SRAM to cosponsor women's pro team

[RedRider]

Great to see companies stepping up to support cycling.
Maybe we should stop treating SRAM products like a red-haired step child?

http://www.bicycling.com/blogs/thehub/sram-co-sponsor-velocio-sports-women-s-professional-cycling-team

[FlashUNC]

I've never had an issue with what they've done to support racing. I think its commendable, if you can call sponsorship commendable.

But the vast bulk of SRAM stuff I've seen is short-shelf-life, consumers-as-beta-testers stuff that breaks at a rate higher than anything I've seen from the other two big parts makers combined.

Until they start putting out parts that seem like they'll last longer than six months, no amount of race sponsorship will convince me to buy their stuff.

[false_Aest]

^^

I'm always mystified by this sentiment. My 2010 CAAD9 came with Force and I railed on that thing for 4 years -- about 30k miles.

Other than thinking the chain/cassette was loud I had absolutely no problems. I never missed a shift during a crit and never dropped a chain during road races or when climbing.

Even the used Rival stuff I'm currently using works pretty flawlessly - there's probably 20k on that stuff.

[zachateseveryth]

^^

I'm always mystified by this sentiment. My 2010 CAAD9 came with Force and I railed on that thing for 4 years -- about 30k miles.

Other than thinking the chain/cassette was loud I had absolutely no problems. I never missed a shift during a crit and never dropped a chain during road races or when climbing.

Even the used Rival stuff I'm currently using works pretty flawlessly - there's probably 20k on that stuff.

Same. Outside of some poor hydro disc brakes(Elixir 3's) I've been pretty satisfied with SRAM. I have it on 5 bikes right now, no issues.

[Tony]

^^

I'm always mystified by this sentiment. My 2010 CAAD9 came with Force and I railed on that thing for 4 years -- about 30k miles.

Other than thinking the chain/cassette was loud I had absolutely no problems. I never missed a shift during a crit and never dropped a chain during road races or when climbing.

Even the used Rival stuff I'm currently using works pretty flawlessly - there's probably 20k on that stuff.

Rival shifters and Force drive train on my cross bike with no issues after a year of abuse in dirt, sand, mud and snow. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones :)

[choke]

I've never had an issue with what they've done to support racing. I think its commendable, if you can call sponsorship commendable.Amen, particularly in this case since I'm a big fan of women's cycling. But the fact that they sponsor a team will not persuade me to buy their product.

[David Kirk]

^^

I'm always mystified by this sentiment. My 2010 CAAD9 came with Force and I railed on that thing for 4 years -- about 30k miles.

Other than thinking the chain/cassette was loud I had absolutely no problems. I never missed a shift during a crit and never dropped a chain during road races or when climbing.

Even the used Rival stuff I'm currently using works pretty flawlessly - there's probably 20k on that stuff.

Likewise - I have a road bike with Red on it that has been used hard and put away wet for many years now and i've never had a single issue with it.

dave

[FlashUNC]

^^

I'm always mystified by this sentiment. My 2010 CAAD9 came with Force and I railed on that thing for 4 years -- about 30k miles.

Other than thinking the chain/cassette was loud I had absolutely no problems. I never missed a shift during a crit and never dropped a chain during road races or when climbing.

Even the used Rival stuff I'm currently using works pretty flawlessly - there's probably 20k on that stuff.

I watched three separate SRAM shifters all go south on one Thursday night ride in a bunch of maybe 20 guys. Two Force, one Rival.

I've seen a couple handfuls of broken Powerdome cassettes with that terrible design.

I had a buddy snap a Force crank at the pedal in the JRA of all JRAs.

This doesn't even count when I was helping out in a local shop and got to see the carnage of broken SRAM parts that would come in on a regular basis.

And do I need to bring up the hydro disc recall?

Some of these failures I've seen are admittedly racers who beat their stuff hard. But isn't that the market SRAM's going after with all this sponsorship?

If you've had some of their stuff last you a while, good on you and I'm glad you like it. But I've seen enough of it break that they'd need to put out something pretty extraordinary for me to consider putting it on a bike.

[kramnnim]

Well, SRAM does have more spare cash since only 1 world tour team will be riding SRAM next year...

(Edit: I guess we don't know yet what the Cannondale/Garmin team will be using...?)

