Any thoughts on the bike brand 'Giant'?

Lemoncurd

I'm looking to by a bike for my 9 year old and have found what seems a good deal on a Giant XTC Jr. The rrp is £249 (and online they all seem to be marketed at this amount) but they have it in a local bike shop for £186.
I don't want to spend a huge amount on a child's bike and haven't found much second hand so would welcome any thoughts? we would hope for it to fare well enough to pass down to his younger brother.
The other option I was looking at was a Jamis XC.24 from Evans cycles, this seems to be a US brand which I haven't found available elsewhere in the UK.

cookie365

Well, if Giant's good enough for Marcel Kittel ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Kittel

fred246

When you buy a bike the brand seems to be the brand of the frame which is the main bit. All the other parts are made by other companies such as Shimano and SRAM. Giant are well respected. Buying a bike for boys is tricky. They love loads of gears but seem incapable of understanding or using them correctly. They like suspension even though it is usually useless. My son kept on saying his wasn't working properly - I think he wanted it to bounce up and down as he went along. I would say cut the suspension and go for trigger shifters instead of revo shifters, but you have to decide whether to get suspension to impress his mates. At least you aren't looking at a supermarket steel frame, dual suspension, disc brake bike that weighs a ton - I always say parents buying those should be referred to social services for child abuse.

Strider590

The thing with kids bikes is that as long as he doesn't trash it or leave it lying around to get stolen, it'll always sell for good money 2nd hand.
Same for womens bikes.....

When it comes to that time of the year where the father of the family wants to get everyone out on bikes, you can sell 2nd hand bikes for nearly as much as they cost new. A £200 womens or kids bike, 3 years old will probably sell for £150 on eBay.

Keep_pedalling

You don't mention what sort of cycling it is going to be used for. If mainly on dirt should be OK, if on the other hand it's going to be on the road it is a really poor choice, big knobbly tires heavy suspension forks that do nothing but slow you down on smooth surfaces.

brat

My girls had the female equivalent of the Giant mentioned by the OP. Good sturdy bikes, never a problem. Heavyish at ~12 - 13Kg IIRC but not overly heavy.

When they moved to a Trek 7.3 full size road hybrid, they realised just how much more efficiently they could ride on the roads. But they loved their Giants when they had them. If your sons keeps it well, it should achieve a reasonable resale price.

Lemoncurd

Thanks all, have been bearing weight in mind as the smaller bikes we had were ridiculous! but the lighter makes I've found so far were a bit more than I wanted to spend and second hand there was nothing locally.
We do quite a bit of off road cycling for family cycle rides, but they have their sights set on cycling to school (about 1.5 miles on flat road with a few sections off road) so want it to be easy for him to control safely.

Lemoncurd

brat wrote: »

My girls had the female equivalent of the Giant mentioned by the OP. Good sturdy bikes, never a problem. Heavyish at ~12 - 13Kg IIRC but not overly heavy.

When they moved to a Trek 7.3 full size road hybrid, they realised just how much more efficiently they could ride on the roads. But they loved their Giants when they had them. If your sons keeps it well, it should achieve a reasonable resale price.

Thanks, the rest of us have Treks and love them, unfortunately 9yr old refuses to use his older sisters Trek MT220 as it is purple! Such a shame as it's still in great condition.

agrinnall

Lemoncurd wrote: »

Thanks, the rest of us have Treks and love them, unfortunately 9yr old refuses to use his older sisters Trek MT220 as it is purple! Such a shame as it's still in great condition.

A pot of paint in a colour he finds acceptable is surely cheaper than a new bike.

modsandmockers

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

You don't mention what sort of cycling it is going to be used for. If mainly on dirt should be OK, if on the other hand it's going to be on the road it is a really poor choice, big knobbly tires heavy suspension forks that do nothing but slow you down on smooth surfaces.

I think that tyres are the most-neglected part of bike technology. The most annoying part of any bike ride is the puncture, but cheap tyres are any easy way for bike manufacturers to keep the prices down. Even the most expensive bike tyres come nowhere the quality of car tyres.

brat

modsandmockers wrote: »

I think that tyres are the most-neglected part of bike technology.

More nonsense. What do you know about bike tyre technology? You've already been told on another thread why bike tyres are as they are. They are very technologically advanced, possibly even more than car tyres.

modsandmockers wrote: »

The most annoying part of any bike ride is the puncture,

Wrong.

modsandmockers wrote: »

but cheap tyres are any easy way for bike manufacturers to keep the prices down.

Puncture resistance is not directly proportional to tyre cost. There are many other factors beyond your ken that come into play.

modsandmockers wrote: »

Even the most expensive bike tyres come nowhere the quality of car tyres.

There are so many differences between the products to make a sensible comparison.

Please would you soon realise that there is life outside of the cage that is your sad anti cyclist prejudice. Most of your comments are way beyond stupid.