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And nowadays Shimano dominates the production of most bicycle components. And that comes with all the disadvantages that a de-facto monopoly has.
by chme 6y ago
And nowadays Shimano dominates the production of most bicycle components. And that comes with all the disadvantages that a de-facto monopoly has.
- durnygbur 6y agoYeah I always wonder why the only option for so many bicycle components is Shimano. Most bicycles bought complete in a shop are all Shimano. Only in regions with bicycle commuting culture (e.g. Netherlands) one has broader choice.
- yarcob 6y agoThere's also SRAM that have group sets at every price point, and some smaller manufacturers like Campagnolo or Sunrace.
- toast0 6y agoIf my understanding of the history is correct, Shimano may have made the first reliable indexed shifting system; but of course, that worked best if you had matched derailleurs, shifters, and rear cassette/freewheel. With friction shift, whoever was picking components could mix and match all those parts. And then you're buying a bunch of parts from them already, might as well try their other stuff, and then you end up with all the parts that have room for a logo saying shimano.
- nl 6y agoThis is only partially true. For mid to high end bikes Sram is compelling at most price points. And Campagnolo remain the choice many for high end. At the low end Microshift and other Chinese brands are seen quite often. The available choices are broader now than at any time since the 1960s.
- Xylakant 6y agoIt seems though, that shimano has effectively taken several market chunks where no competition exists - I’ve yet to see a cargo bike or electric bike with a derailleur that’s not shimano. From conversation with some mechanics I gather that no competitor produces sprockets with the required strength to survive the increased torque. On some high end models you see Rohloff hub shifts or sometimes even pinion, but I’ve yet to see sram or any other. Granted, that’s observational data from my limited view, so I may well be wrong.
- kevin_thibedeau 6y agoThe sprockets aren't the issue. Shimano is the last still making cup and cone hubs with the drive side bearing race inside the freehub for better load support.
- legulere 6y agoMicroshift is Taiwanese, not Chinese. Which also makes sense because the great majority of bicycle components are manufactured in Taiwan (also including Shimano components). There are also some other high end companies like Rohloff and Pinion.
- aulin 6y agoThere are plenty of other components in a bike besides the drivetrain where shimano doesn't dominate at all (frame, fork, shock, wheels, tyres, brakes, dropper posts, ...). On MTBs SRAM has bigger market share even in the drivetrain compartment.
- ciupicri 6y agoMost low and mid-range mountain bikes with a 1x drivetrain use SRAM SX or NX cassettes which have a much narrower range than Deore, only 11-50T instead of 10-51T. I hate SRAM pushing this 1x crap with granny gears on all bikes. Not everyone rides at professional competitions. Now if I want a bike with a speedier range I either have to look at older bikes with a 2x drivetrain, or put more money into more expensive bikes that use SRAM GX. I miss the wide range provided by 3x10 drivetrains.