apologies for the stupid post in advance.
i have a 27.5" kinesis sync ti bike that is still great (and def not obsolete to me) that i finally want to upgrade with higher end parts as i want to lighten it from its current 28.2 lb (the stuff fitted currently is all good stuff just not that light eg a rockshox yari 150mm suspension fork that was 2nd hand when i had it built up at my local shop. also 11 speed slx groupset and renthal (?!) bar and stem etc.
 am worried about the availability of stuff for my bike as the bike industry loves to make stuff obsolete and force people onto the newer standard.Â
looking at the shimano and sram web sites the sram one has no non t drive groupsets on their high end groupsets and all electric shift.Â
shimano do still have the older mount for their top end groupsets but they are all electric shift it seems.
i feel personally that is a huge mistake for people like myself who want a higher end groupset for their bike but still want manual shifting etc.
i must add i'm not knocking the new systems but it would still be nice to have choice in the matter.Â
How "high end" does your drivetrain need to be? The consensus seems to be the current Deore is as good as XTR was three generations ago so it's only snobbery (and a little extra weight) that prevents Deore being "high end"Â
IIRC, Shimano will be making future XT and XTR electronic only.Â
Some bikes deserve posh bits on them, better, prettier, than Deore. I think it'll be a good few years before we see high end manual shifting components not made, or unavailable... if ever. I agree it would be a big mistake. I had electric shifting on my bike and sold it all to swap to manaul shifting. Was Sram, and it was very easy to find XO parts to for the replacement.
There are other manufacturers now making (mechanical) drivetrain components And a lot of them seem to be "more bling" than XTR, but whether they work as well, or reliably, or robustly as XTR is debatable, though some are equally expensive...
Here's some examples: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/introducing-the-madrone-jab-derailleur-rebuildable-compatible-built-to-last.html
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/vivo-cycling-previews-12-speed-derailleur.html
IIRC, Shimano will be making future XT and XTR electronic only.Â
The water seems a bit muddy on this depending what you read. I understood it that at the moment all the fanfare was for xt/r Di2 wireless, but no plans were stated to stop doing the plain old 8100/9100. I'd be surprised if they did tbh, look at SRAM, they're still doing cable drivetrains, they've just chosen to double down on UDH.
I thought the story with Shimano was that they wouldn't be "developing" new XT/XTR cable actuated mechs but that they continue to sell the current models for the foreseeable future. I'd be disappointed if that wasn't the case as I really don't want to go anywhere near electronic mechs given the cost and issues folk I know have had plus I really prefer Shimano over SRAM when it comes to the feel of the shifter.