Dura-Ace R9200

[ghostinthemachine]

And Shimano has a majority of them.

The vast majority of them are either sponsored by their bike providers/importers/distributors or use some form of trade account to buy their kit.

Actual Shimano backed sponsorship deals are not the norm. And they are pretty restrictive.
Shimano group, Shimano wheels, PRO finishing kit used to be the rule.
You might only need the fingers of one hand to count the "full ride" sponsorships offered by Shimano in the top 50 teams globally.

[Dr.Dos]

As a person that got sick of waiting for 9200 and that went out and bought SRAM, the only thing I wanted in 9200 was an accurate PM
I dont care about wireless (it is nice to setup but after that it just doesnt matter), or 12 speed (11 is more than enough for me), but an accurate PM was important
I have several PM's over several bikes and I wanted a setup that was displaying power consistantly over every bike

Other than that, I could not care less about anything else because I know it would be more than good enough for little old me

But a throw-away PM is the answer? OK, you must use the throw-away PM because literally nothing else is compatible with chains that are only compatible with the brands cassettes.

With Shimano, we can use whichever PM we want.

[TobinHatesYou]

But a throw-away PM is the answer? OK, you must use the throw-away PM because literally nothing else is compatible with chains that are only compatible with the brands cassettes.

With Shimano, we can use whichever PM we want.

Many 11spd chainrings actually work with the flattop chain. One of the first builds I ever saw use a White Industries R30 crankset+chainrings.

You can also put together your own Quarq with a removable spider and Red crankset. That's what I did with my grabble bike. Currently the only issue with pure road builds is you're limited to a max of 48/35t for doubles.

Also the dude didn't claim SRAM was the answer...It was the only option when presented with the absence of choice since R9200 is still over a month from reveal, and who knows about availability after that.

[Dr.Dos]

Honestly, I would not want to try if third party chainrings also work in a full sprint in an actual race with whatever craziness happend on the final kilometers.

Maybe you remember what happened with those Campy chainrings, dropped chains and such - was it the initial 11spd Super Record? Greipel was very upset because he did not find out during training but only in the first races of the season. I remember well how he was full of anger.

[TobinHatesYou]

Let’s be honest, and add a zero to that chainring life. If you stay on top of chain wear, shimano chainrings last a long time. I have some with 25000+ miles on them, and they are ridden in all conditions. Also, historically, non-world tour teams often don’t get gear on the first rollout. It’s not uncommon to see some overlap in the peleton, because not all teams running shimano are full shimano sponsored. Teams that have other wheel, component, etc sponsors don’t have the same priority.

Even Team Sky didn't completely transition to R91xx for months after its announcement, and there wasn't a global pandemic then. Nobody should be expecting miracles come the TdF. I pretty much expect all spare bikes to still be on R91xx.

[Andrew69]

Also the dude didn't claim SRAM was the answer...It was the only option when presented with the absence of choice since R9200 is still over a month from reveal, and who knows about availability after that.

Exactly
I just wanted to ride my new bike.

I really dont get the whole SRAM hate thing in this thread
No grouppo is perfect, they all have issues and any choice you make will probably mean a compromise of some kind

But for me, riding AXS (with all its perceived flaws) is far far better than not riding at all.

[Cemicar]

And Shimano has a majority of them.

The vast majority of them are either sponsored by their bike providers/importers/distributors or use some form of trade account to buy their kit.

Actual Shimano backed sponsorship deals are not the norm. And they are pretty restrictive.
Shimano group, Shimano wheels, PRO finishing kit used to be the rule.
You might only need the fingers of one hand to count the "full ride" sponsorships offered by Shimano in the top 50 teams globally.

Do you really know the detail on the sponsorship ? (I don't either, of course). Is Shimano really in the position who can say "Use our full gears or nothing"? I'd rather suspect that besides supplying products Shimano is actually paying extra $$$ for stronger pros using its products even if only partially.

