MARCH 17 - Sorta Cutting Edge News

It's been a big week for SRAM. For starters, a German court ruled that SRAM's X.7 shifter infringed on a Shimano shifter patent. You may recall that SRAM and Shimano have been engaged in one of their no-holds-barred death matches in Germany regarding SRAM's new trigger shifters. Remember that drama at Eurobike this past summer when Shimano served SRAM with court notices and forced them to clear their booth of trigger shifters? This week's court decision is chapter 103 in the never-ending monkey-shit tossing contest between the two companies. Anyhoo, the matter is far from resolved as the court is still reviewing SRAM's contention that Shimano's patent should be nullified outright. The odds of that happening aren't so hot, but SRAM has a backup plan--they'll be introducing their 2006-model X.7 and X.9 shifters in Germany this May. The hope here is that these newer models won't infringe on Shimano patents.

Hmmm...if SRAM is forced to release 2006-model shifters in Germany next year, will they be able to sell the rest of the world the current, less-advanced shifters next year? Won't the rest of the cycling world start clamoring for these newer shifters as well? I'm guessing that we'll all be one big, happy 2006-model-riding world in 2005.

SRAM FOR ROAD BIKES?

There aren't a whole lot of magazines on newsstands dedicated to road cyclists these days. Because of this, you might think that demand for road bikes is somewhere up there with demand for Spice Girls lunch pails. Truth be told, sales of road bikes have consistently grown for the past four years now. Single digit growth--true--but growth all the same. One more indicator? SRAM announced that they'll be jumping into the market.

Right now, Shimano and Campy rule the road market and, if we're looking at sales here in the good ol' U.S. of A.--Shimano is the true market leader. FSA is coming on strong these days with their cranksets, bottom brackets and such, but for drivetrain and brake accessories you have just two flavors: Japanese or Italian. SRAM hopes to change that. SRAM president and chief Executive Officer Stan Day announced that his company is working on a road group that will be ready for consumers sometime in the next three years. The challenge here is for SRAM to make something that doesn't infringe on Shimano, Campagnolo or Mavic's 1001 patents. That's a tall, tall order.

Shimano sure as hell isn't going to license SRAM any patented designs. Right now, bicycle suppliers are dying to have an affordable alternative to Shimano road components. If SRAM gained a foothold in the road side of the business, they could wreak havoc on Shimano's sales--particularly on the 105 and below level component packages where Shimano really has no competitors. Can SRAM somehow out-engineer all three companies? Your guess is as good as mine.

YUP, IT'S OFFICIAL--SRAM IS NOW HUGE

I'll keep this short since you've probably read this in Dain's News Briefs -- SRAM has officially bought Avid. The decision just about makes Avid a complete component company (on the mountain bike side of things), as they now sell shifters, derailleurs, suspension products (RockShox) and brakes. Sure, they're missing cranksets and a few bits and pieces, but I'm guessing they're working on that stuff as well.

I'll be honest. I didn't really see this all coming-this transformation from a twist shifter supplier to a virtual megalo-mammoth company. Does SRAM really sell that many shifters and derailleurs here in the states or are their European sales of commuter-oriented products funding all of this? SRAM either does a hell of a lot better than most people in the bike business give them credit for, or they are seriously overextended. Time will tell.

PATENT DRAMA: PACIFIC AND MAVERIC FACE OFF

Have you heard that Pacific Cycles is suing Maverick American for patent infringement? By now, I imagine you have. I've been writing something to that extent ever since I started this column. But for those just tuning in, here's the basic background.

Maverick History
Paul Turner left RockShox (a company he founded back in 1989) back in 1999 and started up a new design house--Maverick American--that same year. In 2000, Turner unveiled the ML-7. This new full-suspension frame immediately garnered attention due to its innovative design. For starters, it features a bottom bracket housed in a hollow magnesium link which, in turn, pivots between the front and rear triangles. If that sounds like gobbledygook, check out the picture below.

A picture is worth a hell of a lot of jargon. See the bottom bracket housed in the link that pivots between the front and rear triangle? OK, let's move on.

The other revolutionary thing about the ML-7 design is that it includes a rear shock that acts as a structural member of the rear triangle. You can see the bottom of the shock in that picture above (it's the skinny thing with the damping dial on it).

Anyhoo, Turner filed for a patent on his new design in February 2000 and everyone--riders and companies alike--was on fire to get an ML-7. Maverick American soon licensed the ML-7 design to Klein and Seven (the Palomino and Duo, respectively) and all was pretty balmy and blissful. Well, almost.

Early on GT served Turner with notice that they considered the ML-7 to be infringing on their i-Drive patent. How did GT fit in the picture?