For warranty, from what I see, Giant is
lifetime on the frame/fork and 1 year on everything else (including motor, battery and controller), for original purchaser only. Yamaha is
3 years on the frame, fork and electrical components, 1 year on everything else and they have a process to transfer to a new owner. I'd personally rather have more warranty on the electrical stuff than the frame. I don't know that you can argue that the Yamaha warranty is inferior.
Giant has a 2-year warranty on
e-bikes. I must correct myself on Yamaha: the brand offers a two year warranty on e-bikes, too.
So giant has an excellent warranty ? Did you use it during your brief ownership? You do realize that warranty became void the moment you sold that bike to your bother ?
Things would have been different if I
sold my Trance E+ to my brother but I do not
sell things to my family members; I
give the things to the family. My brother got my Trance E+ as a gift after a year of my ownership. Almost instantly, the Shimano MicroSpline freehub body (the one used for 12-speed drivetrains) broke. In June 2021, that part was a novelty, and because of the pandemic, it was impossible to buy that part in the aftermarket. So my brother went in a Giant dealership with the warranty card, and the rear wheel in his hand.
-- Sir, we honour our warranty for the first 12 months post purchase -- the man said.
-- But it is an e-bike wheel... -- my brother tried to be helpful.
-- What?! An e-bike? Of course, of course... What is your name, sir?
-- It's M****ski. (As brothers, we share our family name, don't we).
-- OK, OK, please leave the wheel and we will do our best!
Indeed, Giant sent the wheel to Shimano, and Shimano replaced the freehub body under the e-bike warranty. (By the way, on the paper that e-bike was still mine, so I would have handled the matter if necessary).
Now, as qualified the Yamaha dealer might be, he has to handle the following equipment:
Very nice. I am sure every Yamaha dealer knows what a Shimano MicroSpline or SRAM xD driver is, how you bleed the e-bike brakes or how you adjust a derailleur, for instance. My point is: a Yamaha dealer usually is not a bicycle mechanic. While dealers for Giant or Specialized only do bikes and e-bikes.
Ignore the fact yamaha were the first mass produced ebike company, they're amongst the top 5 ebike manufacturers world wide AND sell motors to another top 5 ( giant) .
Some hard data? Because I thought the size of the bicycle companies was:
- Giant
- Trek
- Specialized
(The Big Three)
- Cannondale
(The Big Four)
And what about Merida, which is unknown in the U.S. but is a great player for Europe & Asia? (For those who do not know this, Merida is a minority but big owner in SBC).
Ignore the fact they produce musical instruments - NOTHING to do with being a motor manufacturer.
Yamaha Motor does not produce musical instruments. Bosch E-Bike does not make car alternators or other automotive equipment either.
They have no presence in Poland, fine, but in the US there are a lot of Yamaha dealers.
Oh, we do have many Yamaha dealers in Poland. Only they handle the motor equipment such as motorcycles here. Another big difference between Specialized and Yamaha is that Yamaha only offers DTC sales in Europe & UK while Specialized work on the mixed model. Meaning, if your Specialized bike or e-bike fails, it will be handled by any Specialized dealer, and Specialized do not need to handle anything from "motorcycles" to "waverunners"
I'm glad Yamaha Motor has found its safe haven in the United States but they are almost nobody in Europe (the biggest e-bike market outside China).
This from someone who recently accused me of being a biggot when misreading my post !!!!!
It's "bigot", thank you. (English is only my second language, perhaps it is why I do care).
My brother on his Trance E+ the day before the freehub failure. He had found the family history back to our 5th g-grandfather, and we were exploring the villages where our ancestors lived. (We were landless peasants until our grandfather who became a landowner in early 20th c.)
