Shimano
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| Shimano, Inc. | |
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| Type of Company | Public |
|---|---|
| Founded | February, 1921 |
| Headquarters | Japan |
| Key people | Yozo Shimano (President) Yoshizo Shimano (Chairman) |
| Industry | cycling components, fishing tackle, snowboarding equipment |
| Products | Bicycle and Related Components |
| Revenue | undisclosed |
| Employees | 975 (unconsolidated) 7003 (consolidated) |
| Slogan | unknown |
| Website | www.shimano.com |
Shimano, Inc. (OTCBB: SHMDF, FWB:SHM) is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of cycling components, fishing tackle, and snowboarding equipment.
In 2005, the company had net sales of US$1.4 billion. Bicycle components provided 75 % of its sales income. Fishing tackle produced 23 % of the company's sales income, while other products—including snowboarding equipment and other forged parts—produced about 2 % of its sales income. Previous to 2005, Shimano produced golf equipment. It discontinued that business because it wasn't profitable.
Headquartered in Sakai, Japan, the company has 32 consolidated subsidiaries and 11 unconsolidated subsidiaries. Its primary manufacturing plants are in Kunshan, Malaysia, and Singapore, while its sales are in Europe (41 % of total sales) and North America (17 %).
Shimano is publicly traded and has 102.8 million shares of common stock outstanding.[1]
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[edit] Cycling
Shimano products include drivetrain, brake, wheel and pedal components for leisure, road and mountain bikes. These components are generally organised as groupsets intended to be used as a near complete collection of a bicycle's mechanical parts.
The components include: crankset comprising cranks and chainrings; bottom bracket; chain; rear gear cogs or cassette; front and rear wheel hubs; gear shift levers; brakes; brake levers; cables; front and rear gear mechanisms or derailleurs. Shimano Total Integration (STI) is Shimano's integrated shifter and brake lever combination for racing bicycles.
The Italian firm Campagnolo is a competitor as the other major manufacturer of road groupsets. SRAM is a competitor as the other major manufacturer of mountain bike groupsets, though starting in 2006 they introduced two road groupsets as well. SRAM and Shimano also compete strongly in the leisure and commuter market, primarily in Europe.
When the 1970s United States bike boom exceeded the capacity of the European bicycle component manufacturers, Japanese manufacturers SunTour and Shimano rapidly stepped in to fill the void. While both companies provided products for all price-ranges of the market, SunTour also focused on refinement of existing systems and designs for higher end products, while Shimano initially paid more attention to rethinking the basic systems and bringing out innovations such as Positron shifting (a precursor to index shifting) and front freewheel systems at the low end of the market.
In the 1980s, with Shimano pushing technological innovation and lower prices, the more traditional European component manufacturers lost significant market presence. During this period, in contrast to the near-universal marketing technique of introducing innovations on the expensive side of the marketplace and relying on consumer demand to emulate early adopters along with economy of scale to bring them into the mass market, Shimano and SunTour (to a lesser extent) introduced new technologies at the lowest end of the bicycle market, using lower cost and often heavier and less durable materials and techniques, only moving them further upscale if they established themselves in the lower market segments.
In the 1980-1983 period, Shimano introduced two groupsets with "AX" technology. Features of these components include aerodynamic styling, centre-pull brakes, brake levers with concealed cables, and ergononic pedals.
By 1985 Shimano introduced innovation only at the highest quality level (DuraAce for road bikes and Deore XT for mountain bikes), then trickled the technology down to lower product levels as it became proven and accepted. Innovations include index shifting, freehubs, dual-pivot brakes, 8 and then 9 speed derailleurs, and combined gear and brake levers. Also, these components could only work properly when used with other Shimano components, eg its gear rear derailleurs has to be used with the correct Shimano gear levers, cables, freehub and cassette.
Another less successful innovation was the non-circular biopace chainring. SunTour tried to catch up to this technological leap, but by the end of the 1980s SunTour had lost the technological and commercial battle and Shimano had achieved the status as the largest manufacturer of bicycle components in the world.
Shimano's marketplace domination that developed in the 1990s quickly led to the perception by some critics that Shimano had become a marketplace bully with monopolistic intentions. This viewpoint was based on the fact that Shimano became oriented towards integrating all of their components with each other, with the result being that if any Shimano components were to be used, then the entire bike would need to be built from matching Shimano components. The alternate perspective is that by controlling the mix of componentry on the bicycle, a manufacturer such as Shimano can control how well their own product functions. Shimano's primary competitors (Campagnolo and SRAM) also make proprietary designs that limit the opportunity to mix and match componentry. In a technology-driven industry such as the bicycle industry, which has not demonstrated a proactive attitude toward standardization throughout it's 100+ year history, the market leader will always be criticized as monopolistic when introducing proprietary innovations. Shimano seems to cycle between this "integrated system" approach and more open approaches as it tries to find a balance between the market's desire for innovation and the market's desire for openness and flexibility.[original research?]
For the most recent example, in 2003 Shimano introduced "Dual Control" to mountain bikes, where the gear shift mechanism is integrated into the brake levers, and reintroduced the "Rapid Rise" rear derailleur which works in the opposite direction to traditional derailleurs. This development was controversial: critics viewed it as an attempt to monopolise the mountain bike components market: the use of Dual Control integrated shifting requires the use of Shimano brake levers, and, although other brand mechanical brakes are compatible, this makes it impossible to use other brand hydraulic disk brakes, locking competitors out of the premium end of the market. Additionally, the Rapid Rise derailleur is believed to work more effectively with the Dual Control system, further restricting users' choice of componentry. However with their 2007 product line, Shimano moved back to making separate braking and shifting components fully available in addition to the integrated "Dual Control" components, a move often attributed to the success of the Sram group's drivetrain and brake components.
Shimano introduced the SPD range of clipless pedals and matching shoes designed specifically for so that the shoes could be used for walking. The shoes have a recess in the bottom of the sole for fitting the smaller cleats and therefore it does not protrude, while conventional clipless road pedals are designed for road cycling shoes which have smooth soles with large protruding cleats, which cannot be used for walking. The SPD range, in addition to other off-road refinements, were designed to be used with treaded soles that more closely resemble rugged hiking boots. SPD pedals and shoes soon established themselves as the market standard in this sector, although many other manufacturers have developed alternatives which are arguably less prone to being clogged by mud and/or easier to adjust. However, the SPD dominance in this sector has meant that alternative pedal manufacturers nearly always design their pedals to be usable with Shimano shoes, and likewise mountain bike shoe manufacturers make their shoes "Shimano SPD" compatible.
[edit] Shimano innovations
Shimano have developed many new items, some successful and others not.
Nexus - Computerized automatic transmission, currently featured in Shimano's Coasting group.
Dyna Drive - a pedal system with no pedal axle and with the bearings located in the part of the pedal which screws into the crank. This required a oversized hole in the crank (1" dia) to accept the Dyna Drive pedals. The theory behind this was to allow the foot to be lower than the pedal axle for better biomechanics. This system did not catch on, one reason being that the pedal bearings wore out quickly.
Biopace - Biopace chainrings were not circular but slightly ovalised and were developed in the late 1980s, but like Dyna Drive did not catch on.
Metric chain - Shimano designed chains with a 10mm pitch insted of the conventional half inch pitch as well as sprockets and chainrings for use with this metric chain. This did not catch on.
[edit] Results in professional cycling
In the 1988 Giro d'Italia, Andy Hampsten rode Shimano to its first Grand Tour victory. Lance Armstrong's 1999 victory in the Tour de France on a Shimano Dura-Ace equipped Trek was the first time Shimano components had been used to win the Maillot Jaune. In 2002, Dura-Ace equipped bikes were ridden to victory in the Tour de France (Lance Armstrong), Giro d'Italia (Paolo Savoldelli), and Vuelta a España (Aitor González), marking the first time Shimano componentry had been used to win all three grand tours. World championships in both the road and time trial disciplines were won on Shimano equipment.
[edit] VIA
Many people believe that "VIA", which is stamped on all Shimano parts, is a form of corporate logo, since it does not appear on Campagnolo parts, for instance. In fact, VIA is an official approval stamp used to certify parts of Japanese vehicles - including bicycles. This mark signifies compliance with certain quality standards, and is similar to the "UL" (Underwriter Laboratories) mark.
[edit] Road bicycle groupsets
For 2006, road bicycle groupsets include:
- Dura-Ace (10 speed)
- Ultegra (10 speed)
- 105 (10 speed)
- Tiagra (9 speed with redesigned "10 speed" hood shape for 2007)
- Sora (8 speed)
- 2200 (8 speed)
[edit] Mountain bike groupsets
Current mountain bike groupsets include:
- XTR (9 speed) - This is the top of the range for cross-country mountain bikes.
- Saint (9 speed) - This is the top of the range for downhill and freeride bikes, and many components are based on the XT groupset.
- Deore XT (9 speed)
- Deore LX (9 speed)
- Deore (9 speed)
- Hone, a cheaper downhill/freeride specific groupset, similar to the LX groupset (9 speed)
- Alivio (8 speed)
- Acera (8 speed)
- Altus (8 speed)
- Tourney (7 speed) - this includes several different levels of quality, and can be found on department-store bicycles.
Note: Saint and Hone are Shimano's only downhill specific groups.
[edit] Other groupsets
Other current groupsets include:
- Caprio - This is a groupset designed for small wheeled bikes such as folders and features a cassette with a 9-tooth sprocket
- Nexave - This consists of several sub-groupsets designed for comfort and commuting bikes some of which feature internal hub gears and roller brakes.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Shimano Annual Report, 2005 (English)
Categories: Companies listed on the OTC Bulletin Board | Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange | Articles lacking sources from October 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles which may contain original research | Cycle manufacturers | Companies of Japan | Companies headquartered in Osaka | Companies established in 1921
