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MR4
MR4
MR4
While the Halfway is the product of a British designer striking a happy balance between lightness, foldability, compactness, and performance, the MR4 is a direct product of the Japanese market.

By far the biggest market sector in Japan is comfortable city bikes, especially those that fold, as the typical Japanese house has an economy of space. The fact that you can fold the MR4 is more to do with the need to store bikes efficiently rather than the necessity for this bike to be a folder.

The typical MR4 rider likes the fact that he can easily store the bike in his flat during the week before popping it into his car boot and heading out for a good spin in the countryside at the weekend. Whether it takes one minute or five minutes to fold a bike is not that great a concern. The most important consideration for the MR4 customer is performance.

Sidebar
Based on an original design by Aria San, the so-called Mike Burrows of Japan, it is available with or without suspension. The rigid version weighs 12.5 kgs and is for the time being only available in Japan. The rear suspension model weighs 14.5kgs and costs €1199. Like all Giant bikes, the frames are made from 6061 aluminium.


Manufacturer
The NRS design is the result of a collaboration between Giant and Renault Sport, better know for their successes on the Formula 1 circuit. One of Renault’s suspension engineers, Pascal Tribotte, happened to be an MTB enthusiast. He talked over his ideas during a chance meeting with a salesman in a Giant dealer’s shop. The management of both companies saw the opportunities, and the NRS design was born.

Giant have been building bikes since 1972, and since 1981 have been producing them under their own brand name. They are now the world’s biggest bicycle manufacturer, and in 1998 they sold 1.5 million Giant bicycles worldwide

Giant Europe
Pascallaan 66
Lelystad
8218 NJ
Netherlands

phone: +31 320 296 296
fax: + 31 320 296 200.
web: www.giant-bicycles.com


Author
Alan Davidson
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