Here's Part One of our video series from the Shimano XTR Media Camp.
Wil takes you through the 'Race' groupset, which includes a 1x12 drivetrain setup and the lightweight 2-piston disc brakes.
Stay tuned for Part Two, where we get a closer look at the 4-piston 'Enduro' brakes and Shimano's new dropper post lever.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
hey guys it's will here from single
0:01
track magazine and single track WorldCom
0:04
and I'm currently in Slovenia in a place
0:07
called Quantico gora on the Shimano XT
0:09
our media camp now this is the first
0:12
opportunity that journalists have had a
0:14
chance to ride the brand new xtr 12
0:16
speed group set and for the last two
0:18
days I've been riding this very
0:20
lightweight Scot spark RC World Cup and
0:23
it is decked out with a 1 by 12
0:26
drivetrain and Shimano's XT our race
0:28
brakes as well so I wanted to give you
0:30
my first impressions of riding this
0:32
group set now as I mentioned this is the
0:34
race group set we've got here Shimano is
0:36
offering a ton of options with the new M
0:38
9100 group set so you're able to choose
0:41
from two piston and four piston brakes
0:43
there are three different cassette
0:45
options so you've got a ten to fifty one
0:47
ten to forty five and there's also an 11
0:51
speed ten to forty five now that is a
0:53
little bit different a bit more
0:54
specialist it requires an even more
0:56
specialist rear hub so I won't be
0:58
talking about that right now you've got
1:00
options with the crank set as well you
1:02
can run one by or two by unfortunately
1:05
there are no double options here for us
1:07
to test ride so we've only been on the
1:09
single ring drivetrain you've got two
1:11
different coup factors with the crank
1:13
set as well depending on the frame that
1:14
you're using up at the shifter end
1:16
you've got integrated clamp options for
1:18
the brake and shifter or you can have
1:20
separate clamp options as well
1:22
there's even an option to run a Shimano
1:23
dropper post lever on the left hand
1:25
brake so a load of options for
1:28
customizing the group set depending on
1:30
how you ride where you ride and what
1:32
your priorities are
1:33
now this bike here is decked out with
1:34
the full race group set so it's a 1 by
1:37
12 setup we've got the huge 10 - 51 -
1:40
cassette on the back on the front I have
1:42
a 32 tooth pain ring we've been doing
1:45
some pretty steep climbs here the last
1:46
two days of riding so I've really
1:48
appreciated having that big 51 tooth out
1:50
the back but this being such a
1:52
lightweight bike to be honest I haven't
1:55
spent a whole lot of time in those lower
1:56
gears because so easy to pedal uphill
1:59
which is very nice I guess
2:01
early impressions of this this group set
2:03
it is really really smooth on top of
2:07
that it is very quiet as well I think
2:10
that's the biggest thing that all of us
2:11
have noticed here is especially riding
2:13
in a
2:14
group you know often up to 15 riders 20
2:18
riders at a time
2:20
everyone's bikes are running very very
2:22
quiet I'm sure the mechanics have spent
2:23
a lot of time making sure that the bikes
2:25
are dialed in but there's just so little
2:27
noise that's coming from this drivetrain
2:28
it's very very quiet a big reason for
2:32
that is also the rear hub now Shimano
2:35
has developed a special free hub for
2:37
this new ten to fifty one and ten to
2:40
forty five tooth cassette
2:41
it's called micro spline it kind of
2:43
looks like a standard Shimano free hard
2:45
body but it is a smaller diameter and
2:47
that is to fit that ten tooth sprocket
2:49
you can't do that with a standard
2:51
freehub body but they've him they've
2:54
rolled out a whole bunch of other
2:55
improvements with micro spline the
2:57
biggest of which is a new free hub
2:58
mechanism which they're calling silence
3:00
it's named accordingly because it
3:03
basically is silent
3:04
it's a ratchet system and it provides I
3:07
believe seven point six degree
3:09
engagement so very fast pickup but when
3:11
you're coasting the mechanism disengages
3:14
and because it disengages not only do
3:17
you get less friction for less rolling
3:19
resistance but you basically get dead
3:21
quiet performance that's been really
3:29
interesting and I think an area where I
3:30
really noticed this was actually
3:32
descending really loose grab a leaf I
