Originally Posted by
Italuminium
I always wonder why there has been no German Campagnolo/Shimano-like component manufacturer...
They were too busy making quality automobiles. Maybe they were rich enough to buy cars instead of bikes and cover larger distances. In the US Sram made its entry when MTB got popular, before that, there was no demand in bicycles (well, except for the famous bike-boom. But that had something to do with an oil-crisis right?).
I'm just making a short-sighted guess here.