Originally Posted by
Doge
Free equipment is NOT sponsorship.
Of course it is by any definition.
Getting paid thousands of dollars and signing agreements is sponsorship.
Also true although if you're referring to a named team like Giant-Shimano it's millions not thousands.
My point that was AG2R is that the One of 17 World Tour Teams that used SRAM was paid a lot to do it. Some 4 were paid by Shimano. And 3-4 paid by Campagnolo. That leaves 7 or so that had to choose any free stuff they wanted. They chose Shimano.
Makes sense to choose the most popular groupset out there from a support perspective. I suspect that given Shimano's market dominance they can afford to offer a better deal to anyone using their components.
You don't have both do you?
Mostly Campy on my roadbikes with SRAM on a cross bike and XTR on a mountain bike. Those using SRAM red seem happy with it. Selection of any of the top component groups is primarily personal preference. None are going to make the difference in a bike race.