Giant makes really solid roadbikes, especially carbon ones since they were one of the original companies to use carbon fiber. I think that that bike would be a really good investment. I personally ride a gunnar, hand built in wisconsin.
what have you been smokin lately? giant doesn't use vpp, that's santa cruz. I really like giants and the way they ride and that's my personal opinon and that is yours. and yes, i agree about the specialized, I just don't like them for some reason. finally, yes, jamis bikes do suck. i have three different friends who have broken thier dakars.
^^also, if Giant "sucks" so much, why do they make 70% of the bikes on the market? They make the majority of frames/compnents on the market. They even make frames/components for big companies like Specialized and Trek. The list goes on...
Again, please don't talk about what you don't know.