Wayne Stetina leaves Shimano after 37 years, joins SRAM

[witcombusa]

I was in CO for a few of the Red Zinger/Coors Classic events in the late 70's to early 80's. Wayne and Dale were part of the big show. Those were great times in US cycling.

[wallymann]

Originally Posted by mcteague

WS has moved over to the dark side! Discuss.

#moneytalks

[unterhausen]

I remember the nationals being in Milwaukee and being surprised that the Stetinas (maybe just Dale?) were riding Shimano. Pretty rare back then that someone of that stature wouldn't be riding Campagnolo.

[d_douglas]

Originally Posted by wallymann

#moneytalks

May be true, but I am sure there is an NDA - he couldnt just walk across the street into a SRAM office and dish all their secrets. Shimano would be dumb if they didnt have him sign that one.

Its the same as hearing stories about Campy not allowing tours - no one gets to see the black ops room - too much money at stake!

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by mistermo

SRAM's biggest presence is here in Indianapolis (also w/ Zipp). The Stetinas are Indiana boys. In the days prior to Covid, Dale would show up to group rides and still hammered. I doubt Indianapolis has anything to do with it, to be clear.

"Stetina still holds the Little 500 record for most laps completed by a single cyclist, having completed 144 of 200 laps in 1973.

“There was actually a big crash that year, and I flipped but landed on my feet”, recalled Stetina. “I had to come in to change my bike and was within 10 yards of going down a lap. I was a rookie but I understood strong racing tactics. And it helps to have 25,000 screaming students and fans watching a bike race in a stadium.”

That is great stuff! Anyone here have personal experience with this event? Absent COVID, is it still being run?

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Gotta think it's something 'from the top' at shimano, Japan that drove this. shimano, Japan, values loyalty, almost above all else. Got wonder if some pix of Wayne riding a Campag 12 SR bike or something.

Here's a pic someone I know took of him riding a SRAM Red eTap bike. This was many years ago.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

May be true, but I am sure there is an NDA - he couldnt just walk across the street into a SRAM office and dish all their secrets. Shimano would be dumb if they didnt have him sign that one.

Apparently both Shimano and SRAM had him sign legal papers. From the Bicycle Retailer article:

"(I) have to say that it’s actually been better than I thought it would be. Of course they were concerned about product confidentiality so I had to sign some papers, but I think they're also aware of my history of integrity. In fact, even SRAM made me sign papers that would hold me responsible if there was ever any information passing over," Stetina told RBA editor Zapata Espinoza.

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

May be true, but I am sure there is an NDA - he couldnt just walk across the street into a SRAM office and dish all their secrets. Shimano would be dumb if they didnt have him sign that one.

Its the same as hearing stories about Campy not allowing tours - no one gets to see the black ops room - too much money at stake!

He notes that he signed NDAs at Shimano and SRAM.

[NHAero]

Dale and Wayne were 2nd and 6th in 1976 at the Mt Washington Hillclimb (John Howard won.) They beat me although I did get 2nd in Novice - 1st Novice was Tim Caldwell, Olympic XC skier. He beat me by 14 minutes

Originally Posted by witcombusa

I was in CO for a few of the Red Zinger/Coors Classic events in the late 70's to early 80's. Wayne and Dale were part of the big show. Those were great times in US cycling.

[d_douglas]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

Here's a pic someone I know took of him riding a SRAM Red eTap bike. This was many years ago.

That is just R+D. You cannot try to better eTap if youve never used it! I have no doubt that SRAM Execs have spent their time on Di2 (and even EPS).

Referring to the Japanese maxim of loyalty, a picture of him smiling while leaning against a bike with eTap on it might not look great though

Its like a photo of a guy with his mistress - not much use explaining that to his spouse of 37 years!

[Gianni Bianchi]

Originally Posted by mcteague

WS has moved over to the dark side! Discuss.

Ummm... Shimano IS the dark side. lol

[Ralph]

I remember once back in mid 70's, when my bike club held a big race in downtown Orlando, Fl. The bike club members agreed to put up the visiting racers in our homes (back before the big paychecks). I drew Bill Woodul with the Campagnolo Support van, which he had converted to sleeping on inside, and will never forget when that big van pulled into my driveway with those huge "Campagnolo" logo's all over the van, with bikes hanging off all over it. The riders in the van were the Stetina Bros, and some others, and my wife cooked and cooked. They especially loved her peanut butter cookies, and she made several batches, and they stuffed their pockets when they left with those cookies....especially Dale (LOL). Kidding aside....they were all well behaved young men, and I mostly remember the challenge of feeding them. I think Wayne won the race.

[Marvinlungwitz]

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[witcombusa]

Originally Posted by mistermo

SRAM's biggest presence is here in Indianapolis (also w/ Zipp). The Stetinas are Indiana boys. In the days prior to Covid, Dale would show up to group rides and still hammered. I doubt Indianapolis has anything to do with it, to be clear.

Is it just me or don't these guy look more like rowers than cyclist? Most of them are stocky big dudes. Not a pencil armed peddler in the pack.

They would have snapped Dave Stoller in half!

[leftsidedrive]

Originally Posted by witcombusa

Is it just me or don't these guy look more like rowers than cyclist? Most of them are stocky big dudes. Not a pencil armed peddler in the pack.

They would have snapped Dave Stoller in half!

HAHA. That's the LITTLE 5! It was mainly 95% frat boys and 5% cyclists back then.