Shimano's Reliability Campaign to East Europe

NUNSPEET, the Netherlands –  After its initial success over the last two years, Shimano’s Reliability Campaign will again take place this year and is expanded into more Eastern European countries as well as Greece and South Africa.

The overall goal of the campaign is to make it easier for a consumer to distinguish quality bicycles in the market. At the same time, Shimano wants to emphasize the importance of service and increase customer retention at the independent bicycle dealer. Moreover, the campaign gives support to bicycle manufacturers through joint promotion and ingredient branding.

In order to enhance consumer communication further, Shimano will provide the participating bicycle manufacturers with additional frame stickers carrying the Reliability Campaign logo starting from this year.

Silver or Gold edition

Bicycle manufacturers can mark their bicycles as “Silver Edition” or “Gold Edition” according to a set of rules. Bicycles that are mounted with a Shimano rear derailleur, front derailleur, cassette and shifter can be recognized by the “Silver Edition” mark. The Silver Edition status is also being given to bicycles with a Shimano internal geared hub and shifter.

Bicycles that also have been mounted with a Shimano crankset and cables are labeled as “Gold Edition”. By selecting a Silver or Gold Edition bicycle it is always clear for a consumer that this bicycle is mounted with high quality Shimano components.

Service book

The bicycles in the “Reliability Campaign” are all being provided with a Shimano service book that contains three parts: The first chapter explains about technical features of Shimano products. The second part is reserved for information about the bicycle itself such as brand, model number and frame number. The final part is consisting of checklists for regular service.

The dealer will mention in this book all regular service activities that took place on the bicycle so the consumer will have a perfect overview. Furthermore it will increase the value of the bicycle when the consumer would like to sell it and it also is an evidence of ownership that could be used for example when the bike was stolen.

Dealers participating in this campaign can be recognized by the “Reliability has a name” metal plate, window sticker or poster. Shimano expects, together with the participating bicycle manufacturers, that this campaign makes it easier for consumers to select a bicycle that perfectly fits their needs and helps bicycle dealers to increase their business.

The campaign will run in the following countries this year: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Portugal, Ukraine, Macedonia and South Africa.