Originally Posted by
Badger6
That’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s how this works. I’m not saying they wouldn’t have continued to evolve the groups, but this huge leap is because they believe the market wants it based on their analytics. If there was no market for mechanical shifting, Shimano would have killed it off completely in 105 and Tiagra, which I am pretty sure won’t happen for a long time. That they dropped two tiers at once should be a clear indicator about where they think the market is and where it is headed, and how they see themselves going forward.
It was just funny that you seemed to blame people for not consuming enough new products as the reason for us being where we are.
Shimano makes a good enough product to last for years and years without replacing the product or bike its attached to, then you blame people for not purchasing enough bikes in recent years that are rim brake or mechanical shifting.
The mild scolding was what I found funny(and odd). Based on this thread, others interpreted your post in a similar manner too.
My view- this was going to happen because the company needs to continue to innovate and push new tech in order to stay relevant and sell. You can blame people for not purchasing bikes frequently enough, but its not like rim brake bikes were sitting unsold over the last few years and it definitely isnt like mechanical shifting bikes were sitting unsold over the last few years. Mechanical shifting bikes at the 105 and Ultegra levels were being sold left and right in shops and online, yet here we are. I cant say anything about DA because I dont remember the last time I saw a DA spec'd bike in a shop.
I am not complaining that Ultegra is now electric only, by the way. I chimed in only because I thought how you phrased your post was less than accurate.