Giant’s Taiwan Manufacturing is the location where Giant builds all premium product across road, gravel and MTB, as well as CADEX and Giant carbon wheels.
Rossiter discusses the importance of the 1st generation TCR which launched in 1997, boasting its huge influence on modern-day road bike designs. He mentions how the TCR has adapted over the years with new features, to winning Bike of the Year awards and being ridden by pro teams in the Tour de France.
Carbon Construction
Speaking on carbon fibre bikes, Rossiter writes that usually, ‘brands purchase a selection of pre-preg (pre-impregnated) woven carbon fibre, usually by the roll.’
Giant, however, takes a new approach to carbon frame construction, which Rossiter outlines after spending time in the factory.
“Giant's approach is unusual, buying raw threads from Japan – the world leader in carbon-fibre production – then using looms to weave its own material to its own specifications.”
This allows Giant to fine-tune every part of a frame, striking a perfect balance between weight, stiffness, flexibility, and strength that you don’t usually see in mass-produced bikes. It also lets them mix different fibre types in a way that standard carbon rolls just can’t match.
Cold Blade Cutting
The most accurate way to cut carbon sheets is usually laser cutting. However, as the lasers are hot, they activate minuscule areas of the resin, which results in crinkled edges. This forces Giant to overlap sheets to ensure its optimised strength.
Giant then discovered if they could remove these manufacturing flaws they could reduce weight and maintain strength.
“This led to a new cutting method called ‘cold blade cutting’, which enables Giant to reduce the number of pieces needed to create a TCR Advanced SL frame and fork from 380 to 270.”
After cutting the pieces into shape, they’re kept in climate-controlled fridges at the facility until the skilled technicians come in to lay them by hand into moulds.
Testing
After the frames are moulded, a selection are sent to Giant’s testing labs to be ‘stress tested’, accumulating to 10,000km of use. The testing focuses on pedalling, road impacts and stress on the frame and fork.
Once frames pass this test, the bicycle forks are x-rayed to check for any structural imperfections.
Nixon Huang, Giant’s road category manager, advised Rossiter, “Giant’s internal quality standards for its lab tests are set to 20 percent higher than the international standards required of carbon fibre bicycle frames.”
The remainder of the components are then greased and installed, and a team of quality-control inspectors check every bike before they are cleared for packing.
Advanced production, not mass production
Rossiter reflects on his time at the Giant Taiwan manufacturing facility, writing that this factory isn’t your typical manufacturing site with robotic machinery that produces in the thousands. Using the TCR manufacturing process as an example, more than 50 pairs of hands are involved in the production.
To summarise his experience in Taiwan, Rossiter writes “It's good to see the minutiae of detail the Giant engineers are looking at – just to make the smallest of advancements (pun very much intended) to Giant's range-topping bikes. For that alone, the brand should be applauded.”
Read the full BikeRadar article on Giant Taiwan’s Manufacturing Facility