# RadioShack ends sponsorship



## Bluenote (Oct 28, 2012)

RadioShack is reportedly endings its sponsorship of Pro Cycling.

I'm cynical that this really has anything to do with being anti-doping. They got into cycling in 2010. There were serious allegations out there about Armstrong, plus ample evidence of how prevelant doping was in the peloton. 

My opinion, this is about money, not morals. 

Report: RadioShack to end sponsorship after 2013 season


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

How often do you or your friends shop at Radio Shack?


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## Bluenote (Oct 28, 2012)

spade2you said:


> How often do you or your friends shop at Radio Shack?


And your point is?


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Bluenote said:


> And your point is?


Are you seriously THAT obtuse?


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## r1lee (Jul 22, 2012)

Bluenote said:


> My opinion, this is about money, not morals.


you're absolutely right, this is all about financials. It's just an excuse about morals. Anyone who believes that its about Lance/Bruynel etc are totally out of it.

RadioShack is hurting financially.


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## Bluenote (Oct 28, 2012)

spade2you said:


> Are you seriously THAT obtuse?





spade2you said:


> Despite my trollin'....


Not obtuse. I just take everything that the self admitted troller says with a very large grain of salt.


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

Do they still ask for your address and phone number when you buy something?


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## SauronHimself (Nov 21, 2012)

Radio Shack needs to save all the money it can. I'm amazed that Charles Tandy blew $300k to buy the company so it wouldn't go bankrupt. The company dug itself into a financial hole with its business practices. They sell mundane electronics that can be found online for lower prices, and they will only price match smart phones.


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## brianmcg (Oct 12, 2002)

It was all those free batteries me and my brother used to get from them back in the 80's. it finally caught up to them.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Bluenote said:


> Not obtuse. I just take everything that the self admitted troller says with a very large grain of salt.


Wow. Just wow.


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## C6Rider (Nov 15, 2008)

Always got a 9V battery from the Battery of the Month club. Why waste it on a AA?


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## nhluhr (Sep 9, 2010)

Bluenote said:


> Not obtuse. I just take everything that the self admitted troller says with a very large grain of salt.


Whether he trolls a lot or not, his post was spot on. Radioshack is all but out of business. It's a shock they were even involved at all with sponsorship deals.


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## Bluenote (Oct 28, 2012)

nhluhr said:


> Whether he trolls a lot or not, his post was spot on. Radioshack is all but out of business. It's a shock they were even involved at all with sponsorship deals.


I don't doubt that they withdrew for purely financial reasons. I stated this pretty clearly in the first post.


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## nhluhr (Sep 9, 2010)

Bluenote said:


> I don't doubt that they withdrew for purely financial reasons. I stated this pretty clearly in the first post.


And spade was clearly agreeing with you but instead you chose to be flippant with him.


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## Alaska Mike (Sep 28, 2008)

Radio Shack (the store) has been more or less dead for years. Once consumer electronics became disposable, they floundered and never recovered. There was a time when they were relevant, but that has long since passed. No amount of re-branding is going to change that.

Radio Shack (the team) has been a failure since inception, and even more so since the merger. There are some very talented riders in their line-up, but they haven't managed to equal the sum of their parts. I think the UCI is just waiting for them to implode so that there is no controversy about cutting the number of Pro Tour teams.

I wish the best for the riders and staff, but they should be polishing up their resumes and looking towards their next careers after retirement. I think Becca was at the end of his rope even before this (with Frank and Andy), and this will likely make him even more likely to drop the license. A big spring season could change that, but I doubt it.


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## terzo rene (Mar 23, 2002)

Stop making fun of RS. They're executing the WP/Novell strategy perfectly.


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## r1lee (Jul 22, 2012)

Something I just pulled up..

View attachment 277563


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## askmass (Sep 28, 2009)

Alaska Mike said:


> Radio Shack (the store) has been more or less dead for years. Once consumer electronics became disposable, they floundered and never recovered. There was a time when they were relevant, but that has long since passed. No amount of re-branding is going to change that.


Absolutely correct.

Nothing short of a complete rebuilding of the business model can save them, and with that the Radio Shack branding is perhaps more a liability than asset at this juncture.


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## regnaD kciN (Mar 2, 2013)

RS may be doing poorly, but they still get a lot of business out here in the exurbs, where the choice is between picking up something at the local strip mall, or driving a half-hour either way to go to a big-box store. 

I wouldn't say the move is about money or morals; rather, that the company's sole motivation was the publicity in tying themselves to local hero Lance (who, we need to recall, is the only cyclist most Americans could name). Once his career went down in particularly-disgraceful flames, they really had no reason to continue since, as the article states, they really don't have the market presence overseas (you know, where bicycle racing matters even if you don't have an American TdF winner) to gain any cachet simply by having your name attached to a team.


