Shimano is a company based in Japan known for their sports
products. Shimano has been around since 1921, when they created a 3-speed
cassette which became the start of their inventions. Since then, Shimano has
added a fishing and rowing component to their company. While biking is
Shimano's largest industry, fishing is a great industry for them as well. They
are really well known for their bike groupsets.
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| The Shimano Di2 Groupset |
In 2009, Shimano released the first electronic bike groupset. They
named it Shimano Di2 and it was based off of Shimano's Dura-Ace components.
Instead of mechanical shifting used on most bikes, which uses the tension of a
cable to move the chain on the gears, the electronic shifting components use
signals sent through wires and other electronic parts to move the chain. This
is very useful because it is faster, more efficient, and more reliable than
standard cables. It also learns where the gears are at and can automatically
adjust which, in the long run, leads to less service of the bike.
Since Shimano released their version of electronic shifting, some
of their main competitors, namely Campagnolo and SRAM, have released their own
groupsets with electronic shifting. As the cycling world is starting to evolve
technologically, the bikes will become more high tech and everything will
probably move towards electronic shifting.
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| Shimano Dura-Ace Shifters SRAM Red Shifters Campagnolo Super Record Shifters |
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| The new Shimano XTR Di2 Groupset used for mountain biking |
Mountain biking is moving towards electronic shifting as well.
Shimano just released their first version of XTR Di2 which is the electronic
version of the top groupset. This will be a significant change considering
mountain biking is a lot harder on the bike and the groupset can get beaten up
a lot more. As this progresses, Shimano will probably try to incorporate this
technology into the lower end models of bikes in order to increase consumerism
based on the technology craze. This is definitely a very marketable product
through local bike shops. That is usually the way that any of these companies
market themselves. The other way to market themselves is to sponsor
professional athletes who use their products.
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| The battery compartment built into the frame of the bike. |
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The new Trek Madone with full DI2 integration. This bike
features the internal cable routing throughout the bike. |
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| The handlebars with all the cables and wires tucked away |
The Tour de France is one of the most well-known sports events in
the world. This is the largest way that Shimano and their competitors can show
off any of their new components. Shimano sponsors a bunch of teams in the Tour
de France and works with some of the largest bike manufacturers to integrate
the new Di2 system into their bikes. One of the prime examples of this is their
work with Trek. The new Trek Madone completely integrates the Di2 technology
into the frame of the bike with their ability to tuck the battery pack away
into the down tube and made the bike one of the most technologically advanced
and aerodynamic bikes on the market. Specialized did the same thing with their
new bike, the Venge. Both of these companies compete with each other and this
helps Shimano get their name out into the market even more than it previously
was. This also helps to set them apart from their competition with SRAM and
Campagnolo.