[nicrump]

4th season on 1st gen Red including rings and front der. no issue at all.

[alessandro]

I've never had an issue with what they've done to support racing. I think its commendable, if you can call sponsorship commendable.

Amen, particularly in this case since I'm a big fan of women's cycling.

I am here to argue that the product is irrelevant! They're putting cash money into women's cycling. That by itself is HUGE. Women's pro cycling is practically invisible, so any sponsor probably won't get much return. I think it's great that SRAM is doing this, and while I have Force on my road bike, their sponsorship of this or that team is not going to influence my choice of components.

[Likes2ridefar]

^^

I'm always mystified by this sentiment. My 2010 CAAD9 came with Force and I railed on that thing for 4 years -- about 30k miles.

Other than thinking the chain/cassette was loud I had absolutely no problems. I never missed a shift during a crit and never dropped a chain during road races or when climbing.

Even the used Rival stuff I'm currently using works pretty flawlessly - there's probably 20k on that stuff.

Assuming you live in LA, maybe it's because of that? Try it in the rain, snow and mud.

Basically it is terrible and falls apart and shifting becomes nearly impossible especially if you ride through the winter.

rival, red, force, used it all (fortunately it all was free besides the red) and it all was the same - junk after about 6 months of hard riding.

[EDS]

I've never had an issue with what they've done to support racing. I think its commendable, if you can call sponsorship commendable.

But the vast bulk of SRAM stuff I've seen is short-shelf-life, consumers-as-beta-testers stuff that breaks at a rate higher than anything I've seen from the other two big parts makers combined.

Until they start putting out parts that seem like they'll last longer than six months, no amount of race sponsorship will convince me to buy their stuff.

I bet there are at least 100 threads on this forum related to SRAM quality that would be appropriate to make statements about their products.

Have you been waiting to get this off your chest for those past 100 threads and this is the one that broke the straw? If so, no problem, we all have our breaking point. Otherwise, is this the right thread to be making these statements? Serious question.

[Likes2ridefar]

I bet there are at least 100 threads on this forum related to SRAM quality that would be appropriate to make statements about their products.

Have you been waiting to get this off your chest for those past 100 threads and this is the one that broke the straw? If so, no problem, we all have our breaking point. Otherwise, is this the right thread to be making these statements? Serious question.

well, the second line by the OP asked a question.

[ceolwulf]

I am here to argue that the product is irrelevant! They're putting cash money into women's cycling. That by itself is HUGE. Women's pro cycling is practically invisible, so any sponsor probably won't get much return. I think it's great that SRAM is doing this, and while I have Force on my road bike, their sponsorship of this or that team is not going to influence my choice of components.


Concur. It does seem that women's cycling is making great strides lately. It's good to see.

[Hawker]

Good news for women's racing! The release says Evelyn Stevens is leaving the team? Hope she isn't retiring?

[RedRider]

Good news for women's racing! The release says Evelyn Stevens is leaving the team? Hope she isn't retiring?

Don't worry...Specialized and Lululemon as sponsors are moving to Boels-Dolman along with Evelyn Stevens.

[FlashUNC]

Don't worry...Specialized and Lululemon as sponsors are moving to Boels-Dolman along with Evelyn Stevens.

That's the part of this whole ordeal that bothered me more than anything.

I get that Evelyn is probably the biggest draw on the US women's scene right now, but to dump sponsorship of an entire team to follow one rider is a bit wack.

[FlashUNC]

I bet there are at least 100 threads on this forum related to SRAM quality that would be appropriate to make statements about their products.

Have you been waiting to get this off your chest for those past 100 threads and this is the one that broke the straw? If so, no problem, we all have our breaking point. Otherwise, is this the right thread to be making these statements? Serious question.

No one sponsors anything out of the goodness of their heart.

I'm glad they find women's cycling as an appealing sponsorship opportunity and I'm glad they stepped into a crappy situation to help out what's been a really solid and fun team to follow over the last year.

SRAM must have some belief they'll get that money back, either through burnishing the brand more as the "racer" group company or being seen as supporting women's cycling during a period of growth. Lord knows they've done more to support domestic racing than, say, Campagnolo who's nonexistent in the domestic race scene. Heck, they'd have neutral support at my local neighborhood crit in Charlotte the last few years. Cars, pit, the whole nine yards. That's incredible.

