Hiro11

Giant recently announced that if ANY composite component of a 2019 or later Giant bike is damaged while riding (you crash, you crack a rim on a pothole, you break your bars etc) they will repair it or replace it free of charge. The specifics of the coverage seem comprehensive, Giant even covers racing. No other brand is matching this kind of offer right now.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/co...idence_details

Note that this coverage is in addition to the already existing lifetime warranty on their bikes that covers any manufacturing defects.

Bonzo Banana

Great deal, it's a bit like Hyundai and Kia cars that offer a long warranty on their cars, they perceive offering a better warranty is better than undercutting the prices of their competitors which might get their product perceived as inferior.

Compared to many brands Giant are an actual manfacturer with their own factories which are meant to be the most advanced and productive in the industry delivering a very high quality product. In comparison most western brands from the US and Europe are jumping between factories in the far east always trying to find the cheapest supplier so they can create a better margin or undercut their competitors. They can't really ever know the quality of the product to the same level so may have to be conservative with weight limits and warranties especially if they are importing particularly light frames. I see many importing brands using basic 6061 frames even at high prices where as Giant is offering more advanced 6011 aluminium frames. Making a 6061 frame weigh the same as 6011 is difficult and must surely end up with the frame being weaker.

Many of Giant's bikes offer a 160kg total load limit with a lifetime warranty and great customer service plus deliver a more advanced product than their competitors. I'm a bit of a cheapskate and often go for cheaper bikes and secondhand but if I was buying a higher price bike new I'd be surprised if it wasn't a Giant model.

We need someone to come into this thread and criticise Giant as it seems both posts so far are from their marketing department. Big fan of Giant bikes despite not owning one and my past Giant bike being the mad 'Revive' model that ended up being too embarrassing to ride so sold it. It was beautifully built though clearly from a company with high engineering standards.

puma1552

That's awesome.

A lot better than Colnago's mere 2 year frame warranty.

86az135i

You mean like Hyundai and Kia engines that are seizing, and or catching fire?

bakerjw

I wish my LBS was still open. I made myself a deal. If I ever dropped below 200# (from around 270#), I'd get a new road bike. I finally did it and the owner made me a deal that I couldn't refuse on a Giant TCR. It's a great bike and will last me many more years. If the TCR ever gives up the ghost, I'd certainly go to them again and now it looks like for good reason too.

I never used to be a Giant fan but their factory puts out some quality products.

5teve

Giant has always claimed that their carbon was a cut above other brands. I guess this is them putting their money behind that claim. I would consider one were I in the market.

Hiro11

Giant suffers from being perceived as the Honda Civic of bikes: reliable and practical but generic and hardly sexy. It's a shame because their bikes are often some of the best available in their given market.

livedarklions

Guessing this means they're finding consumer resistance to buying carbon.

Ironfish653

Plus lots of online anecdotal hand-wringing like 'Crabon will assplode!" and "It's only a matter of time until it breaks; the clock is ticking!!"

I have two old aluminum bikes (1976 Bridgestone and 1996 Cannondale MTB) and a carbon-beamed 1997 Softride.

According to BF lore, there is so much destructive potential awaiting in my garage, that if there is an incident, you'll be able to see it from space.

bakerjw

The question is... does Chuck Norris ride carbon?

86az135i

He is carbon.

livedarklions

Yeah, I probably should have specified that's where I think they figure the resistance to carbon is coming from. It's a combination of being expensive and having a reputation for being brittle that just nixes it off a lot of people's list.

It's a guarantee that practically invites abuse. Giant must be seeing some disturbing sales trend if they're going to this.

indyfabz

I've got chunks of guys like Chuck Norris in my stool. Just sayin'.

TiHabanero

Although I do not ride carbon frames or forks, there is value there for the racer types. Having sold Giant bikes alongside two other big names and a couple of smaller names, I will offer this up for consumption. The Giant sales reps we dealt were simply fantastic people. They always treated us with first class service and fulfilled our requests in good order. Not once did they baulk at any warranty claims on any products be it as simple as a tube to something like a frame issue.

First class company. I cannot say this for the others.

John_V 

So now the question becomes, "If Giant now has a lifetime, no questions asked warranty on their carbon frames, will they honor that same warranty for the carbon bikes they make for all the big brand bike makers?" Hmmmm! I doubt it.

Sy Reene

Probably they are in the race/crit crowd. And since Giant doesn't really make an alloy race bike, this may be their play to get more marketshare from this customer segment?

Litespud

Why would they? There's nothing in it for them. If a Giant-manufactured Brand-X frame is replaced under warrantee, Brand-X gets the kudos and good PR, not Giant

Hiro11

No. I've literally provided a direct link to the offer in the original post.

Trsnrtr

Also, most, if not all of those frames are being manufactured to someone else's specs, not theirs. Just because a non-Giant company has a frame made by them at their facilities doesn't mean that it's the same as a Giant frame designed and built to their specs. Also, according to reports, Giant frames aren't even made or handled in the same areas as non-Giant frames.

livedarklions

Why would they make it across the board, then?

Sy Reene

And your link has the following regarding the Composite Confidence offer (US only):

"Coverage is limited to the original owner within the first two years of ownership based on the original purchase date.
Claims must be made within the first 2 years of ownership."

OTOH, if you're talking about the regular warranty, it is lifetime (wear and tear not included of course).

Sy Reene

Because there's more markup in selling 1 carbon frame than there is in selling 2 Alloy frames?

livedarklions

I think you misunderstood my question--maybe I wrote it badly. If it's just crit they're concerned with, why would they apply the new lifetime guarantee policy to all carbon frames?

Something is alarming them about people's attitudes towards carbon generally.

livedarklions

By gum, you're right. I ask that all my posts on this thread be stricken from the record because I feel dumb.

This is a two-year buyer protection policy that they're building into the price. Doing that on a "lifetime" basis would have been nuts--good luck replacing a 15 year old carbon frame from stock. Bigger problem would likely have been people with 5 year old heavily used frames deliberately breaking them to get a replacement new one.

Hiro11

Yes, I noted as much in my original post.

The poster said Giant if offering a "two year warranty on carbon frames". This is wrong in every way:

1. The offer is not a warranty. Product warranties have to do with failures of a product due to quality. In this case, Giant is offering to replace any composite component the user damages while riding, irrespective of product quality and regardless of how the product was damaged (including rider negligence).
2. As you note Giant already offers a lifetime warranty on their frames. This offer is in addition to their warranty. Using the term "warranty" in regards to this offer confuses this.
3. The offer specifically covers ALL composite components, not just the frame as was implied. Rims, bars, stems, seat posts, saddles... all covered.

The reason I'm being picky is because the details are important here. I worded my initial post carefully but I should have included the two year time limit for this offer, my mistake. I've seen this offer incorrectly discussed in other forums, on social media and in comment sections on articles reporting this. You can see the confusion in this thread. The post above similarly confuses the issue. People read this quickly and think this is Giant offering a two year warranty on frames, like many other manufacturers do. In fact, Giant is offering a unique and fairly comprehensive plan here in addition to an already very good frame warranty. This is what makes this news.