Originally Posted by base2

Does anyone have any idea what Shimano is doing? The cost of their products seems to have increased since last I looked. Since I am in America, & the US dollar has gained strength in the recent years, the cost of foreign made goods should be going down. The strange thing is in the American market, they haven't. They've gone up. An M-785 crankset on Amazon is $250

I purchased an Ultegra crankset from a shop in Portland we all know & love. The shop owner said it wasn't included in the holiday sale because: "Shimano prices are already rock-bottom they will allow us to sell."

I went to CRC & searching by brand leaves Shimano curiously excluded. Searching via the search box returns results for Fulcrum, Campy, & others.

I went to Jenson and searching cranksets, sorting by brand the listing skips Shimano. The listing skips from Rotor to Suntour.

SJS only seems to have Acera, Alivio, Deore, Xt triples. No mountain doubles. No XTR 2-by sets that I could find. Nothing that would compete with their latest offerings or new proprietary 4-bolt spacing.

What am I missing? Carving the world up by region? Enforcing price controls? Taking advantage of the North American consumers increased buying power & ignorance?

Something stinks in Shimanoland.