Radioshack powerhouse

[Cobber]

I know this is kinda off topic, but I'd like to pursue it a little to say that I've had the misfortune of going to a Radio Shack after the team was created. (My mom & stepdad were in town visiting and needed some attachment adapter or other.)

I actually expected to see some Armstrong-related advertising, but there was nothing. Note that I live in Austin, the man's hometown, and still: nothing.

I was a big T-mobile fan back in the day, too (still have T-mobile service). I actually tried in 2005 to get some Jan-related content for my phone (wallpapers, etc) but couldn't find anything, not even through T-mobile's official website.

I know that T-mobile's cycling sponsorship was targeted at Euros (Germans in particular), but I thought it was odd that cycling-related content and marketing weren't available to people in the US--even if they were TRYING to find it, as I was.

It seems RS is doing the same thing with Armstrong and the rest of the team now, only it's a little worse b/c Armstrong would appeal more to the US market than the largely German T-mobile squad did, and this is his hometown! I know that cycling sponsorship is peanuts to these big companies, but it still seems silly to not capitalize as much as possible in every investment you make as a company. (Especially when contrasted with Michelob Ultra; I see two Armstrong billboards [one running, one cycling] on my commute everyday.)

Very strange.

Maybe they did some market research and realized that Lance will turn away more customers than he will bring in. Radioshack does not have many competitors for the crap they sell, other than cell phones.

 

[fatandfast]

Maybe they did some market research and realized that Lance will turn away more customers than he will bring in. Radio Shack does not have many competitors for the crap they sell, other than cell phones.

They did some pretty F-ing good research. 6 months ago Radio Shack was selling at @15 today it's selling at @22. A 25% return in 6 months. For a heavy hitter you could have turn 15 million into over 20 after paying comish and taking yourself on a 2 week TDF vacation with a super model. Radio Shack has more competitors than Lance himself. Funny that Best Buy( almost flat) is a little up but nothing like it would have been with the power of Lance

 

[BroDeal]

They did some pretty F-ing good research. 6 months ago Radio Shack was selling at @15 today it's selling at @22. A 25% return in 6 months. For a heavy hitter you could have turn 15 million into over 20 after paying comish and taking yourself on a 2 week TDF vacation with a super model. Radio Shack has more competitors than Lance himself. Funny that Best Buy( almost flat) is a little up but nothing like it would have been with the power of Lance

The whole market has risen. Armstrong has nothing to do with the increase in RSH's price. Over the last few years there have been constant rumors of RSH being acquired, which has caused the stock to rise at various times. At one time Dell was supposedly going to buy the company. Right now there is speculation that a hedge fund will buy the company.

You could have made a lot more money investing in F.

 

[erader]

RadioShack Stock is at a 52week High and the company is "flush with cash".
This has all happened since Lance joined forces with The Shack.

Now I am NOT saying the recent success of RadioShack is due to Lance.

It is probably a case of Lance/Bruyneel doing their homework and recruiting a stable growing sponsor. Genius does not always equate to "being behind the wheel" of the team car lol.

http://www.wikinvest.com/wikinvest/...Stock:Radioshack_(RSH)&comments=0&format=html
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the market has rallied for a year. lots of worthless companies are at 52-week highs.

ed rader

 

[Polish]

Maybe they did some market research and realized that Lance will turn away more customers than he will bring in. Radioshack does not have many competitors for the crap they sell, other than cell phones.

Lance will turn away more customers than he will bring in?
Ok, I will take your word for it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA7OaTeuayQ
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[fatandfast]

The whole market has risen. Armstrong has nothing to do with the increase in RSH's price. Over the last few years there have been constant rumors of RSH being acquired, which has caused the stock to rise at various times. At one time Dell was supposedly going to buy the company. Right now there is speculation that a hedge fund will buy the company.

You could have made a lot more money investing in F.

