 2018-09-24.
 7. JC (2020-06-17). "Pandemia faz fabricação de bicicletas disparar em Taiwan" (https://jc.ne1
0.uol.com.br/mundo/2020/06/5612871-pandemia-faz-fabricacao-de-bicicletas-disparar-em-ta
iwan.html). JC (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-06-18.
8. Sutton, Mark (2021-05-14). "Giant revenues up 55% in first quarter, e-Bikes 30% of sales" (htt
ps://cyclingindustry.news/giant-revenues-up-55-in-first-quarter-e-bikes-30-of-sales/). Cycling
Industry News. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
9. "MOSH BMX COMPANY" (http://www.23mag.com/com/mosh/mosh.htm). www.23mag.com.
Retrieved 22 March 2020.
10. "GIANT BMX COMPANY" (http://www.23mag.com/com/giant/giant.htm). www.23mag.com.
11. de Jong, Bart (December 5, 2008). "FAT Friday week 49" (https://fatbmx.com/bmx-news/item/
6037-fat-friday-week-49). FatBMX. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
12. "Rebrand brings breakthrough in female cycling market > Liv | DDG" (http://www.ddg.com.tw/
en/archives/work/liv). www.ddg.com.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2018-02-01.
13. "Giant relaunches Liv as stand-alone women's brand" (https://www.bicycleretailer.com/north-
america/2014/05/20/giant-relaunches-liv-stand-alone-women%E2%80%99s-brand#.W6vHb
S-ZNBw). Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
14. "Giant relaunches Liv as stand-alone women's brand" (http://www.bicycleretailer.com/north-a
merica/2014/05/20/giant-relaunches-liv-stand-alone-women%E2%80%99s-brand#.WnLefqi
WaiM). Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
15. "Giant Launches Momentum Lifestyle Bikes | SGB Online" (https://sgbonline.com/giant-launc
hes-momentum-lifestyle-bikes/). sgbonline.com. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
16. Evans, Josh (5 July 2019). "Giant launches Cadex wheels and finishing kit at Tour de
France" (https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/giant-launches-cadex-wheels-and-finishing-kit-
at-tour-de-france/). Cycling News. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
17. Rome, Dave (2019-07-05). "Giant revives the Cadex name, but not as you'd expect" (https://c
yclingtips.com/2019/07/giant-cadex-components-2020/). CyclingTips. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
18. "Carbon Fiber Pioneers | Giant Bicycles Canada" (https://www.giant-bicycles.com/ca/about-
us/our-history/carbon-fiber-pioneers). www.giant-bicycles.com. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
19. "Icons of cycling: Giant TCR - Cycling Weekly" (https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-
news/icons-of-cycling-giant-tcr-206346). Cycling Weekly. 2016-01-15. Retrieved
2018-09-26.
20. "Ridecontrol App | Giant Bicycles Official site" (https://www.giant-bicycles.com/global/ridecon
trol-app). www.giant-bicycles.com. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
21. "Giant Road-E+ Review" (https://electricbikereview.com/giant/road-e-plus/). EBR. Electric
Bike Review. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
22. "Giant Bicycles teams - meet our sponsored riders, athletes & ambassadors | Giant Bicycles
Ireland" (https://www.giant-bicycles.com/ie/teams-and-riders). www.giant-bicycles.com.
Retrieved 2021-12-07.
23. "Giant Bicycles teams - meet our sponsored riders, athletes & ambassadors | Giant Bicycles
Ireland" (https://www.giant-bicycles.com/ie/teams-and-riders). www.giant-bicycles.com.
Retrieved 2021-12-07.

External links
Official website (https://www.giant-bicycles.com/)

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