Originally Posted by
zymphad
Agreed. Maybe SRAM knows their market share is rubbish, and just trying to maximize what they have rather than trying to grow it?
I think it's a bizarre company. If you're competing with 2.5 billion competitor, you would think you would do whatever possible to grow your business, including going for value. If I was SRAM for example, I'd price Rival groupset $50 less than 105, Force, $75 less than Ultegra and $200 less for Red vs D-A.
And of course try to compete with complete bikes too. Rival bikes $100 less than 105, Force bikes $150-200 less than Ultegra and $200-500 less for Red vs D-A.
The problem is that they could probably sell factory direct for lower prices than Shimano or Campagnolo.
But, then the LBS stores couldn't compete with the factory prices. And they'd lose vendors.
It might also be difficult for manufacturers to support their products who also depend on marking up prices.