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## Fogdweller (Mar 26, 2004)

At a point of near bankruptcy, they choose to re-brand as "The Shack" and dump a few millions into B grade pro sports team that has all of it's big presence on another continent and is run by guys that have been dodging doping allegations for over a decade. Brilliant business move...

I've been into a Radio Shack twice in the past two years and didn't buy anything because the people didn't know anything about electronics, didn't know what I was looking for and when I found it, it was three times as much as anything I could buy over the web.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

askmass said:


> Absolutely correct.
> 
> Nothing short of a complete rebuilding of the business model can save them, and with that the Radio Shack branding is perhaps more a liability than asset at this juncture.


what farking killed them was asking for your gawd dammed information everytime you bought something. A small, what should be simple transaction of a small electronic part became a fricking 3 minute ordeal compounded by how many people were in line


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Fogdweller said:


> I've been into a Radio Shack twice in the past two years and didn't buy anything because the people didn't know anything about electronics, didn't know what I was looking for and when I found it, it was three times as much as anything I could buy over the web.


so the LBS model?


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## nhluhr (Sep 9, 2010)

den bakker said:


> so the LBS model?


Though that is certainly true for SOME local shops, it's certainly not universal. On the other hand, every single Radioshack i've ever been in has been relatively unhelpful, leaving me to hunt for the little item I need that isn't a friggin' cellphone.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

What? Radio Shack going out of bussiness?!!! I'm finally just getting over the loss of FotoMat.:cryin:


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## regnaD kciN (Mar 2, 2013)

nhluhr said:


> Though that is certainly true for SOME local shops, it's certainly not universal. On the other hand, every single Radioshack i've ever been in has been relatively unhelpful, leaving me to hunt for the little item I need that isn't a friggin' cellphone.


The current joke about RadioShack's motto: "You've got questions - we've got blank looks."


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## regnaD kciN (Mar 2, 2013)

atpjunkie said:


> what farking killed them was asking for your gawd dammed information everytime you bought something. A small, what should be simple transaction of a small electronic part became a fricking 3 minute ordeal compounded by how many people were in line


That's a Tandy requirement, not just a RadioShack one. Back when I was in graduate school, before the days of computer sales terminals, I worked part-time at American Handicrafts, another division of Tandy. For every transaction, no matter how small, we were required to get the customer's name and address and laboriously hand-print it on the sales receipt/invoice, a copy of which would be sent back to headquarters to add to their mailing list. At least, nowadays, you only have to give (and take) that information once, then have it looked up in future transactions by giving your phone number. Back in those days, the consumer and the clerk had to go through the whole routine every time they came in to make another purchase.


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## Local Hero (Jul 8, 2010)

Bluenote said:


> Not obtuse. I just take everything that the self admitted troller says with a very large grain of salt.


And there you go again, poking yourself in the eye with an olive branch.


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## Local Hero (Jul 8, 2010)

Without radio shack, where would you find your coaxial splitter for illegally duplicating VHS cassettes?


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## The Human G-Nome (Aug 26, 2002)

This is in the doping forum, and it's about Radio Shack, so I'll say it. I get that Fabian is super human, and he's capable of amazing things on the bike, but riding everyone off your wheel, including Sagan on a power climb no less, just makes me nervous for the sport. It would be one thing if he slowly worked up to this kind of magic, but what he demonstrated was akin to some of the things we've seen dopers in the past throw down. 

Yeah, I know, I may as well be talking poorly about your mom for daring to question the Gladiator, but I suppose we'll all see in good time.


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## Alaska Mike (Sep 28, 2008)

Would I be shocked if Cancellara got popped? Not at all. His greatest victories are from when he rode for the "tactical mastermind", Riis. He came up through the Mapei-Quick Step program, the same guys who brought you Paris-Roubaix 1-2-3 on multiple occasions. Nope, I wouldn't be surprised at all. About him, about Gilbert, about Boonen, about Sagan...

The Classics riders are still my favorites, though.


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## The Tedinator (Mar 12, 2004)

The sad reply to Alaska Mike's post is who WOULD you be surprised by, if they got popped?


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## Fogdweller (Mar 26, 2004)

den bakker said:


> so the LBS model?


Ya, I get it. I love spreading the cash around LBSs, at least the good ones. Going into a Performance shop and hearing a 300 lb guy who smells like cigarettes try to talk me out of buying a Wipperman chain because the Ultegra shift far superior reminds me of every Radio Shack experience I've had, few though they are. "I've been riding Wipperman chains for 30 years. How long have you ridden the Ultegra?"


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## Alaska Mike (Sep 28, 2008)

The Tedinator said:


> The sad reply to Alaska Mike's post is who WOULD you be surprised by, if they got popped?


As much as I hate to admit it, because I really don't like Vaughters and find most of the riders on the team uninspiring, I'd be surprised if many of the Garmin riders are doping. Maybe one or two over the years, but for the most part I think they run a clean ship of former dopers.

