Should this £840 "normal" road bike scare Shimano?

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Whilst browsing I came across this on the Wiggle site, at first glance it is an unremarkable bike, a 2x10 carbon framed road bike."reduced" from £1,199 to £839.

https://www.wiggle.com/p/vitus-zenium-carbon-c-road-bike

At over £800 it is not aimed at the very budget concious buyer and it comes with Microshift shifters and front and rear mech.

Wiggle aren't really a big buyer if you look at things on a world wide basis, so have Microshift finally entered the market in a big way at the Claris level or have then been there for a while and are only newish to the UK? In the past I have always regarded Microshift as a sign that the manufacturing budget is really tight and expected to see it on a aluminium framed bike with carbon steel forks and selling for around £275.

Shimano have been dominent at this level for a long time, Campag and SRAM don't seem interested in being present at this level, so have they become complacent or can't afford to compete?

There was a time that fitting Shimano gears was seen as critical to selling a lower priced bike, many bikes have Claris shifters and mechs but other brands for the chainset and brakes, but £840 and Microshift? If factories in China, Taiwam, Cambodia etc are now set up to shift Microshift equiped bikes to Western Europe that is a big loss for Shimano and where does this leave the brand? Do they drop Claris and Sora and compete with Campag and SRAM outside of the bulk of the market and is this what CUES is all about?

I know that there is a lot of nonsense talked about bikes and components but I couldn't find a review that says Microshift is as good as Shimano.

Or is this just one bike which indicates nothing?

Bye

Ian

 

[bonzobanana]

I've got a cheap bike with Microshift gearing. It's only a 7 speed but its in the same drivetrain line up as the 8 speed offering that competes with Claris. I also have a Claris bike. Claris seems miles better to me in how it functions and build quality. I have had SRAM in the past but it was entry level components on a mountain bike and they weren't that great to be honest and Microshift reminds me of that. I'd personally rather have an aluminium bike with Shimano than a carbon fibre with Microshift components. For a road bike I think Claris is the first decent groupset, its robust and shifts very well as only 8 speed and I've seen it recommended for touring bikes. Maybe Microshift Centos is built to a higher standard than my Microshift drivetrain but still I would be very wary of it. I'd much rather have Tiagra. For around a grand with a open mould carbon fibre frame and fork I'd be looking for mechanical 105 in a road bike. I realise this would limit me to discount online brands or maybe a Halford's Boardman model or Decathlon model, although I'm too heavy for a Decathlon model.

 

[Jameshow]

Cannondale have been using microshift for several years. I can think the shifting is slightly sub par compared to Shimano of the microshift I had, which admittedly was a few years ago and s/h so things might well have improved?

 

[Cycleops]

The consensus on Microshift is that it is not as good as budget Shimano offerings and it is indeed cheaper. It slips in under Shimano and they have no equivalent product so no threat. What might be a threat to the big brands is a carbon bike at that kind of price. With the general downturn in the market and supply outpacing demand we're going to see more of these kind of offers.

 

[cyberknight]

rode micrioshift years ago and it works , a bit more of a positive clunk when it changes gears but otherwise it was fine.
given the rush by the big boys to go electronic i can see the lower tier people like microshift and the other ones filling a big gap

 

[Drago]

And the answer is...

No.

It's tidy kit, but it has been for decades and has never come remotely close to the market penetration, image, and customer base that Shimano has. I see no evidence that the manufacturers or Microshift are doing anything new that will alter that.

Ta ta.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Good morning,

Whilst browsing I came across this on the Wiggle site, at first glance it is an unremarkable bike, a 2x10 carbon framed road bike."reduced" from £1,199 to £839.

https://www.wiggle.com/p/vitus-zenium-carbon-c-road-bike
View attachment 708997
At over £800 it is not aimed at the very budget concious buyer and it comes with Microshift shifters and front and rear mech.

Wiggle aren't really a big buyer if you look at things on a world wide basis, so have Microshift finally entered the market in a big way at the Claris level or have then been there for a while and are only newish to the UK? In the past I have always regarded Microshift as a sign that the manufacturing budget is really tight and expected to see it on a aluminium framed bike with carbon steel forks and selling for around £275.

Shimano have been dominent at this level for a long time, Campag and SRAM don't seem interested in being present at this level, so have they become complacent or can't afford to compete?

There was a time that fitting Shimano gears was seen as critical to selling a lower priced bike, many bikes have Claris shifters and mechs but other brands for the chainset and brakes, but £840 and Microshift? If factories in China, Taiwam, Cambodia etc are now set up to shift Microshift equiped bikes to Western Europe that is a big loss for Shimano and where does this leave the brand? Do they drop Claris and Sora and compete with Campag and SRAM outside of the bulk of the market and is this what CUES is all about?

I know that there is a lot of nonsense talked about bikes and components but I couldn't find a review that says Microshift is as good as Shimano.

Or is this just one bike which indicates nothing?

Bye

Ian

Looks like the budget chainset and brakes add to the 'bargain' ... a good time to buy with all these 30% off deals?

 

[rogerzilla]

I had Microshift "STI" levers on my 1990s Eddy Merckx for a bit, so I could run 7 speed. They were horrible and I changed to Sora.

 

[Alex321]

Or is this just one bike which indicates nothing?

Yes.

Microshift has been around for quite a while, and as you say, has been used on some of the more budget bikes.

Whether one at that price will really sell remains to be seen. At present it is just the one bike, and really doesn't mean much.