XT M8000 I-Spec B availability

Morning all,

I’ve done a search and couldn’t find any info, can you help? Like many others I presume, I’ve ordered the XT M8000 transmission from Chain Reaction Cycles but as I’ve got I-Spec B brakes, I ordered the corresponding ‘on order’ shifter. I just called CRC and they’ve got no idea when these’ll be in. I’m not going to wait months to build my new bike so will just change to bar-mount if necessary. Any insider knowledge?

Many thanks,
Gaidong

Available January unfortunately from what ive been told.

Ouch! A messy handlebar it is then… Though not sure I’m fussed about this, the new bar is 40mm wider than I’m used to so shouldn’t feel crowded. Do you have any idea if a bar-mount fitting could be changed to i-spec b in the future. If so then it’s a no-brainer. Cheers!

I cant see it, if something like a Zee shifter is anything to go by. Annoying thing with the bar mount is it has the gear window which they dont give you a blank to remove it.

I just need my 10 speed to last until january when i go 11 speed with the i-spec b.

Hmmm, just wasted a good hour trying to find pictures of a two clamp arrangement for the shifter plus brake but it does look like that optical display is going to prevent me putting the right brake mount inboard of the shifter. I’ve read some people literally cut the display off (so to leave the remains as a partial cover) but this sounds a bit drastic. The new bike comes with M615 2×10 so maybe I’ll just leave that on a couple of months. I’d wanted to keep the Deore transmission unused to build a bike for my son but he won’t notice a bit of wear, or it’s tough luck if he does!
Thanks for the info Phil.

If M78x series XT and M67x series SLX is anything to go by, proper retail packed items should come with blanking plates to remove the shifter windows. Unpackaged OEM stuff won’t. According to Shimano, the Optical Gear Display is “removable”:
http://cycle.shimano-eu.com/content/seh-bike/en/home/components1/mountain/deore-xt-8000/sl-m8000-r.html

Having previously adapted a pair of M780 XT shifters from clamp to I-Spec B mount, I’m not sure I’d bother going down that road again. I can live with the extra clamp on my bars which allows me to position the controls where I want them.

Exploded diagrams for both shifters below. Noted that this seems to suggest the only interchangeable parts are the cable blanking plate and the barrel adjuster.

Clamp mount:
http://si.shimano.com/php/download.php?file=pdf/ev/EV-SL-M8000-3860.pdf

I Spec B:
http://si.shimano.com/php/download.php?file=pdf/ev/EV-SL-M8000-B-I-3948.pdf

Thanks for that Hopkins. I’m not fussed about the bar clamp so much, just the availability of part #9 on the bar-mount diagram. I’ve posted on Shimano’s Facebook page and put a very detailed question on CRC as to what’s in the bar-mount shifter box. I’ve only just discovered the brake inboard set for index finger-only braking and don’t want to go back!

Cheers,
Gaidong

Get the xtr shifter – it’s worth the extra £30.

That’s a cunning one. I suppose you mean XTR bar-mount as I can’t find a M9000 I-spec B version? What do I get for my extra €35, other than no optical display?

Cheers,
Gaidong

id avoid the xtr shifter. this happened to mine and a mates http://forums.mtbr.com/drivetrain-shifters-derailleurs-cranks/xtr-m9000-rh-shifter-jams-stops-working-anyone-else-had-967122.html although to be fair a few other people i know have had zero problems with theirs. however because of this i went XT with the shifter replacement, which unfortunately meant indicator windowed bar mount version due to unavailability of spec b… it isnt that bad actually and can happily live with it until i can get hold of the blanking plate or a specb shifter. operationally its no worse than than the xtr, just not as sexy…

it does say lower down that thread that shimano have remedied the problem on later manufactured xtr units – just luck of the draw whether you get one of the new ones or not.

@jaffejoffer: Thanks for the heads up on the XTR problem. I’m still waiting for some answers from CRC and will decide then but I’m confident they’d swop a dodgy shifter… I hope!

