The Shimano Deore groupset is definitely the unsung hero of the Shimano range, and it’s now had a makeover to make it better than ever. If you’re looking for a value for money groupset then Deore is very hard to beat. Thanks to the trickling down of technology this bargain priced groupset offers many of the features that you’ll find on Shimano’s top end offerings, and we reckon it even looks pretty good too.

Here are some shots and details of the new groupset…

So yeah the biggest news is definitely that a Deore rear mech will now be available with the excellent Shadow Plus clutch stabiliser. It’s a pity that a medium cage is the shortest that it will be available with, but then the short cage Zee rear mech is fairly reasonably priced if you really want a short cage.

It’s also good to see that Shimano have taken the wise decision to not do much to the brakes. Without question Deore brakes have been the best value brakes for several years, and their performance puts many more expensive brakes to shame. Shimano reckon they have improved the modulation and power a little, but on the whole the feel of them remains largely the same as before. The main change then is a new IceTec rotor and compatibility with IceTec pads. With those additions we reckon these brakes might actually be so good that it becomes hard to justify spending any more on some brakes.

Because of the rise in popularity of bigger wheeled mountain bikes Shimano have now also started offering a 40/30/22T tripple chainset option alongside the more conventional 42/32/24T setup. This addition isn’t just with Deore either, you’ll also now find it as an option on both SLX and XT chainsets.

Anyway, as soon as we get some definite prices on this new Deore kit we’ll let you know, and by the time it hits the shops in June we should hopefully have had some to test out and so we’ll be able to let you know if it is every bit the bargain that we reckon it’s going to be.

[series]