Aside from the addition of a single ring option, and of course the new look, the XTR chainsets also now come with some rather fancy ‘Hollowglide’ chainrings. These rings have a carbon structure along with titanium teeth, to give the lowest possible weight and longest lifespan. With the single ring option Shimano have chosen not to go down the narrow/wide route, and instead they reckon they’ve come up with their own solution to chain loss (whether it proves to work as well is yet to be seen). The other change to the new cranks comes in the shape of the ‘optimised spider design’. This idea has been taken from Shimano’s high–end road offerings and basically the idea is to put the chainring support where the ring sees the highest pedalling forces. Stronger and lighter is the result, but it does mean yet another chainring mounting standard.
Turning to the mechs, the rear one has seen a few updates in that the cage now follows the shape of the cassette better, and you’ll now only be able to buy a Shadow Plus version (that now has externally adjustable tension), simply because even the most die–hard weight weenies have realised that a few extra grams is more than made up for by the increased chain retention, etc. The most significant design change (thought maybe not the most interesting for Dirt readers) can be found on the front mech though. Shimano have come up with a completely new ‘side–swing’ design that they claim offers much better shifting, along with increased tyre clearance for those big wheels. The only issue with this design is that the cable has to enter from the front of the bike, meaning that it won’t work with conventional cable routing. Whether many manufacturers will start to offer frames with this routing remains to be seen, but I guess some zip ties would do the job. Either way, Shimano will still be offering more conventional XTR front mechs too.>>
