Where do bike companies come up with the weird names for their products?

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Where the hell did they come up with these names?

Shimano:
Dura-Ace, Ultegra, 105, Tiagra, Sora, Deore, Alivio

Trek:
Madone, TTX

Cannondale:
CAAD9, Super Six, Six13

BMC:
SLC01

Cervelo:
R3, SLC-SL

Mavic:
Kysrium, Aksium

Fi'zi:k where did that name come form in the first place?
Arione

Also what does Sram mean?

Giro:
Ionos, Atmos, Pneumo, Monza

There's probably some that I've missed, if so add them to the list. Is it all just stupid marketing terms? Or do they have meanings behind them?

I know the Cannondale CAAD series stands for Computer Aided / Assisted Design. It's normally just CAD, but they add the extra A for I don't know what reason. One down, many to go.

I know the Cannondale CAAD series stands for Computer Aided / Assisted Design. It's normally just CAD, but they add the extra A for I don't know what reason. One down, many to go.There is a company called CAD in the microphone business. So, if your explanation is right, then that could be the reason why they could not use CAD.

Actually gents, the "CAAD" in Cannondale's world stands for: Cannondale Advanced Aluminum Design. The numeric designation is for the edition of the CAAD series, the higher the number the newer/later the edition. I believe the current edition is the CAAD9.

Where the hell did they come up with these names?...I'd guess they're taking a page out of the car manufacturer's books:
-Altima
-Touareg
-Elantra
-Avanti
-Justy
-Cressida
-Luv
.....

[QUOTE=Travis44]Where the hell did they come up with these names?

Dura-Ace: "Dura" for durability, "Ace" for best, numero uno, top-end, etc.
Ultegra: a play on words for ultimate and integrity.
105: who knows, better then "104" anyways.

Madone: named after a famous TdF climb in the Alps.
TTX: "TT" for time trial, "X" sounds cools after anything.

CAAD9: "Cannondale Advanced Aluminum Design" series of Al frameset, the numeric designation is for the edition.
Six13: denotes the atomic numbers for carbon (6) and aluminium (13), the two main ingredients of this frameset.
Super Six: evolution of the Six13, more carbon. "Six" being the atomic number for carbon.

SLC-SL: "SLC" for Soloist Carbon, "SL" for the lightweight edition or "super light/super leggera".

Kysrium, Aksium: sounds cool and is original/memorable, like stupid names given to IKEA "furniture".

Fi'zi:k: another company who subscribes to the IKEA way of thinking/naming things.

Ionos: greek god. Wouldn't you want a greek god on your head?
Atmos: play on word for atmosphere.
Pneumo: play on word for pneumatic.
Monza: city in Italy, famous for the auto race track.


Marketing guys sit around coming up with these names.....

Actually gents, the "CAAD" in Cannondale's world stands for: Cannondale Advanced Aluminum Design. The numeric designation is for the edition of the CAAD series, the higher the number the newer/later the edition. I believe the current edition is the CAAD9.Good! I was somewhat skeptical of ghostpedal's explanation. ;) I mean, CAD as in computer aided design/drafting is so prevalent engineering applications; kind of hard to believe that a bike manufacturer would name their product after it.

There's a blurb about the name "sram" on the site. A combination of the founders' first names, I think. From the city named after smelly swamp onions.

Where the hell did they come up with these names?.
...Fi'zi:k: another company who subscribes to the IKEA way of thinking/naming things.


Marketing guys sit around coming up with these names.....
I think Fi'zi:k is a phonetic take on the word physique.

Your last statement is absolutely correct, for bikes and cars (and IKEA maybe?).

But really to sell anything, they should just call it Ti w/any suffix, regardless of materials.

According to Lance Armstrong's book...Madone means Madonna in French as in like Jesus/Mary/Joseph I am assuming....

People are paid a lot and spend way too much time to name things. (and often do a really bad job)

There are also departments full of people picking what colour to paint cars. How many different shades of white or black is there????

According to Lance Armstrong's book...Madone means Madonna in French as in like Jesus/Mary/Joseph I am assuming....As in that's what they're muttering under their breath going up the pass? ("Jesus Mary Joseph, I wish I had a triple and a 12-27 right now!")