Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (commonly known as Giant) is a Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer that is recognized as the world's largest bicycle manufacturer. Giant has manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, the Netherlands, and China.
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History
Giant was established in 1972 in Dajia, Taichung County (now part of Taichung City), by King Liu and several friends. A major breakthrough came in 1977 when Giant's chief executive, Tony Lo, negotiated a deal with Schwinn to begin manufacturing bikes as an OEM, manufacturing bicycles to be sold exclusively under other brand names as a private label. As bike sales increased in the U.S., and after workers at the Schwinn plant in Chicago went on strike in 1980, Giant became a key supplier, making more than two-thirds of Schwinn bikes by the mid-1980s, representing 75% of Giant's sales. When Schwinn decided to find a new source and in 1987 signed a contract with the China Bicycle Company to produce bikes in Shenzhen, Giant, under new president Bill Austin (formerly vice-president marketing at Schwinn), established its own brand of bicycles to compete in the rapidly expanding $200-and-above price range. In 1984, Giant also set up a joint venture, "Giant Europe," with Andries Gaastra of Dutch bicycle manufacturer Koga-Miyata. In 1992, Gaastra sold his shares back, and Giant became a full shareholder of Giant Europe.
By 2014, Giant had sales in over 50 countries, in over 12,000 retail stores. In 2007, its global sales surpassed 5 million bicycles and US$820 million in global revenue, and by 2012 it had reached 6.3 million bicycles and revenue of US$1.8 billion.
Sub-Brands
In 2008 Giant launched the Liv/Giant sub-brand with products focused exclusively on the female cycling market. In 2014, the Liv/Giant sub-brand was re-branded to Liv. 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, carbon layup and utilizes separate molds and designs that separate it from Giant branded products. As part of the rebranding, Giant plans to roll out dedicated Liv zones within most Giant retailers.
Models
In 1995, Giant designed the first road bicycle with a sloping top tube featuring a smaller rear triangle. The tighter chainstay-seatstay 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. 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 ONCE (cycling 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.
Giant frames were originally made of 6061 (ALUXX) aluminium alloy and were also characterised by bladed forks and seatposts to reduce air resistance. Frames came in three sizes (small, medium, and large), with riders fitted through the use of stems and seatposts of different lengths. Another Mike Burrows innovation that was featured on the original TCR (Total Compact Road) bikes included a height-adjustable stem, later removed from road racing bicycles due to flex under heavy loads.
In 2003, the TCR frame was offered in carbon fibre construction and marketed as the TCR Composite range. In 2006, Giant added a higher-grade carbon fibre frame marketed as the TCR Advanced frame, which was characterised by an integrated seatpost (ISP). These frames were most notably raced at the Tour de France by T-Mobile's professional team. Using this design, the seatpost on the new frame must be cut precisely to fit the owner by a trained Giant dealer. In 2010, the TCR frames with ISP continued to be raced internationally, most notably by the Rabobank team.
In terms of other innovations, Giant also introduced its Maestro suspension in 2006. Maestro Suspension, according to Giant, is 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.
Giant currently (2016) categorizes its bicycles first by user (Men, Women, Youth), and then by Level:
- On-Road
- X-Road (for Men and Women)
- BMX (for Youth)
- Off-Road
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, and
- RideControl display & control pad with Bluetooth integration.
Model List
Sponsorships
Giant first foray into the PRO Road Cycling was with now defunct ONCE team directed by Manolo Sainz using the giant TCR frame originally available in 3 sizes for public but custom frames for the pro's for the first few years of sponsorship, this was to help the pro riders of the time who were used to having their bikes custom made to suit them, Laurent_Jalabert was one of the big name cyclists in the ONCE Team
Giant currently sponsors a number of cycling teams as well as individual athletes. In road cycling, they sponsor the 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.
In off-road cycling, Giant sponsors the Giant Factory Off-Road Team. Cyclists include Marcelo Gutierrez, 5 time Colombian downhill national champion, and Jacob Dickson, 4 time Irish junior downhill champion.
Giant also sponsors individual athletes, including Tim van Berkel, Ben Dijkstra, and Matt Bottrill.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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