The other day, a customer came in riding a GIANT Propel complete bike
↑This one
They'd never removed the bar tape (shown in the image above) that came factory-wrapped on the complete bike since buying it from a GIANT dealer (unclear if it was an official GIANT store). When they asked about getting the same bar tape at one GIANT store to replace it, they were told it used to be available but has been discontinued. So they bought bar tape from a different manufacturer and came by asking me to wrap it for them.
So when I started peeling back the original bar tape...
The flanged connecting bolt that seals the olive on the end of the brake hose at the right STI lever wasn't tightened all the way until the flange was flush against the lever body. If it were even slightly looser, the brake fluid might spray out from here when the brake lever is pulled. That said, they've actually ridden it for over two years without incident.
Shimano specifies that the flanged connecting bolt should be installed on the lever side, while the non-flanged version goes on the brake side.
This is just my personal opinion, but I believe that the flange shape is a silent instruction saying "tighten until the flange contacts the lever bracket," so choosing not to tighten all the way is inconceivable.
Looking at Shimano's manual, the tightening torque is specified as 5–6 N·m, so maybe at GIANT's assembly factory they tightened it to 6 N·m with a torque wrench and the bolt stopped there. But the initial looseness when I went to retighten it was abnormally slack for that explanation.
After that, I tightened it all the way. I thought that's what should be done.
The left lever wasn't fully tightened either, though not quite as loose as the right. I'll repeat myself, but Shimano doesn't specify "tighten all the way"—they only specify a tightening torque—so I can't say for certain whether this tightening condition that I think is wrong constitutes a defect.
Based entirely on my own judgment, I tightened the flanged connecting bolts all the way before replacing the bar tape.
Until now, I thought white ravens couldn't possibly exist (that manufacturer complete bikes with flanged connecting bolts not tightened all the way couldn't possibly exist). But now that I've confirmed at least one example, I can no longer say with certainty that the same thing absolutely isn't happening on GIANT's factory-assembled complete bikes, or that there couldn't be cases even worse than this right lever.
If the bolt flange not being flush with the lever bracket is indeed a problem (and I'll say it again—I'm the only one who thinks that; Shimano only specifies torque), then the only way to avoid selling complete bikes in that condition is to inspect every single one.
Since bar tape that's already wrapped can often end up unreusable no matter how carefully you peel it off, I don't know if the selling shop will go to the trouble of full inspections, bearing both the potential cost of bar tape and the definite cost of labor.
If you own a GIANT complete bike and you got a chill down your spine seeing the condition of that right lever, you might want to check your own bike. You might end up having to buy replacement bar tape though, ha ha!
↑Why am I laughing
While I'm at it, I'll mention that neither the left nor right lever had a dummy plug in the upper of the two ports. This is 12-speed Ultegra, but with 105 it's wireless only; Dura-Ace and Ultegra can also connect by wire to a seatpost battery. With wired connection, you can either connect the battery and EW-JC304 (4-port junction) and then connect from the JC304 to both levers, or connect the battery to the left (or right) lever and then connect between the right (or left) lever.
In either case, the lower port is for a satellite switch, so to prevent accidentally plugging something in there, STI levers ship from the factory with the lower port plugged with a dummy plug, and the upper port should have a dummy plug either in the STI lever box or in a bag with various accessories in the complete bike. But since wireless connection is overwhelmingly the choice these days, countless bikes around the world have ended up without dummy plugs in the upper port. On this Propel complete bike, this could be confirmed without even peeling back the bar tape.
I notice this because it's one of my criteria for determining whether a bike shop is the type that receives so-called "seven-tenths assembled" boxed complete bikes, fixes the stem and handlebar straight, checks the shifting briefly, and then just flips it from right to left with barely any other service. It's a crappy shop indicator.
But this dummy plug oversight has, to be dramatic about it, a certain creepiness to it—like using a cycle computer with its charging port exposed to rain every day.
