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haven't heard about the forefinger shifting? it looks possible? have heard about the customisation for how many/ how quick it shifts
one review said not rebuildable.. but historically I've been able to find Shimano component parts, and not SRAM
UDH is SRAM's patent so not sure how that works?... or if it's a real issue or not? but yes heard it's set up like a conventional mech which is no big deal, IMHO it's much easier to set up a Shimano mech than a SRAM none transmission mech, but that's mostly due to experience. But i guess with Transmission you set it once and that's it, so no big deal either way?
Several things I've read says you can convert a GS to an SGS mech, which implies the cage is available to buy separately at the very least.
Tbh in think it looks a nice implementation. Adjustability of the shifter looks great, purportedly far quicker shift than AXS.
The price is hard to stomach, but this is the halo range. Cassettes are still about half the price of SRAM!
I guess the thing I'm really pleased about is that (finally) robustness/resistance to impacts on the trail/debris collecting in jockey wheels is a point that SRAM/Shimano are competing on and designing around, rather than weight and 'performance'. That's a big positive
Definitely lots of options to chose from, including an 11 speed linkglide mech.
Ok, now that *is* interesting. Although they've seemingly made it direct power (from bike battery) only, but that's just feeding a cable through the old routing to a manual mech on your bike and plugging it into the spare port on the motor. Simple enough and removes the weight/charging hassle of a mech battery.
https://bike.shimano.com/en-UK/products/components/pdp.P-RD-M9260-11L.html
The one thing I'd really like to see is Linkglide cassettes using Microspline. All my wheels are now microspline and so far it's definitely got a lot less cassette-eating-freehub issues (yes, could run steel HG hubs but then that's even more weight on top of the lardy cassette.
back in feb, https://magazinebike.com/2025/02/08/shimano-di2-new-xtr-xt-and-deore-in-wireless-version-new-patents-reveal-details/ suggested that XT and deore would have Di2 versions. XT level is going to be a certainty really, as the 'workhorse' groupset (though SLX is probably more that now) and I guess Deore level is to directly compete with GX?
one thing I did like the idea of, but I don't think it's made it to XTR, and why would it for a racing groupset, but may be more aimed at deore level, is the 'number of sprockets' selector (fig 11 in the link), in app I'd guess? the fig in the link does look like it's a select mode for the shifter, and there are 3 different derailleurs illustrated.
Guessing no protective tape? Came prefitted on Shimano mtb cranks I thought
Pinkbike seems to have flagged up the lack of clutch, but haven't seen anyone else say bad things about that yet? Maybe Dario received a bad one? I've got a X01 mech now where it feels like the clutch is getting weaker. Shimano being adjustable was a huge plus point.
The pb video seemed determined to give the win to sram from the start. The whole tone of it came across as nitpicking but giving sram a free ride. Perhaps it’s just me.
Guessing no protective tape? Came prefitted on Shimano mtb cranks I thought
The pb video seemed determined to give the win to sram from the start. The whole tone of it came across as nitpicking but giving sram a free ride. Perhaps it’s just me.
Definitely just you.
The pb video seemed determined to give the win to sram from the start. The whole tone of it came across as nitpicking but giving sram a free ride. Perhaps it’s just me.
I thought that as well. They went to great lengths to show nothing much about the difference in chainslap. Yet several other reviews are saying the opposite, Shimano quieter and chain tension still stronger without a clutch. Somewhat confusing.
there was tape but it wore through pretty quickly
Strange. The tape on my XT cranks has never worn through. But it could do with wrapping round the edges more as it starts to peel from there a bit.
I'm using SLX, have had to do one barrel adjustment since installing it. It's so good, that I'm confused about why I would want to upgrade to Shimano wireless shifting even once it trickles down to cheaper groupsets. A less exposed mech sounds like a reasonable marginal improvement. But the extra price, complication, and loss of the index finger shifting outweigh that for me, considering that the reviews say the shifting is not noticeably better than mechanical.
https://www.emtbforums.com/ams/the-new-shimano-m9200-di2-xtr-drivetrain-first-look-and-ride.146/
I do love a blind link. Any comment as to why we should follow it? A little effort goes a long way.