But at the end of the day, its about selling more stuff. I'd like to reward that kind of support of racers and teams with buying their stuff. But I think its disposable garbage.

tl;dr version: Excellent work on the sponsorship SRAM. You guys continue to kill that marketing stuff. Now make a product that doesn't fall apart in five seconds.

[Likes2ridefar]

No one sponsors anything out of the goodness of their heart.

I'm glad they find women's cycling as an appealing sponsorship opportunity and I'm glad they stepped into a crappy situation to help out what's been a really solid and fun team to follow over the last year.

SRAM must have some belief they'll get that money back, either through burnishing the brand more as the "racer" group company or being seen as supporting women's cycling during a period of growth. Lord knows they've done more to support domestic racing than, say, Campagnolo who's nonexistent in the domestic race scene. Heck, they'd have neutral support at my local neighborhood crit in Charlotte the last few years. Cars, pit, the whole nine yards. That's incredible.

But at the end of the day, its about selling more stuff. I'd like to reward that kind of support of racers and teams with buying their stuff. But I think its disposable garbage.

tl;dr version: Excellent work on the sponsorship SRAM. You guys continue to kill that marketing stuff. Now make a product that doesn't fall apart in five seconds.

having sorta help run a few local am teams that had some sponsorship as well as being on a pro team for a couple years and taking part in the running of it, i can say it's a thankless job and is not profitable.

even when the riders are getting top of the line gear for free they complain. they want more. and usually when asked to promote the product they offer absolutely no help. even simple things like sending in photos of them racing in the gear.

[Ti Designs]

Supporting women's cycling? I don't think so. Supporting women's cycling would involve doing something for the larger population of women who ride bikes. They're buying talent and using their names to sell product.

[RedRider]

I started this thread because I feel that anytime someone steps up with money to sponsor a cycling team that's a great thing. Sponsors have been fleeing pro cycling in recent years and even the top mens teams have had a tough time retaining and finding replacement sponsors.
I also feel that sponsoring a womens team supports womens cycling. Their teams have a fraction of the media coverage and almost no television time. Sponsors can help increase this. The greater the exposure of the sport the more women will be cycling.
As far as my comment about SRAM being the red haired step-child... this forum has such a hatred towards everything SRAM that I wonder how it started. It's not indicative of the cycling community at large. Did someone work there and get fired?
Personally, I'm neutral about the 3 component manufacturers. Each have their advantages and it's usually up to individual preference rather than a quality issue.
My professional experience at the shop doesn't have SRAM outweighing the others in warranty work. Most of the problems we see on any drivetrains are caused by lack of maintenance or poor installation by DIYers.
SRAM does have the best warranty replacement program and a no questions ask crash replacement program. We sponsored a local cross team that crashed a few levers and rear derailleurs and we got same day shipping and free replacement. A few of them raced the new CX-1 group a full season and raved about it.
I don't want to start another debate about SRAM but I wonder why so many on this forum are so adamant about the horrors of SRAM and can dismiss an entire product line.

[Admiral Ackbar]

Supporting women's cycling? I don't think so. Supporting women's cycling would involve doing something for the larger population of women who ride bikes. They're buying talent and using their names to sell product.

http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/BIN3120.jpg

atmo

[oldpotatoe]

Great to see companies stepping up to support cycling.
Maybe we should stop treating SRAM products like a red-haired step child?

http://www.bicycling.com/blogs/thehub/sram-co-sponsor-velocio-sports-women-s-professional-cycling-team

Maybe they(big Ed) could stop being such a prick to those bike shops and owners who ask good questions about the quality and reliability of so many of their 'products'? And not just get rude when these issues are brought up?

Just cuz they throw money at something(women's cycling) does not absolve them of the above.

Besides IMHO, I think their stuff is junque.

Thirdly, they are roughly 1/2 the size of shimano. They would sponsor more teams if some of those teams didn't decline sponsorship because of so many problems with their stuff(BMC and Garmin to name 2).

[Tony]

Poor angle, nail is going to bend on contact :)

[oldpotatoe]

Poor angle, nail is going to bend on contact :)

Must be a sram hammer and nail.

[Likes2ridefar]

Must be a sram hammer and nail.

not enough plastic.