Shimano troubles?
 

Not sure if this should be posted in politics or not. It appears that Shimano is flexing their muscle in some unusual and possibly illegal ways. Check out the letter that Branford bike wrote at: http://www.branfordbike.com/shimano/shimano.html

What is all your opinion of this situation?

We've been waiting on my husband's Felt F60 for a month because Shimano won't ship parts. Shimano is losing customer support-at least mine-quickly. Considering SRAM and Campy when I decide to upgrade.

Shimano EVIL...miss Suntour... :(

Umm...ok I didn't read the whole article...but they are restricting resale on internet sites to certified shimano dealers right?...as far as I know, a lot of places do this, however the online stores themselves ignore the rules. Makes sense to me as, in this case, warranty should go smoother. (I can't think directly of other companies right now but I believe there are a few...)

btw I am not a person who likes shimano, the opposite really (go sram), but I do understand where they stand.

Evil Corporate America....I think Im gonna switch to Campy.

With regard to the original post, I must laugh when I hear an online retailer complain about pricing. True, he's just trying to make a living, just like the rest of us, but I'm all for a level playing field.
Here's something that might be of note:
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/bicyc...ent_id=2054788
It's truly not Shimano's fault-there's been some rather moronic actions on the part of many companies in the industry that have created a ridiculously high sense of demand-I doubt any company is capable of handling such a significant increase in production demand.
As for the Felt, last I spoke with them they were having no issues with that model. If I remember, I'll give 'em a call Wednesday (next day at the shop) and see what they're saying now.
For those of you that would like another alternative, we may be lucky enough to have such a choice in the coming years: http://www.bicycleretailer.com/bicyc..._id=1000461510
The problem, as stated in the article, is the wealth of patents already in place for road shifting systems. Shimano has a long history of going after SRAM in this area...

I am not sure why this is corporate evil. (in this case) They want to give better support, more controlled support, thereby offering a better product (in theory). They more than likely loose money and in the end are helping the lbs...

I am not quite sure, how in this case, they are the great evil (crap I can't believe I am defending them)

OK...so if the problem with Shimano's delivery is unexpected demand; I'd say that's a good thing..it means more people are cycling!!!

Waldo your sites about Bicycle Retailer IS OUT OF DATE! They now have a new one date for 2/04 try this site on for size: http://www.branfordbike.com/shimano/brain.html This is a copy of the recent Bicycle Retailer and they now are compaining about unfair price fixing! And not just from Shimano!

"...we want them sold the way we ask and that is with the manual...And none of the suppliers who spoke with Bicycle Retailer enforces a minimum price. Shimano dealers, for example, can sell Shimano parts at any price. But mail-order businesses must be authorized to buy the parts."

IMO, this seems reasonable; the question is what criteria do you need to meet to be a Shimano dealer? If you're misrepresenting your intent to Shimano - by saying that you're buying OEM parts to build bikes, for example - and instead you're reselling the parts over the internet, I would think that Shimano has a right to stop selling to you...

As I stated above, it seems that demand is up, which means that the manufacturers and suppliers are in the 'catbird seat'; plus the dollar is down, which tends to make imports more expensive in the American market...

Anyway, the parts dealers are just middlemen in the business to make a buck, so I'm not sure how their b*tching about this actually aligns with the end user...personally, I think I'd rather get the product in it's original packaging with the manual and the warranty, than to save a little money and essentially receive grey market goods...

Right you are Randya, but we do have 2 sides here, one side says it's illegal and the other saying that it's not. It looks like a wait a see situation. Regarding manuels etc, I never heard anyone complain that Bradford was selling grey market stuff, and Bradford is a popular internet site frequented by many cylist and some of those express nothing but positives on forums such as this. Grey market goods can be problematic for sure, especially if the original retailer of the grey item refuses to handle warranty issues, but Bradford claims they do not sell grey goods. It's going to be interesting to see how this pans out.

Did you actually read the stuff I linked to? Those links were clearly in reference to the delivery time issues and potential for SRAM developing road shifters again, not intended to pertain to the "price fixing" issue.
I don't really need to try the site on for size-I have that issue on file. That issue isn't so new either; there's been two issues since then. Didn't feel like scanning that article in and couldn't find it on their site, so I didn't bother mentioning it.
I find it quite amusing that these retailers cry price fixing when no one is specifying anything about pricing.

I went back and looked...after increased demand, patent issues seem to be the major story...I miss SunTour... :(

My riding buddy waited for over 2 months on the F60. He finally canceled the order and got a Trek 2100. There are some issues with Felt bikes right now. I bought a F65 last year and it took about 2 weeks.

Randya, my comment about the subject matter of the links wasn't directed at you-froze seemed to think that because they didn't address the price fixing issue they were out of date.
Felt has definitely been inconsistent with delivery dates, and the F60/65 are two of their most popular models. This is one instance where size does matter, also.

[QUOTE=Waldo]Did you actually read the stuff I linked to?

No, I admit I did not read it article just the date, sorry. I will read it a bit later tonight though.

But I too miss Suntour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The fact that I have over 140,000 miles on Suntour components says a lot for their quality.

Felt availability: F60 is available in all sizes except 50 and 60 cm. The 50 cm is scheduled in Friday, the 60 cm looks to be a month out, as are all sizes of the F60.

Here is a basic outline for what price fixing is:

Most state statutes provide that fixing the price of a product or service in agreement with another individual or business is illegal. The general rule provides that a vendor may not in combination with another vendor agree to set a certain price thereby creating a fixed price within a certain market. A business acting on its own and not in concert with another may use legitimate efforts to obtain the best price they can, including their ability to raise prices to the detriment of the general public. Also, conformity of prices within a given product is not illegal unless such conformity was created by a combination of vendors agreeing on a set price. For example, where competitors agree to sell their goods or services at a specified price, minimum price or maximum price and they receive profits from such an agreement, they are in violation of price fixing. Additionally, setting a price to be charged only within a certain area in order to get rid of competition or to create a monopoly is generally illegal under most state laws. A majority of states have also enacted a "Below-Sales-Cost" law wherein businesses may not sell goods below cost if they do so with anti-competitive intent or effect.

Here we have the complete Sherman Act:
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/foia/divisionmanual/ch2.htm


I have read the related Bicycle Retailer articles and the Branford site info. Sounds to me like Branford is upset because they no longer have the unfair advantage of purchasing overstock from bike manufacturers and selling it as "new" with none of the related packaging or info (They will have to pay the same price for product as the rest of us, let me get out my tiny fiddle). The playing field between online and bikeshop levels. Let us see if they can continue to sell parts at below wholesale.
There are other companies that do this, Mavic, Yakima, Chris KIng, Sidi. They make a quality product and want to protect its value by insuring it is sold at a fair retail value. For a look at what happens to a product that has its retail pricing reduced again and again, check out any number of branded products sold at Walmart. Levi's comes to mind.

I don't know if this applies, but shopping for my new cranks on the internet yielded no good (cheaper) results, so I decided to buy them from my LBS. I got a free shell facing and installation, in addition to a lot of knowledge about bottom brackets and everything else bikes. :)

Uhm, isn't Shimano a Japanese company? (no less evil and no less corporate, I suppose, but...)