Originally Posted by patrickgm60 (Post 16483925)

Yes, but that's not the point of the thread or my question: already assuming manufacturers donate lots of product for publicity purposes, would pro teams not named "Specialized" be riding Tarmacs if the product sucked or the company was staffed with baby seal clubbers?

(I'm neither a fan-boy nor hater; simply trying to understand the logic. My other passion is acoustic guitars. Endorsements are everywhere, but you won't see Eric Clapton playing an Esteban, no matter how many freebies they offer.)

Originally Posted by patrickgm60 (Post 16483930)

That's ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Ghost Ryder (Post 16483934)

My reply was in reference to your statement of pro teams using Shimano over SRAM.

Originally Posted by kaliayev (Post 16483971)

Sorry about that.

Originally Posted by Campag4life (Post 16483581)

You should. Specialized makes the best bikes in the world.

Originally Posted by Tycho Brahe (Post 16483568)

The same situation applies to me as well. The only "bigger" (yet still tiny) LBS only sells Specialized, which means I simply do not shop locally. Besides not wanting to purchasing Specialized because they do not honor their warranties, but who buys only Specialized? My LBS only sells Specialized tires. When was the last time Specialized tires were discussed or recommend? Not really picky, give me Conti, Michelin, Vitorria or Schwalbe tiress, but Specialized?

Originally Posted by StanSeven (Post 16484114)

No they don't. Name one pro that rides them.

Originally Posted by patrickgm60 (Post 16483925)

Yes, but that's not the point of the thread or my question: already assuming manufacturers donate lots of product for publicity purposes, would pro teams not named "Specialized" be riding Tarmacs if the product sucked or the company was staffed with baby seal clubbers?

(I'm neither a fan-boy nor hater; simply trying to understand the logic. My other passion is acoustic guitars. Endorsements are everywhere, but you won't see Eric Clapton playing an Esteban, no matter how many freebies they offer.)

Originally Posted by himespau (Post 16484241)

It's not a donation. They are out and out paid to ride those bikes. In the old days, some people would have their bikes custom made and then painted to look like the bike they were being paid to ride. Now that doesn't happen quite that much, but unless you're talking about "freebies" being cash, you're missing something on how this whole things works.

Originally Posted by floridamtb (Post 16483696)

I wasn't referring to you specifically, I read so much on here about how people hate Trek because Lance rode Trek. Or they don't like the way they treated Lemond... you know what that was wrong for them to do but that's life in the business world, bad things happen all the time. And I don't ride Specialized either. I test rode one, I liked it but I didn't buy it. The most important thing to me after the feel of the bike is the relationship with the LBS. The LBS does not make a lot on the bike, the margins are so slim, they make their money on service and parts etc. I'm not going to "punish" a locally owned LBS because I don;t like the brand. It reminds me of the old saying... opinions are like ********, everyone has one and they all stink so I really don't give a **** about anyone's opinion of what I ride. I ride what I ride because I like it and the local shop owner. Never in these forums have I ever told anyone they should buy one bike over another, I always say "ride them and choose the best one".

Originally Posted by dmcdam (Post 16483818)

You don't care about what other people think of your choices, and yet you're calling people elfin' idiots because they have a different set of criteria for choosing a brand they want to ride? "Choosing the best one" means different things to different people. There are lots of bikes out there and more than one will give people a great ride, so they can afford to let other factors influence their choices. What if the bike that seemed to ride the 'best' for you was only available in hot pink or some colour you detested. Would that factor into your choice?

Originally Posted by kaliayev (Post 16484017)

Same here. I don't think SRAM sucks, just never bought the hype when all the pro teams were using it. Now some teams would rather drop their own dime on Shimano components than get free SRAM.

Originally Posted by kps88 (Post 16484558)

I wonder why so few teams now use SRAM?

Originally Posted by kps88 (Post 16484333)

. . . Everything in your post was fine, except for the idiot part...hence you are the idiot. . .

Originally Posted by StanSeven (Post 16484114)

No they don't. Name one pro that rides them.

Originally Posted by CenturionIM (Post 16484604)

Cannondale is where it's at now. Most BFer suck up to them and it is hard to see Caad being dissed around here.

Originally Posted by zvez (Post 16484258)

specialized has to be hated to give trek a break, simple as that.

Originally Posted by StanSeven (Post 16484286)

Yep. There is a big misunderstanding there on how pro teams work, sponsorship, and how riders get paid.

Originally Posted by patrickgm60 (Post 16484654)

Well, I, for one, am ready for some understanding... : )

Does anyone here actually know what, if any, sponsorship $ changes hands from bike manufacturers to pro teams, or is this a general "Everyone in cycling dopes and you're uninformed if you think otherwise" statement?

I suspect the quality of the top-end road frames differs little, between brands, but that none of them are "no good," as one poster stated. Assuming the Dogma, SLR01, Tarmac, F1, Evo, Madone, S5, etc are all approximately equal, is it a matter of who donates/pays the most to the teams? Is there a private auction involved? If so, Giant and Shimano could eventually capture the entire pro market..