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When I think of Giant Bicycles, I think of the first bike I purchased in my adult life: a used green mountain bike, circa early 90s. I bought it from a friend in college, Ronnie Weed. Yeah that was his name. I'm think fellow Huckleberry and college buddy, Jonas, almost bought Ronnie's bike as well. But it came into my possession, along with a $175 motorcycle, but that is another story.
That was about 1997. And it took me about 15 years to realize how great that bike was. Not great like the modern Giant road bike you see pictured above, but great like grunge music. You know, it was all the rage in the nineties, then it lost favor, and now plaid shirts and crusty old sweaters are back in fashion. The fact is, the mountain bike craze of the 90s actually produced some sweet bikes that I would use to commute with today. Sturdy 26" rigid mountain bikes. Put some slicks on it and--bingo bango presto--you are ready to roll to work.
The 1989 Giant Escaper. The paint used to be way cooler, but that's the only thing.
After using that bike year-round in Chicago and Ann Arbor, I sold it, bought an old steel Bianchi, and started "road biking." I guess that was when I really got interested in bicycles and cycling. The old Giant was like a gateway drug -- dependable, fun, not too bad for you... now I'm hooked. And so I'm pretty darned excited that Huckleberry Bicycles, the World's Smoothest Cannondale Dealer, is now also the World's Smoothest Giant Dealer. Our smoothosity knows absolutely no bounds! (Kenny Loggins you know what I'm talking about here.) I mean, granted, these new Giant bikes may be a bit different from that old green Giant, but the same thing still holds true with Giant: they make dependable bikes, and they make A LOT of them -- that brings the costs down for customers, but the quality is superior. And so, here are the Giant bikes we have in stock right now for your enjoyment:
The TCR is Giant's performance/race platform. Giant is arguably the leader in carbon and composite technology--and so they actually make the frames for a lot of major brands. Here's what they have to say about this bike: "Using lightweight, race-proven Advanced-grade composite material, Giant builds every TCR Advanced frame by hand with its innovative, race-proven Compact Road geometry. Lightweight, stiff, and quick to accelerate, it features Giant’s OverDrive 2 steerer tube design for precision steering and handling. The MegaDrive downtube and toptube combination, along with the PowerCore bottom bracket, produce a razor-sharp, super-efficient ride quality that’s often imitated but never duplicated." In English, this bike kicks ass. The TCR Advanced, pictured above, comes with an Ultegra Di2 electronic shifting kit and retails for $4475.
The TCR Composite 1, pictured above, and Composite 2 are the same geometry as the TCR Advanced, but the frames are made from a slightly heavier compound than the Advanced. Equipped with Ultegra, the Composite 1 runs $2550 and the Composite 2, which is equipped with Shimano 105, is $1850.
Unlike the TCR, the Defy is Giant's endurance platform. A more relaxed frame geometry provides comfort as well as high performance on those all-day rides or group rides, like Aids LifeCycle. Giant makes a carbon Defy, the Advanced pictured above, and aluminum allot Defies as well. Here's the gobbldy-gook from Giant about the Defy Advanced: "This bike was designed to meet the dual demands of hard, fast races and long, grueling rides. Its Advanced-grade composite frame features endurance geometry with the perfect blend of light weight, stiffness and road-smoothing compliance. The OverDrive 2 steerer tube boosts front-end stiffness and precision. The PowerCore bottom bracket turns your power into positive forward motion. And the RideSense ANT+ sensor for wireless data transmission keeps you informed of your progress." Note the key phrase here: "road-smoothing compliance." The World's Smoothese Giant Dealer would have it no other way.
The Defy 1, is a nice entry-level alloy road bike for those of you looking to get started road biking, want to get a nice set of parts, but don't want to spend an arm and a leg. If you don't need something that nice, we also carry the Defy 2 for $1075 and the Defy 3 for $880.
One of the nicer aspects of Giant is the attention that they give to women's bikes. In years past many brands of done the ole' "pink and shrink." That's basically taking a men's bike, making it smaller, and putting pink on it. Well there is still a lot of pink in the women's bike industry, but Giant is one of those brands that puts a little more thought into women's bikes. In fact, Giant launched a new brand Liv/Giant that focuses entirely on women cyclists. And some of the best professional women cyclists ride Giant bikes!
The Avail series is Liv/Giant's women-specific endurance bike. The Avail Composite pictured above is a super-smooth bike equipped with an Ultegra Group. As Giant says: "The handcrafted endurance-geometry frame, made with Giant Composite Technology, is designed specifically for women riders with Liv/giant’s 3F philosophy." What is 3F philosophy? Fit, form, function specifically for women. Also available in the Avail series and in stock are the Avail 2 for $1075 and the Avail 3 for $950.
For the commuter, city, or neighborhood rider we now get to offer one of our favorite bikes, the Giant Seek 1. Look at the bomber tires on this thing! Throw in some disc brakes and a super burly construction, and this is one of the best San Francisco bikes ever! Seriously smooth.
Also in the commuter category is Giant's excellent Escape series. Although I prefer the former name "Escaper" the Escape is a much more advanced bike for getting around town, across the Golden Gate bridge, through the park, wherever. The RX level Escape is made with Giant's ridiculously smooth and light ALUXX aluminum. Like Whoa! But we also carry the Escape 0 at $870 and the Escape 1 at $650.
Well, that is all for now folks. But if you made it this far and learned a little bit about Giant bikes, then here's a parting gift of smoothness just for you:
