Originally Posted by
road292
What amazes me is that Shimano, with all its market dominance, doesn't require at least the major manufacturers (Trek, Cannondale, etc.) to use an entire, consistent groupset (perhaps minus the cassette) if they are going to put any Shimano components on a bike.
Tektro brakes, for example, in my experience just aren't as good as the real Shimano ones, even at the 105 level. So someone perhaps less knowledgeable/interested than the typical reader here is going to get a bike the salesman says has "105" components and then think, "Gee, these Shimano 105 brakes suck. Not buying Shimano again..."
And even if the above isn't a major consideration, the few dollars saved by going with FSA or Tektro or the like is so clearly a pure money grab by the manufacturer that it pisses me off.
It shouldn’t piss you off. You and I have no clue about bike companies business plans, profit margins or costs of doing business. They have substantial competition and costs in businesses are budgeted to the fraction of a penny. Of all of these, competitive pricing is the number one factor and is the reason lower end bikes don’t use full group sets. No doubt the competitors have some advantages over Shimano. It’s just business.