Shimano is well known for shifting the goal line when competition is catching up. they have employed a patent search "department" and will change small details to have new ones issued, or just borrowed expired ones as suited their needs. This is nothing new in business but Shimano is exceptionally good and well equipped doing this. As they won the OEM spec battle with first SunTour then SRAM for many years they, pretty much, wrote the book on frame specs for a very long time. I do give them credit for also having components that work rather well the majority of the time. Still their rep for being the 500lb gorilla is well earned.

Here's my two click search for rule 2. https://acd-ext.gsfc.nasa.gov/People...ten_rules.html I could have stopped at one click but wanted to check one more site. Don't know if this is what David is referencing but I think it is good advice just the same. Andy