No other consumer electronic retailers are flying high. Best Buy has not risen with the market. Please just agree with me that it's Lance's fault it makes things way funnier

 

[spanky wanderlust]

Radio Shack (the team) is a waste . everything written on spoken about them in the media is a waste, at least in cycling terms. this project is about lance and radio shack. it has nothing to do with the sport of cycling.

no. radio shack will not win anything this year. levi may win the ToC, and that will be great, good on him. but they will not win and might not even podium the tour, not even the vaunted team competition . it seems pretty obvious they are not even trying to win anything.

they have squandered all of their opportunities to perform in smaller races where they may have been successful, and will continue to do so. furthermore, the whole team shows a dreadful lack of form and motivation from the highest levels on down. again, a waste. if tour invites were based on results, entertainment and potential, RS would not be there, by a good stretch. but we all know that is not the case. lance and the shack will be at the tour to advertise themselves, nothing more. "it's not about the bike" indeed.

otoh, there are some great things to be said about the lance/RS/world of cycling relationship, but none are relative to the OP question, so i'll leave those for another thread.

 

[mr. tibbs]

Lance will turn away more customers than he will bring in?
Ok, I will take your word for it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA7OaTeuayQ

Ah, the commercial Publicus mentioned.

Still, it's kind of strange that it took Radio Shack so long. (And I'm still baffled as to why T-mobile wouldn't make cycling-related marketing available to people who were actively looking for it.)

 

[MacRoadie]

Expect a "mission accomplished" type of speech from someone if Levi wins.

I'm thinking more along the lines of "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job"...

 

[alberto.legstrong]

What will a successful Tour be for them. Overall victory? A podium place? Stage victories? Team Classification?

It's all really about the team classification and nothing else.

 

[BroDeal]

I will laugh my ass off if Bottle loses the ToC, especially if FLandis wins. That would be sweet.

You would think that Riis will want Saxo to do well at the ToC. It could help with his sponsorship search. This could be interesting.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

Maybe they did some market research and realized that Lance will turn away more customers than he will bring in. Radioshack does not have many competitors for the crap they sell, other than cell phones.

If consumers knew how Lance treats people that cross him, they would prolly put a 10% tithing to the Shack just out of intimidation alone.

Buy from the 'shack, or else! -
Signed Simeoni and Contador

 

[theswordsman]

I watched TV coverage of the Prologue of P-N.

Of course, given that it was Versus, they were fawning all over Bruyneel and Armstrong.

I thought the most telling part of the interview with Bruyneel was when he said , with that nasty little grin on his face, " Team Radio Shack has 8 out of the 9 members of the Tour team from lat year".

I know he intended that that remark would show his brilliance.

What I thought when I heard him say it, and the body language that went with it was, what a mean, petty and spiteful LITTLE man you and you your buddy are. Not to mention stupid.

It just pointed up the personality discord that Armstrong can't get over.

Armstrong is the past.

Contador, and others, are the future of the sport.

There's just so much that has come out since he allowed LA to come in & do what he wanted with Astana. He's been caught in lies (Wheel Gate, etc.), had to battle with the Spanish press, recruited for Radio Shack while under contract for Astana, trying to delay things there so the team couldn't recruit properly and faced loss of their license, then he aided LA with the anti-Contador smear campaign. Now he sits with his dream team, including guys he ot out of Astana contracts, and they're skipping races, and 24th out of 26 teams in the UCI rankings. They tried to get steam out of the "rivalry", but are panicked now that Armstrong and Contador will actually race each other. Their message is constantly changing, but missing the Giro is pretty noticeable. I wonder how much reputation he's going to have left with anyone after this year is over.

 

[fatandfast]

I will laugh my ass off if Bottle loses the ToC, especially if FLandis wins. That would be sweet.

You would think that Riis will want Saxo to do well at the ToC. It could help with his sponsorship search. This could be interesting.

Dude you really don't think Carwash Floyd can win a race do you? A stage race with climbing? He should ride a tandem with Bob Roll to complete his clown comeback. He should have a big carbon squeeze horn on his bike.