I'm using SLX, have had to do one barrel adjustment since installing it. It's so good, that I'm confused about why I would want to upgrade to Shimano wireless shifting even once it trickles down to cheaper groupsets.
I honestly think in 10 years time we may all be back on mechanical drivetrains, and laughing at how people went nuts to spend so much money making their gears heavier and more complicated.
Or maybe not, but I know as long as we're using derrailleurs, I'll stick with cables anyway. Might stay 11sp for life as well 😀
Guessing no protective tape? Came prefitted on Shimano mtb cranks I thought
in the review it said there was tape but it wore through pretty quickly
TBH, the quicker that gaudy logo wears off, the better. Not sure what they were thinking there, the cranks look very un-Shimano - XTR has always looked classy in the past. Reminds me of older XO carbon with the big red logo, wasn't much of a fan of those either
I honestly think in 10 years time we may all be back on mechanical drivetrains, and laughing at how people went nuts to spend so much money making their gears heavier and more complicated.
I've got one bike of each (sram axs and shimano xt mechanical) and both have plus points so I'm not in either camp. But your argument seems very much like those we heard about front mechs 10 or so years ago.
https://www.emtbforums.com/ams/the-new-shimano-m9200-di2-xtr-drivetrain-first-look-and-ride.146/
I do love a blind link. Any comment as to why we should follow it? A little effort goes a long way.
"While the Sram cage can easily be replaced, it’s a big and expensive spare part to carry on your rides. It’s much easier carrying a spare dropout."
Has anyone had a UDH bend and the mech attached remain usable? I've completely destroyed a number of mechs while the UDH's remained completely straight and true....
Kind of surprised it's not much lighter than the equivalent Transmission, lighter than GX for sure, but costs a lot more. Will be interesting to see what it costs when it's on the German sites at actual prices. Brakes look great, although the cables being moved to suit headset routing I'm not keen on - especially as that fad seems to be dying off a bit. I think the standards - centrelock, microspline, and whatever this week's version of i-spec is will keep me away from a lot of it, but I think they hit the mark with the shifter and mech, would probably go for those on a non UDH bike over SRAM if I was buying. Another mention for the cranks, they are awful
your argument seems very much like those we heard about front mechs 10 or so years ago.
1x drivetrains, droppers, disc brakes, suspension, bigger wheels all brought tangible benefits to our ride experience though.
I'd say leccy gears are more akin to the craze for carbon wheels. Yeah, they can be fine and offer some advantages, but they're essentially a much more expensive way of doing the same thing.
I'm not a luddite or a purist, I just see drivetrains as a very functional, low-priority part of the bike.
your argument seems very much like those we heard about front mechs 10 or so years ago.
1x drivetrains, droppers, disc brakes, suspension, bigger wheels all brought tangible benefits to our ride experience though.
I'd say leccy gears are more akin to the craze for carbon wheels. Yeah, they can be fine and offer some advantages, but they're essentially a much more expensive way of doing the same thing.
I'm not a luddite or a purist, I just see drivetrains as a very functional, low-priority part of the bike.
Exactly how I feel about leccy gears on a mountain bike. I have Di2 on my nice road bike but still 11 speed mish mash drivetrain on both mountain bikes.
Reminds me of older XO carbon with the big red logo, wasn't much of a fan of those either
Have you seen the new PRO bars?
Quite likely I'll get the new pedals. Need some -3mm pedals to compensate for the wide q-factor 55mm chainline cranks I've just had to buy, which don't actually help the chainline or my knees.
"While the Sram cage can easily be replaced, it’s a big and expensive spare part to carry on your rides. It’s much easier carrying a spare dropout."
Has anyone had a UDH bend and the mech attached remain usable? I've completely destroyed a number of mechs while the UDH's remained completely straight and true....
I've bent a slx mech in half on my Bird Aether 9 without doing any damage to the hanger. A mate snapped the deore mech on my Big Al at the knuckle and again that's still on the original hanger.
On the clutch thing, half the time I forget to re-engage if I have had the back wheel out, and I barely notice the difference. So very meh on that going. The big issue is merely the price. See what Deore and XT come in at when they are released.
