The making of a Giant bicycle's carbon frame

"Carbon fiber bikes require an astounding amount of hand labor," is how the introduction to Bicycling Magazine's tour of a Giant Bicycles factory in Taiwan begins. Click here for the inside scoop on how carbon fiber bicycles are made.

Pictured above is a Giant Defy Advanced 3 (a size XL just arrived yesterday in Rocky River). It's made with Giant's Advanced Composite Technology, in which superior performance begins with bare carbon thread and ends in an entirely handmade frame constructed of strategically layered UniDirectional (UD) carbon.