Moving to the shifters, it’s pretty much as expected. There are claims of an even lighter shifting action, and thanks in part to a new carbon main lever the weight is lower than ever. Perhaps the most significant change is the introduction of yet another iSpec system. The new design means that if you choose to mount your shifters directly to your brake levers you now get a wider and more precise range of adjustment. Talking of the brakes, seeing as the previous XTR brakes were probably our favourites we are pleased to see that the new ones only feature relatively subtle changes. The ‘Race’ brake now gets a magnesium calliper and carbon lever blade to reduce weight, whilst the ‘Trail’ version now has more free–stroke adjustment, improved modulation, and a carbon laminated lever blade. The Servo–Wave cam in the lever has also received a new ultra–low friction treatment so that the feel is improved, and both brakes have a new coating on the pistons and pads in order to help reduce heat transfer.
The final part of the new XTR puzzle is some rather nice looking carbon Trail wheels, but as classy as they may be, we still struggle to get past the cup and cone bearings. On paper they might well be a better tool for the job compared to cartridge bearings, but if you have to ride in the kind of conditions that we are subjected to in the UK then just a small lapse in maintenance can result in an expensive set of wheels effectively being written off. On old Saint hubs Shimano proved that they can make replaceable ‘cups’ for the bearings, so why they don’t offer this on their high–end hubs is still beyond us.
Overall I think it’s fair to say that this new XTR isn’t exactly revolutionary, and whilst I am sure it will work a treat I think many of us expected a bit more. Shimano claim that they spent three years developing the new XTR, longer than they’ve ever spent on a groupset before, which doesn’t entirely add up considering that apart from the addition of another gear most of the changes could be seen to be relatively small changes. It’s almost like Shimano have got something else up their sleeve!!!
