"Jean" wrote in message
...
Perhaps this is old news to most folks here, but I was looking for some
bike
parts today and I encountered the following web page:
http://www.branfordbike.com/shimano/shimano.html . The page says that only
a
few select online bike stores will be allowed to sell Shimano stuff on the
web. A little googling indicates that the authorized stores are Supergo,
Performance, Bike Nashbar, Excel, Colorado Cyclist, and REI. The web page
states that any store that is not authorized and that continues to sell
Shimano stuff online will be put a list of banned retailers that Shimano
will send to Shimano distributors.

Discounting Shimano's "ensure that consumers are provided with the highest
levels of service ...blah, blah, blah" spin about why they have done this,
what is the real reason behind the policy? Was this policy forced by the
Supergo-Bike Nashbar-Performance conglomerate and designed to kill most
other online stores? Or is someone at Shimano just trying to encourage
people like me to by Campy equipment?


I believe Cambria Bike and Jenson USA are also "authorized" shimano
dealers....