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Welcome to Velo’s Taipei Cycle Show coverage, where we share our favorite things we’ve found at the 2025 show. Bikes, components, accessories, and more: if we think it’s cool, you’ll see it. See the rest of our coverage here.
Look, I’m not here to tell you whether a kids’ bike made of carbon fiber is all that necessary. But what I am here to tell you is that Giant’s new Giant Pre rCarbon carbon fiber kids bike is honestly really, really cool.
But before y’all go and complain about kids not needing carbon fiber, Giant says it is the “world’s first push bike to use an eco-friendly carbon fiber.” Translation: Giant is taking recycled long-strand carbon fiber paired with a proprietary resin formula to make what looks like the first mass-market bicycle made from recycled carbon fiber.
The process sounds similar to the thermoplastic process that companies like Forge + Bond use to make carbon fiber more recyclable. In reality, the carbon fiber here is more like the recycled fibers Forge + Bond uses in things such as its tire levers. There’s good reason for this. Recycled fibers mean you can’t use sheets of carbon fiber and expect the bike to have any strength or durability. What’s here instead is an injection molded carbon fiber, ensuring the bike meets the strength and durability requirements Giant targeted.
Using an injection mold makes any component much more expensive, Giant claims. Much of that expense doesn’t come from the material itself, but the mold. The pressures required to cure an injection mold are so much higher than a standard carbon sheet that the mold is multitudes larger — think an estimated three to four times larger than a standard carbon mold, Giant says.
As a result of this work, Giant says it was able to cut its carbon emissions by more than 50 percent compared to an equivalent push bike with a standard carbon layup.
The 12-inch carbon wheels are also made from recycled carbon fiber in much the same way as the frame.
Further, Giant offers ample sustainability claims outside of just the frame. One example comes from its 12-inch tires, which use nylons made from marine plastic waste. Even the saddle is made from a recycled EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) foam, which is said to reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent.
All of this talk of eco-conscious construction is shadowed by carbon fiber construction being far more labor-intensive than the traditional steel or aluminum construction of a kids’ push bike. But the application here could mean that this eco-conscious carbon fiber could come to the adult bikes that we love… right?
As you might guess, the important part of this bike isn’t that you can make sure your kid is swagged out with carbon fiber trispoke wheels before they even know how to pedal. Rather, it’s that Giant tells Velo that this recycled carbon fiber might become a reality in its other components. Think rims, bars, stems, and seat posts. The same goes for the recycled materials in the saddle and tires. So while your next Giant frame may not be made of recycled carbon fiber, there is a possibility it’ll have recycled carbon fiber elsewhere.
Oh, and here’s the analysis you come to Velo for: the Pre rCarbon bike is Giant’s first bike to get a one-piece carbon handlebar. It’s also the first to receive three-spoke carbon wheels, similar to the five spoke wheels Josh reviewed but way, way smaller. I wouldn’t expect to see one-piece bars on the Giant TCR or Propel any time soon, but it is interesting to see it done here.
Giant says the bike weighs just 2.5 kg, and I can tell you it feels almost shockingly light in my adult hand. It’s also $500, which feels like a bargain for a bike with carbon fiber wheels, a one-piece carbon bar… and no drivetrain.
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