Does anyone know if this will be programable to work on an 11spd group? I see there's an option listed to work with an 11spd Linkglide mech... If so this could open up some interesting options such as on a bike of mine with 11spd XX1, where 10-42 is all the range needed on a lightweight ride, and yet has terrible mechanical cable routing. Shimano 11spd shifters/ mechs always seemed to work fine on Sram cassettes, or will there be something getting in the way of this hack?
My mate had his XTR upgrade delivered today.
He's messaged to say he's already installed it and just updating the firmware on the rear mech lol
Not sure what the update does.
He's messaged to say he's already installed it and just updating the firmware on the rear mech lolThe code for installation during manufacturing was probably signed off on 9 months ago. The mechs will have also been sat in a warehouse for several months.Not sure what the update does.
The mechs will work without it. But there will have been a number of tweaks/bug fixes/improvements since then. Brings the code up to production ready. It's not a new thing. Laptops do it, phones do it, cars do it (though the dealer usually does it for you), christ, even my TV did it.
They're not hanging about eh? I guess XT Di2 will be on a load of forthcoming bikes as well.
That mech does look nice and compact, but the cheap Deore ones I picked up recently were £400 cheaper, so I think I'll stick with them.
so the cost between XT vs XTR mechs is about £120, I wonder what Deore would be?
looking at the mechanical mechs Xt and Deore are about £44 apart. if we use that logic then deore DI2 mech should be around £375. still not very 'deore' feeling...but on par with GX AXS rrp of c£400, so maybe on point.
so the cost between XT vs XTR mechs is about £120, I wonder what Deore would be?
That would put XT round about the same price as Transmission XX SL
XTR is about 1000 Euro for mech/shiffter/battery, xx SL transmission about 800 for same
Cassettes about the same price for XTR vs XX SL
So much for competition making this cheaper 🙂 - that said, real-world Shimano prices, at least for XT, tend to drop after a while
It looks like Swinnerton jumped the gun with that XT listing. Can’t be far off now.
It’s GRX 1x12 di2 which I think will offer most benefit. So many gravel framesets have tortuous gear cable routing which I often suspect will interfere with clean shifting performance.
looking at the mechanical mechs Xt and Deore are about £44 apart. if we use that logic then deore DI2 mech should be around £375. still not very 'deore' feeling...but on par with GX AXS rrp of c£400, so maybe on point.
Looks like I was pretty bob on with my guestimate.
Also mechanical XTR, XT and Deore now discontinued leaving SLX as Shimano's only 12-speed mechanical groupset? According to MBR
Discontinued? Or they just haven't brought out a new range?
Pretty sure they will keep making their existing groupsets.
Disappointing to see Shimano have discontinued offering XT cranks in a 180 length. As Shimano were about the last large manufacturer producing this length (and only in XT level) it's a shame the option will no longer be available to those who want it. Like dropping SLX and reducing the range of shoe sizes offered, it is product line consolidation rather than indication that the items weren't selling. This is probably all a bit lost on most uk riders as Madison didn't import the 180 cranks anyway, or for that matter the shoe sizes I referred to. All widely available in europe. I don't particularly care what Seb Stott or anyone else thinks about long cranks. Some of his ideas are flatly wrong. Fortunately I've got plenty of cranks at the moment so don't immediately need to stock up. In future unless it's for a battery bike I will be getting cranks from White Industries or Paul Components rather than Shimano.
If there's no SLX group it's likely because it was undermining XT. Many parts had the same features and performance for less money. The chainrings were exactly the same, just a different colour spider for nearly 50% less. Who is going to buy XT with that going on?
Disappointing to see Shimano have discontinued offering XT cranks in a 180 length
Are you very tall or is there theory behind choosing longer cranks? As in my understanding the current trend is that the vast majority of riders are probably using overly long cranks?
Yes I'm tall. I've tried various crank lengths, including 165 relatively recently. 180 feels natural to me, at a normal cadence. Actually a slightly quicker cadence than many people I ride with. I generally don't have problems with pedal strikes (touch wood). I believe in the benefit of additional leverage. Which at my leg and crank length doesn't cause discomfort or come at the cost of spinning. The idea that loss of leverage with shorter cranks can be compensated for by spinning like a hamster in a lower gear just doesn't fly with me. That's creating additional fatigue to overcome travelling slower, which I can do anyway without changing crank length.