 

[flicker]

Radio Shack (the team) is a waste . everything written on spoken about them in the media is a waste, at least in cycling terms. this project is about lance and radio shack. it has nothing to do with the sport of cycling.

no. radio shack will not win anything this year. levi may win the ToC, and that will be great, good on him. but they will not win and might not even podium the tour, not even the vaunted team competition . it seems pretty obvious they are not even trying to win anything.

they have squandered all of their opportunities to perform in smaller races where they may have been successful, and will continue to do so. furthermore, the whole team shows a dreadful lack of form and motivation from the highest levels on down. again, a waste. if tour invites were based on results, entertainment and potential, RS would not be there, by a good stretch. but we all know that is not the case. lance and the shack will be at the tour to advertise themselves, nothing more. "it's not about the bike" indeed.

otoh, there are some great things to be said about the lance/RS/world of cycling relationship, but none are relative to the OP question, so i'll leave those for another thread.

Spanky, it is March not July. By the way how is Alfalfa?

 

[flicker]

Radioshack has the same business strategy as all Hog/Armstrong teams. There goal is to win Lance the Tour and to make money for Hog and Lance.

Radioshack put a ton of money into the team. The hog hires a few riders for the GT's then stocks the roster with 2nd and 3rd tier riders for almost nothing. The rest goes into Armstrong and The Hog's pocket.

Simple formula that is followed by many teams.

You are right, Radio Shack and most other teams function that way. After the bills are paid the manager gets his share. Thats' business.

 

[MacRoadie]

Spanky, it is March not July. By the way how is Alfalfa?

Sorry. Sometimes we here on the cyclingnews.com forums tend to forget that when your "season" runs from July 3rd to the 25th, you have a 50/50 chance for success...

 

[BroDeal]

Dude you really don't think Carwash Floyd can win a race do you? A stage race with climbing? He should ride a tandem with Bob Roll to complete his clown comeback. He should have a big carbon squeeze horn on his bike.

I am holding out hope that FLandis has got his sh!t together and will do better than expected. It is probably asking for too much, but a bro can dream.

 

[Publicus]

I am holding out hope that FLandis has got his sh!t together and will do better than expected. It is probably asking for too much, but a bro can dream.

Would that possibly involve FLandis and Tommy D battling it out for the win on the Big Bear PMTF (Pseudo MTF)?

 

[fatandfast]

I am holding out hope that FLandis has got his sh!t together and will do better than expected. It is probably asking for too much, but a bro can dream.

That is really sweet.You should go all in and put a tooth under your pillow,put out some cookies and milk for Santa. I hear you but I am really hoping the men's bunch is deeper than that. Because of his TT's he may not look like a doormat right away.I will hope he does OK but only in private.

 

[Colm.Murphy]

Would that possibly involve FLandis and Tommy D battling it out for the win on the Big Bear PMTF (Pseudo MTF)?

I doubt it, only because there is too much runway once you get to the top, and since Tommy Danielson is not a quality rider, IMHO.

On that stage, I predict a guy like Horner, who has a kick, to take out that prize.

 

[BroDeal]

Would that possibly involve FLandis and Tommy D battling it out for the win on the Big Bear PMTF (Pseudo MTF)?

It could but probably not. I don't think Tommy D. is old enough to contend at a race like the ToC. Give him a few years. He is still learning.

 

[Colm.Murphy]

That is really sweet.You should go all in and put a tooth under your pillow,put out some cookies and milk for Santa. I hear you but I am really hoping the men's bunch is deeper than that. Because of his TT's he may not look like a doormat right away.I will hope he does OK but only in private.

Was it confirmed that Bahati team is invited?

Anyone want to start a prelim/speculative team start list?

 

[Publicus]

I doubt it, only because there is too much runway once you get to the top, and since Tommy Danielson is not a quality rider, IMHO.

On that stage, I predict a guy like Horner, who has a kick, to take out that prize.

Hence the reference to a pseudo mountain top finish.

 

[MacRoadie]

Hence the reference to a pseudo mountain top finish.

Well, it IS at the top of a mountain....