"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?

Not likely. Since it includes competitors to Performance/Nashbar, it's
probably a Shimano initiative. That is, unless all of the participants have
agreed to sell Shimano at MSRP, thus eliminating price competition. I'll
bet there has been a great wailing sound from Performance/Nashbar/Supergo
over their own "price matching" policies. Several times, I've had Nashbar
and Performance price-match with JensonUSA, and the difference was like 25%.
I was getting the components for below wholesale. That had to grind their
gears.

Or is someone at Shimano just trying to encourage
people like me to by Campy equipment?

Campy is my choice for future component groups. I bought all new 2003
Ultegra components this year, and it is crap. The shifters are so cheap and
flimsy - they're a joke. I'm having all kinds of problems with them. I'll
never buy Shimano shifters again. That was a $175 mistake that I won't
repeat.

I hope the online shops start massively discounting non-Shimano components
from Campy, SRAM, Rohloff, Ritchey, DiaCompe, SunRace, Cyclone, etc, etc.
There *are* alternatives to ShimaNO. SRAM has some good MTB trigger
shifters now. Others will follow. Shimano STI shifters are poorly
engineered. I have 4 sets, and all of them are dodgy at best, even the
brand-new ones with Shimano-supplied cables.

Shimano is declaring war against the little guys. They're also begging us to
switch brands. Let's show them how we feel about this cartel and vote with
our dollars. Shimano hasn't always owned the market, and there's no
guarantee that they always will. Consumers can show them the error of their
ways by making sales drop precipitously and giving some of the market share
back to better, smaller companies. Throw off the chains of compulsory
obsoletion and choose a better alternative.

-Barry