Giant
Giant made bikes for lots of companies in the '80s. In Australia, the Repco Hotfoot was made by Giant from approximately 1980 to 1985 when they then swapped manufacturers to Merida. While this was going on, Giant imported bikes and sold them to other companies - RoadMaster and the Melbourne Bike Company amongst others - and even sold their own branded version.
Please browse through all of the material I have collected:
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If you have any Giamt information or photos, please forward them to me and I will add them to the site. I am especially interested in brochures and advertisements as these are most valuable when restoring bikes back to their original glory.
Hall of Fame
Below are some Giant bikes that have taken my fancy and influenced me in my builds. The beautiful thing about these bikes is that they span from factory original - down to the brakes, calipers, seat and other small parts - to a modern build where the only OG part are the frames and fork. That's one of the things I like about Giants and their builders - anything goes. These aren't rare bikes and no-one is going to get upset that you have chosen non-original parts or colours.
Hall of Fame: Feature Bike
I have added this new section to put the spotlight on a bike that has taken my fancy over the last month or so. This may be an impeccably restored carpet-queen, a complete and original find or simply a piece of advertising material or catalogue scan.
Danny Pires: 1980 Giant GMX-250
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Danny's Giant GMX-250 is a testament that you don't have to rechrome every nut and bolt to build a beautiful bike. This build is about carefully selected colour combinations and refinishing the original parts of the bike.
Although the gold is a bold colour, Danny has been careful not to let it dominate the colour scheme. He has retained some of the original chrome parts - chainring, seat post clamp, headset and forks - and added black pedals, grips and Duro 20x2.125 knobby tyres which balance the gold parts nicely.
Simon Holmes: 1980 Giant GMX-250
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I had a Giant made looptail in my garage for a long time and was planning to restore it. It was pretty beaten up but with a lot of work could be made into a beautiful bike - the though of all of this work made me lose interest in the bike and I got rid of it. At that stage I had an '88 Repco Freestyle and an '81 / '82 SuperMax CrMo that I was building and I thought I would not miss it. I was wrong ..
A few weeks after getting rid of my previous Giant looptail, I saw this frame and fork on eBay and knew I had to have it. It was already painted and stickered in the colours you see and I knew that was one less decision for me to make .. The hunt was on for gold Shimano parts to match the 600 cranks that Benny was preparing and soon I had the NOS chain ring, DX lever and a Takagi chain ring guard. The KKT pedals were sourced from the US and they are absolutely mint and in my mind are perfect for this sort of build.
I ended up covering a Viscount seat in pig suede and think it finishes of the build nicely!
Jess Eddy: 198? Giant HiTen
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Jess' mid-80s Giant could easily be mistaken for an '86 Hotfoot with that vivid aqua colour and colourful decals. Jess originally approached me while she was trying to make sense of the build number - a GQ802 - and I have been watching the build progress from the opposite of the world (the bike lives in Brooklyn).
The inclusion of the yellow pedals and purple spider complement the colours in both the decals and pads (view the other images for a look at the great looking pads that go with this bike). The handlebars that finally made the build are similar to 'CW' style handlebars of the '84 - '87 Hotfoot Hiten and Team models. Braking comes in the form of reproduction Dia Compe MX1000 callipers and levers.
Hall of Fame: Giant
Repco's original Hotfoot models were built by Giant Bicycles in Taiwan. Shown below are various Giants that may provide inspiration when restoring a Hotfoot version.
I always knew that Giant made bikes for a number of distributors including Repco in the UK, US and here. I never knew that they even branded these as their own. These photos of OZBMX member sabel, show a Giant version of the '82 Team that was sold into Malaysia. Note the Giant stamped seat and Suntour style stem (or is it real?). |
This early '81 Giant has the original, flat gusset that featured on the earliest Hotfoot models sold here in Australia. This bike features all of the good equipment - Takagi Tourney cranks, Shimano DX lever, Dia Compe calipers, KKT pedals and an Elina (?) seat. |
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The Giant version of the X-Gusset model seem to come in two variants, the GMX275 and GMX300. From the images I can find, the GMX275 appeared to be painted whereas the GMX300 was chrome. The blue paint, gold accessories and yellow OGKs on this GMX275 work well together but the reflectors seem a little redundant! |
A second GMX275, also owned by Azure, features more quality parts includeing Tech 4 Levers, Dia Compe Calipers, Sakae SR Custom cranks, OGK grips and a Kashimax seat. In addition to the full set of reflectors, this bike even has an original Giant bell!. |
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Childhood bikes hold a special place in their owner's hearts and minds. Danthrax rebuilt his childhood bike - an '81 Giant - to the original specifications as shown in the accompanying action shots of Dan in action! |
hallw36 has quite a collection of Schwinns and Giants - not to distant cousins. By the late '80s, Giant was importing bikes into the UK, US and Australia under its own name often in direct competition to their traditional partners. |
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Archie's looptail Giant was originally sold by the Melbourne Bicycle Centre (MBC). As part of the restoration, Archie got the original decals reproduced and was able to locate an original service sticker to finish it off - what a beautiful build! |
Black and gold always looks great! This GMX-250 - owned by 'no_ues' - sports Nitto handlebars, a Tange headset, OGK grips, Sugino chainring, Takagi cranks, Shimano Tourney callipers and the original Giant stem and seat. The pads and decals were made by 'no_ues' and look great! |
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Jess' mid-80s Giant could easily be mistaken for an '86 Hotfoot with that vivid aqua colour and colourful decals. The bike is immaculate and the inclusion of the yellow pedals and purple spider complement the colours in both the decals and pads (view the other images for a look at the great looking pads that go with this bike).
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Shane's yellow Giant does nto have any serial numbers so we have guessed that its about an '85 or '86 - based on its similarity to Jess's bike (left). The bike has a number of distinctive parts including the Giant stamped, SR style stem and the forks which have gussets welded to the back of the fork blades - presumably to fit guards. The Mello Yello pads are original '80s and set off the colour of the frame nicely .. |
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Brenton restores, photographs and blogs about bikes on his website www.re-rides.com. A challenge he set himself was to restore an old Giant GMX-250 to its former glory for under $100. How? Start by buying a partially complete bike and flip the parts to get a frame for free. Then buy two unwanted girls bike for the measly sum of $40 and you have all the parts to build a single complete. Well done! You can see more detail on the build here. |
One of mine. I had a Giant made looptail in my garage for a long time and was planning to restore it. It was pretty beaten up but with a lot of work could be made into a beautiful bike .. or you can throw that out and buy a freshly powdered frame and start from there. The green is nicely matched to the array of NOS Shimano and Takagi parts. | |
The Giant made looptail was sold in Australia as a Hotfoot and as a Malvern Star in the same year. Mr.Hotfoot's example features excellent chrome, Tuffs (of course) and reproduction pads.
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Danny's Giant GMX-250 is a testament that you don't have to rechrome every nut and bolt to build a beautiful bike. This build is about carefully selected colour combinations and refinishing the original parts of the bike.
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