Shimano 1x XT: First Impressions

So far we’d seen mockups, Barney had a quick spin around a car park, and Sim took the 2x side pull version riding properly in Garda. The other week, a group of us went to Les Arcs with Madison to test out the new 1x XT setup over a few days of alpine riding. David Hayward takes up the story:

Mostly reached by uplift, the descents were steep and rough, taking in a wide mix of trail types ranging from alpine singletrack to rocky, rooty plummets, fresh cut loam, natural berms and bike parks. Not one chain dropped at any point during the trip. I did more than my share of crashing, and was repeatedly impressed to get back to the bike and find the chain still on. Coupled with the clutch mech, even without chain devices the taller, stainless steel teeth on the chainrings held on just fine.

https://vimeo.com/133141978

Apart from a couple of people running the new side pull mechs with 2x, most of the group had the 1×11 setup in 11-40 flavour with a 32t chainring, on an assortment of bikes. The only appreciable difference between this and XTR is the weight, with XT obviously coming in a little heavier. In terms of performance and shifting, I repeatedly heard people saying they’d find it hard to tell the difference.

Clutch tension on the rear mech is adjustable with an allen bolt, so potentially you could run it relatively slack most of the time for easier shifts, then tighten it for better chain retention during things like uplift weeks. That said, my great big ape thumbs tend not to get tired of shifting, and even with the mechs tightened for Alps, it remained crisp and positive with plenty of tactile feedback. When I couldn’t hear the clicks, I could still feel them.

We did do one day with climbing, for which the 11 – 40 cassettes were fine: 7km of fire roads at average grades of 11 – 14% with occasional steep sections, and a final chunk of hike-a-bike to Pas des Brebis. Personally I’d probably favour the 11-42 once it’s available, but with the exception of the last kilometre that we all carried or pushed, there were only a couple of sections where I had to stand up and mash instead of spinning.

In all, and bearing in mind this is a preliminary conclusion based on about 100km of riding, I found the new XT a serviceable and impressive everyday chainset. In that time, I cleaned and lubed the chain twice, but apart from that left it alone. It might not quite cut it for weight weenies or pro racers, but it’s a slick 1×11 setup within reach of many budgets, and a capable match for most things people do on their bikes. On first seeing mockups I had doubts about the chainrings not being narrow-wide, but four days of hammering one down mountains have been utterly convincing.

(Photos by Mick Kirkman. Thanks to Pete Griffiths from Madison for the footage)