I do think it is entirely possible to win these days with the right tactics, especially during shorter races. Throwing a string of them together is a harder proposition, especially when you're being touted as a favorite. Animate the climbs and then crush the TTs during a stage race, and I also begin to wonder. Hang with the climbers and then beat the sprinters, and it becomes questionable.

It's a jaded way to look at things, but that's where the sport is right now.


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

The Human G-Nome said:


> It would be one thing if he slowly worked up to this kind of magic, but what he demonstrated was akin to some of the things we've seen dopers in the past throw down.


If he is on the sauce then he has been on it consistently for his whole career. He's been winning in precisely that manner for years now. 



Alaska Mike said:


> As much as I hate to admit it, because I really don't like Vaughters and find most of the riders on the team uninspiring, I'd be surprised if many of the Garmin riders are doping. Maybe one or two over the years, but for the most part I think they run a clean ship of former dopers.


The team has several riders who admitted to doping in their past (including one that went on a tour of the most notorious dope programs of the era) and then went on to better performances at Garmin. That don't jive.


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## The Human G-Nome (Aug 26, 2002)

davidka said:


> If he is on the sauce then he has been on it consistently for his whole career. He's been winning in precisely that manner for years now.


Likely! Most of us here have raced quite a bit, and aren't just fans. And as you know, in order to actually ride someone off your wheel, and not just attack them off, you have to be SO far superior to them and not just a little better on a particular day. At their speeds, Cancellara could be putting as much as 20 or 30% more power than Sagan who has his draft. 

On extended climbs, it makes sense that the Contadors of the world will eventually prevail, but to do this on shorter power climbs, to the likes of Sagan no less, means that you aren't just a little bit better. You are just toying with the rider behind you.

In amateur terms, it means that Cancellara is a Cat 1 to Sagan's Cat 3. As far as I can see, that would make Cancellara the only rider in the world capable of riding someone like Sagan (who has been dominating everyone on power climbs) right off his wheel minus an actual jump that achieves separation. This isn't just "a little bit amazing". This is as good or better than anything any of the prevalent dopers of the past have accomplished. 

Genetically, is Cancellara really that superior to every other euro pro? Maybe he is. But if recent and past history has taught us anything, it's usually that these types of "accomplishments" are often followed much later by sad admissions.

This is coming from the guy who really wanted to believe that miraculous stage Floyd Landis gave us in the Tour de France where he suddenly turned into a motor scooter with unlimited fuel.


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## r1lee (Jul 22, 2012)

If Cancellera was on the juice, it wouldn't surprise me, but I'd be heart broken. I'm hoping the size of his quads answers all questions lol.


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## Duane Gran (Feb 3, 2004)

The Human G-Nome said:


> Likely! Most of us here have raced quite a bit, and aren't just fans. And as you know, in order to actually ride someone off your wheel, and not just attack them off, you have to be SO far superior to them and not just a little better on a particular day. At their speeds, Cancellara could be putting as much as 20 or 30% more power than Sagan who has his draft.


As another person who races, I agree but the caveat here is timing. I've been on both ends of this experience and more often then not it comes down to a matter of timing. I got pipped when I expended my energy unwisely and my error was capitalized upon. It isn't necessarily that the dropped person is 30% weaker through and through for all time, but that they may have been weaker for the 45 seconds that mattered to create the gap.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Duane Gran said:


> As another person who races, I agree but the caveat here is timing. I've been on both ends of this experience and more often then not it comes down to a matter of timing. I got pipped when I expended my energy unwisely and my error was capitalized upon. It isn't necessarily that the dropped person is 30% weaker through and through for all time, but that they may have been weaker for the 45 seconds that mattered to create the gap.


and in the situation discussed, sagan was in the chase group before the climb. not ideal to make it back up and then say hi to a hellingen not too long after that.


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## The Human G-Nome (Aug 26, 2002)

You make a good point Duane. Sagan is mortal sometimes, just like the others, and the race situation will also dictate whether someone is always able to hang onto a strong surge. 



Duane Gran said:


> As another person who races, I agree but the caveat here is timing. I've been on both ends of this experience and more often then not it comes down to a matter of timing. I got pipped when I expended my energy unwisely and my error was capitalized upon. It isn't necessarily that the dropped person is 30% weaker through and through for all time, but that they may have been weaker for the 45 seconds that mattered to create the gap.


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## Local Hero (Jul 8, 2010)

It's a mistake to think that Cancellara just rides people off his wheel. Maybe he's not super explosive, but those are well-timed, hard attacks.


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## The Human G-Nome (Aug 26, 2002)

Local Hero said:


> It's a mistake to think that Cancellara just rides people off his wheel. Maybe he's not super explosive, but those are well-timed, hard attacks.


When you have someone as explosive as Sagan on your wheel, actually dropping Sagan anywhere besides a long mountain climb is a particularly big deal. As others have mentioned, the race will dictate when Sagan has been caught out tactically, but it's the rare occasion that he is actually going to get dropped on a power climb when it's a one-on-one situation.


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