3:34
rode without any buzz coming from the
3:36
rear hub you can actually hear the rear
3:39
tire is it's about to break traction so
3:41
you can really finally modulate your
3:43
braking and also your lean angle and
3:45
your speed because you can hear the
3:47
tires a lot more than say if you had a
3:49
really buzzy loud free hub mechanism I
3:52
think there'll be riders out there who
3:54
will miss that kind of really loud
3:56
engagement like like you'd get from a
3:58
Chris King or or from some DT Swiss hubs
4:01
as well but I actually really like this
4:03
silent rear hub it's it's a great way to
4:05
be able to hear other areas of the bike
4:07
as well but it's just a less of a
4:10
distraction on the trail too which is
4:12
nice for braking I've got the two piston
4:14
brakes these are brand new for XT our
4:17
group set now they do use a smaller disc
4:20
brake pad compared to the current two
4:22
piston xcr xt s LX brakes this pad is
4:26
actually shared with the
4:28
race and/or Tegra Road calipers and it's
4:30
designed to provide a little less bite
4:33
really nice modulation and because this
4:36
brake is designed for racing it doesn't
4:37
need to have huge amounts of power in
4:40
terms of feel I really like Shimano's
4:43
lever blade these are carbon fiber lever
4:44
blades they've got a really nice hook to
4:46
them the lever body itself has been
4:48
stiffened up it's got a brace against
4:51
the handlebar so as you're really
4:52
tugging on the lever there's less flex
4:54
in the master cylinder so the braking
4:57
feel is really really nice they're
5:00
definitely less bitey a slightly less on
5:03
off field and the current two piston
5:04
brakes from Shimano the power comes on a
5:06
little bit more gently a little bit
5:08
smoother and that's really good given
5:10
that we're running quite lightweight low
5:12
tread profile tyres you don't want a
5:15
brake that comes on really quickly you
5:17
want to be able to finally modulate the
5:18
power so you're less likely to break
5:20
traction accidentally by panic braking
5:23
so the brake feel is really good we've
5:25
been doing some pretty long descents as
5:27
well and I've been dragging the brakes a
5:28
long way but they've remained really
5:30
consistent no changes to the bike point
5:32
which is nice
5:34
and very consistent power there's very
5:36
little fade
5:38
there's definitely less power than the
5:40
four piston xtr brakes that there is no
5:42
denying but if you're a cross-country
5:43
rider or you're a lightweight trail
5:45
rider and if you don't need a really
5:46
powerful brake these are the ones to go
5:49
for in the new XDR line so really nice
5:51
aside from that I don't have a whole lot
5:54
else to report everything's worked
5:56
really well everything's been really
5:58
smooth and quiet it shifts gears the
6:01
range is great it's a slightly bigger
6:03
range than SRAM Eagles five hundred
6:05
percent this is five hundred and ten
6:07
percent
6:08
so you do have a little lower range
6:10
we're splitting hairs though there
6:12
really aside from that I think the
6:14
adjustability that's available in the
6:15
cockpit with the new I spec Evie mounts
6:18
it allows you to really alter the
6:20
position and the shift paddles you've
6:22
got loads of lateral adjustment loads of
6:24
angular adjustment as well and that
6:26
means you can get those paddles in the
6:27
right spot so I've been playing around
6:29
with that quite a bit just to get
6:31
everything nice and comfortable and
6:32
believers in the right position speaking
6:35
the levers love those rubber pads on the
6:37
shift paddles it surprises me that we've
6:39
not seen that before so hats off to
6:41
Shimano for
6:42
a really small detail oh yeah there you
6:44
go that's my first impressions of this
6:46
XD our group set so far all very
6:49
positive all working very well tomorrow
6:51
I'll get on the four-piston break so
6:52
I'll bring you a report tomorrow on
6:54
those we'll be writing a more technical
6:57
enduro style trail so it'll be a good
7:00
test for those breaks but otherwise if
7:02
you want more information on the xt
7:04
online I'll have my first ride report on
7:06
single track WorldCom so you'll be able
7:08
to get all the details on the new xtr m
7:10
9100 group set along with my first round
7:13
impressions I hope you've enjoyed
7:15
watching thanks guys
7:17
turu
#Sports