Having a full Shimano sponsorship as you define is getting gradually harder and rarer these days, since compatibility aside, many bike brands are actually owning a dedicated (or optimized) wheel/handlebar/seatpost brands (likes of Bontrager, Roval, MOST or several more), which also suggests Shimano only has littler power to force a top team which is normally associated with a specific bike brand first to use their gears.

[Cemicar]

double post

[TobinHatesYou]

And Shimano has a majority of them.

The vast majority of them are either sponsored by their bike providers/importers/distributors or use some form of trade account to buy their kit.

Actual Shimano backed sponsorship deals are not the norm. And they are pretty restrictive.
Shimano group, Shimano wheels, PRO finishing kit used to be the rule.
You might only need the fingers of one hand to count the "full ride" sponsorships offered by Shimano in the top 50 teams globally.

Do you really know the detail on the sponsorship ? (I don't either, of course). Is Shimano really in the position who can say "Use our full gears or nothing"? I'd rather suspect that besides supplying products Shimano is actually paying extra $$$ for stronger pros using its products even if only partially.

Having a full Shimano sponsorship as you define is getting gradually harder and rarer these days, since compatibility aside, many bike brands are actually owning a dedicated (or optimized) wheel/handlebar/seatpost brands (likes of Bontrager, Roval, MOST or several more), which also suggests Shimano only has littler power to force a top team which is normally associated with a specific bike brand first to use their gears.

As seen by Ineos on Lightweights and Jumbo on Corimas + Vision/FSA cockpits. BikeExchange now also uses FSA/Vision hardware since that's how the Bianchis achieve internal cable routing.

[Lina]

Shimano doesn't need to force pros to use their gear. That's why they've historically restricted the sponsorships to teams that use full Shimano/PRO gear.

[Dr.Dos]

Shimano uses a three-step system for their PRO-level sponsoring. It serves for their sales reps to aquire teams and place as many products as possible (groups, PMs, wheels but also - as mentioned - a PRO finishing kit plus shoes and Lazer helmets). And of course they are/were interested in standout riders such as MVDP, Froome or Dumoulin etc.

Current top category holds Alpecin-Fenix, DSM and FDJ. Then there are the likes of BORA, DQT, Arkea and JumboVisma followed by INEOS and BikeExchange. Of course there is quite some movement as bike suppliers want to enforce their own system integration and components. The steps are kind of transparent as well.

Interestingly the small Swiss Thömus team was a top team on the MTB channel.

[ghostinthemachine]

Do you really know the detail on the sponsorship ? (I don't either, of course).

Not the current 2021 deal, no. Last time i dealt with it in any capacity wasafew years ago.

Is Shimano really in the position who can say "Use our full gears or nothing"?

Yes. They have in the past, i beleive team sky paid for their kit in the past due to their insistence on different wheels, chainrings etc.

I'd rather suspect that besides supplying products Shimano is actually paying extra $$$ for stronger pros using its products even if only partially.

Yeah, there are a few pros with personal deals, or they drive the deal into their equipment sponsors, MVDP for instance. He's a big enough name that all "normal" sponsorship rules will quietly be ignored. Maybe the likes of Sagan as well. Really not very many riders though.

The rise of fully integrated wheels/bars/frame is an interesting one though.

[Conradsleight]

Anyone else notice shimano running paid partnership with GCN (with apparently more videos to come)?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vNKrkrPsAGM

Seems like the start of a marketing push to lead up to launch of the new dura-ace.

[RDY]

Anyone else notice shimano running paid partnership with GCN (with apparently more videos to come)?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vNKrkrPsAGM

Seems like the start of a marketing push to lead up to launch of the new dura-ace.

Avoid GCN like the plague, but that's a pretty clear indicator that launch is imminent.

[rollinslow]

Anyone else notice shimano running paid partnership with GCN (with apparently more videos to come)?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vNKrkrPsAGM

Seems like the start of a marketing push to lead up to launch of the new dura-ace.

Avoid GCN like the plague, but that's a pretty clear indicator that launch is imminent.

Agree, GCN turned into a total joke. Just one big advertisement.