On any bike that isn't assisted or only for going downhill I will continue to use 180 cranks for as long as there are decent quality ones available. 180 isn't actually that long, it's just been the longest commonly available size for mtb, until now. I support people choosing whatever crank length they want, unfortunately Shimano just took away an option that was the best choice for some.
Someone got trigger happy… wireless di2 deore at £375 https://www.swinnertoncycles.co.uk/shimano-rear-mech-deore-m6250-di2-wireless-12-speed-without-battery-12-speed-hyperglide-sgs-p139374
“Release date: 10/11/2025.“
Not limited to Shimano, but I just can't get my head around having something costing that amount dangling in a precarious position off the back of my bike. I typically run XT/XTR shifters (cos they're worth the extra for the feel IMO), Deore/SLX/XT cranks, XT-lever cassettes, but never anything posher than SLX rear mech due to the rock/mech risk.
Even the 'budget' wireless Deore mech is way beyond my comprehension.
I fancy the Deore M6200 Di2 for my E-Bike, I need to see more details though. Some reports say it connects to the Shimano battery for power, others the Motor. My Motor has a spare Di2 socket (maybe two) but my battery isn't Shimano. I'd guess a batteryless Deore will be lighter than a XTR with a battery installed... not that I care, it's a 26Kgs E-Bike, a few grams won't make any difference.
Anyone found the Deore Upgrade kit prices yet?
XT looks to be around £620.
So Deore wireless shifting is now out, only available as a rear mech for £375 and shifter for £125 plus you have to buy the battery and charger which is another £70 so £570 in total
It can be used on 11 speed and 12 speed cassettes which is good
The rear mech is available in two versions, normal version and e-bike hard wired version (powered by the e-bike battery)
I think Shimano have messed up here as they say the hard wired version can be only used with Shimano battery e-bikes and the wireless version Shimano say shouldn't be used on e-bikes as it could be damaged by the e-bike motor
So basically with Deore they are cutting themselves out of the brand new e-bike market unless it has a Shimano battery and completely out of the e-bike upgrade market which seems a little silly in my eyes
Also SLX isn't getting wireless shifting and remains mechanical, where as XTR, XT and Deore are no longer available as mechanical shifting and will only be wireless
What's interesting is the Sram GX AXS upgrade kit (mech, shifter, battery and charger) can be had for £470
More info here
I wonder if the shifting is going wireless that they could have included a small dynamo in the hub and got rid of the battery?
GRX can be far away..... google the Cervelo Aspero 5 and the image comes up in the results but not on the web page.
Also SLX isn't getting wireless shifting and remains mechanical,
I was under the impression that slx was being phased out.
Last year I delved into my broken parts box and pulled apart 5 broken m8000 rear mechs and rebuilt 3spares.
As much as I like the sound of it, I think di2 is a while off
Looks like it will be released next week, I found a full leak if the embargo on reddit:
Holy cow...who on earth is buying 2100g gravel wheels?
Also SLX isn't getting wireless shifting and remains mechanical,
I was under the impression that slx was being phased out.
This interests the retro nerd in me as that would take them back to the 80's for the naming of their premium every day group sets.
1980's - Deore and Deore XT.
1990's - LX-DX-XT then STX-LX-XT.
2000's - STX goes, SLX replaces LX as number 2, Deore reappears.
2025- Back to Deore and Deore XT.
This makes me happier than it should.
That is all.
I'm a bit confused by that GRX-827. Yes, it's "wireless" but it's only a new rear mech, not an entire new group set and nor does it represent any "tickle down" to GRX - 600 series.
I wonder how Shimano will price this in comparison to the existing Di2 GRX....
Given it is probably not much more than a relabeled XT mech that came out last week you'd expect it to be in the same ball park. You'd imagine any updates to 2x will probably follow updates to Dura Ace/Ultegra/105 whenever that is.
I did a couple of races this weekend on the new xtr di2.
it is awesome.
And there it is...