Few things –

Yes Jan is still correct for iSpec B shifters.
M8000 bar clamp shifters dont have blanking plates to get rid of the windows (Maybe aftermarket but I don’t think so either right now)
XTR shifters are a little problematic, I have seen a jammed one and a snapped thumb lever (different shifters)

M8000 bar clamp shifters dont have blanking plates to get rid of the windows

I think they do: https://www.bike-components.de/de/Shimano/Abdeckung-Ganganzeige-fuer-SL-M8000-p44849/

OK, let me rephrase that –

When you buy an M8000 shifter it doesn’t come with the blanking plates (although apparently you can buy them aftermarket).

Do Hope do one of their matchmaker clamps that would be suitable for either iSpec B or II?

I ended up buying the bar clamp one once I found out I couldn’t get i-spec B for a long time. Alongside my SLX brakes it fits fairly well for single finger braking for me, where I had my (SRAM) shifters inboard before. I was also turned off by the indicator window and I don’t use it.

So although I’d still be keen to get rid of the indicator window and try it inboard once I can get the blanking plate, I’m not all that bothered now it’s installed.

Interesting that that German site now seems to have the blanking plate but it seems overkill to order something so tiny from Germany. Maybe worth ordering a job lot of them between a few mates. Do they definitely have them in stock?

Yeah Gaidong im sure theyd swap it if it fails, the problem is itll fail while youre on a ride somewhere, so if you are far from home or in a race its game over.

ill take a couple Luket if you go ahead… shipping is 15 euro whether you buy 1 or 10.

10No comes in at around £35 delivered. surely anyone would happily pay £3.50 for one…? call it a fiver!

balls to it. i just bought 10 of em. gonna knock em out for £5 delivered. see how it goes.

Good work that man. I’ll take one for a fiver if they’re going!

€15 is a hefty delivery charge. I didn’t get that far.

EDIT: Just sent you an email.

jaffejoffer – YGM from me too!

Wow, all that has moved on tonight. The prize goes to otsdr for spotting that part, though I’m worried jaffejoffer has taken all the stock! I’m just next door to Germany so probably not worth getting one of yours. Looking what else I can stick in the basket to make the delivery cost bearable. Good detective work all!

jaffejoffer – YGM from me as well.

I’ve got two different bikes on xtr M9000 shifter. Both no issues whatsoever.

I’ve stuck in my XT cover order to Germany, with some Saint pedals and Zee brake pads for me and some 26″ wheels and tubes and a square axle BB for the Boy to make up the delivery costs!

Here’s to not knowing (visually) what gear we’re in 😀

…though I’m worried jaffejoffer has taken all the stock…

Noted that right hand blanking plates now appear to be on 20 days or more delivery, I think your worries may be justified 😉

As a side note, 2x 2.95 euros (for LH and RH) is still significantly cheaper than the equivalent part I bought to delete the displays on some OEM M780 shifters. Oh, and if you have a part number (and if you click on the exploded diagram link above, then you have a part number), there’s no reason why you should have to order these from Germany – any bike shop that sells Shimano should be able to get them in for you

Mail from me to jaffejoffer

Had the dreaded email from ze germans – revised delivery date of Jan 16! 😕

And I got “die erwartete Lieferzeit für Shimano-Abdeckung Ganganzeige für SL-M8000-schwarz-rechts ist zurzeit leider unbekannt. Sobald wir einen genaueren Liefertermin kennen, werden wir Dich umgehend informieren”

This means ‘we don’t know’…. Back to the drawing board (or, more likely, wearing the optical display for a few months)

Bit of gaffer tape might do the trick…?

I was thinking of wearing a neck brace actually, rendering it impossible to accidently know what gear I’m in.

resurrecting an old thread a little, but I just got a shipping notification from my Evans order for XT 1×11 i-Spec B shifters. As long as they have sent me the right ones it appears they now have them in stock if anyone wants to marry new shifters to last years XT brakes.

How does that work? Isnt the m8000 stuff got a thinner clamp? Do they actually combine ok?

Yeah we got a box load in this morning. The I-spec b ones run a different mount to make them work with older style brakes – basically nigh on identical to the old XT shifter but in the new colour/11spd.