We’ve just had Shimano’s official reply to the news that their hub gears will have an extra 11% ‘anti-dumping’ charge levied on them after competitors SRAM accused them of unrealistic pricing.

Shimano spokeswoman Caroline Griffiths told us:
“We are very disappointed that this decision has been taken despite major
opposition from the whole bicycle industry through Europe. We can only
hope that the effect will be less drastic than expected across the industry.”
We are grateful to the numerous people, companies and associations who were
against duties and who took an active stance towards the EU and the general
public by expressing their views and concerns.
Whatever the final impact of the anti-dumping duty, Shimano will keep on
developing and investing in internal hub gears, as we strongly believe they
represent a major part of the future bicycle market.”

Still no news as to whether they’ll be introducing a sealed off road hub gearset at any point, but given their domination of the derailleur market it’s not a pressing issue for them.