I installed dummy plugs in the upper port of both the left and right levers. By the way, I've made this same warning before three years ago. (→here)
↑This one
They'd never removed the bar tape (shown in the image above) that came factory-wrapped on the complete bike since buying it from a GIANT dealer (unclear if it was an official GIANT store). When they asked about getting the same bar tape at one GIANT store to replace it, they were told it used to be available but has been discontinued. So they bought bar tape from a different manufacturer and came by asking me to wrap it for them.
So when I started peeling back the original bar tape...
The flanged connecting bolt that seals the olive on the end of the brake hose at the right STI lever wasn't tightened all the way until the flange was flush against the lever body. If it were even slightly looser, the brake fluid might spray out from here when the brake lever is pulled. That said, they've actually ridden it for over two years without incident.
Shimano specifies that the flanged connecting bolt should be installed on the lever side, while the non-flanged version goes on the brake side.
This is just my personal opinion, but I believe that the flange shape is a silent instruction saying "tighten until the flange contacts the lever bracket," so choosing not to tighten all the way is inconceivable.
Looking at Shimano's manual, the tightening torque is specified as 5–6 N·m, so maybe at GIANT's assembly factory they tightened it to 6 N·m with a torque wrench and the bolt stopped there. But the initial looseness when I went to retighten it was abnormally slack for that explanation.
After that, I tightened it all the way. I thought that's what should be done.
The left lever wasn't fully tightened either, though not quite as loose as the right. I'll repeat myself, but Shimano doesn't specify "tighten all the way"—they only specify a tightening torque—so I can't say for certain whether this tightening condition that I think is wrong constitutes a defect.
Based entirely on my own judgment, I tightened the flanged connecting bolts all the way before replacing the bar tape.
Until now, I thought white ravens couldn't possibly exist (that manufacturer complete bikes with flanged connecting bolts not tightened all the way couldn't possibly exist). But now that I've confirmed at least one example, I can no longer say with certainty that the same thing absolutely isn't happening on GIANT's factory-assembled complete bikes, or that there couldn't be cases even worse than this right lever.
If the bolt flange not being flush with the lever bracket is indeed a problem (and I'll say it again—I'm the only one who thinks that; Shimano only specifies torque), then the only way to avoid selling complete bikes in that condition is to inspect every single one.
Since bar tape that's already wrapped can often end up unreusable no matter how carefully you peel it off, I don't know if the selling shop will go to the trouble of full inspections, bearing both the potential cost of bar tape and the definite cost of labor.
If you own a GIANT complete bike and you got a chill down your spine seeing the condition of that right lever, you might want to check your own bike. You might end up having to buy replacement bar tape though, ha ha!
↑Why am I laughing
While I'm at it, I'll mention that neither the left nor right lever had a dummy plug in the upper of the two ports. This is 12-speed Ultegra, but with 105 it's wireless only; Dura-Ace and Ultegra can also connect by wire to a seatpost battery. With wired connection, you can either connect the battery and EW-JC304 (4-port junction) and then connect from the JC304 to both levers, or connect the battery to the left (or right) lever and then connect between the right (or left) lever.
In either case, the lower port is for a satellite switch, so to prevent accidentally plugging something in there, STI levers ship from the factory with the lower port plugged with a dummy plug, and the upper port should have a dummy plug either in the STI lever box or in a bag with various accessories in the complete bike. But since wireless connection is overwhelmingly the choice these days, countless bikes around the world have ended up without dummy plugs in the upper port. On this Propel complete bike, this could be confirmed without even peeling back the bar tape.
I notice this because it's one of my criteria for determining whether a bike shop is the type that receives so-called "seven-tenths assembled" boxed complete bikes, fixes the stem and handlebar straight, checks the shifting briefly, and then just flips it from right to left with barely any other service. It's a crappy shop indicator.
But this dummy plug oversight has, to be dramatic about it, a certain creepiness to it—like using a cycle computer with its charging port exposed to rain every day.
I installed dummy plugs in the upper port of both the left and right levers. By the way, I've made this same warning before three years ago. (→here)