New Shimano XTR Review: The Empire Strikes Back – Travis Engel | The Radavist | A group of individuals who share a love of cycling and the outdoors.

Shimano’s new XTR group is here. It’s wireless, it’s compatible with existing 12-speed Shimano cassettes, and the derailleur mounts to a normal hanger. There’s also a new compact drivetrain, plus new cranks, new wheels, and new brakes that solve an old problem. Travis has been on it for four months, so there’s a lot to talk about.

Choice is good. Choice is what makes your bike your bike. But choice is a battleground. Major bike manufacturers lock horns to gain clout, visibility, and ultimately, market share. They offer shops free shipping or longer terms if they commit more to their brand, which usually means committing less to another. Upstream from retail, the big OEM vendors offer conveniences that the little guys simply can’t. Further upstream, patents are granted and concepts are locked away until 20 years pass or someone finds a workaround, whichever comes first.

And then there’s the chaos factor. Production delays, recessions, and global pandemics disrupt the flow that might otherwise allow the cream to rise naturally to the top. It’s an imperfect system that isn’t always fair. Nevertheless, creators keep creating. Companies of all sizes somehow stay motivated to continue innovating in impactful ways. From Madrone to Apogee to Chris King to Schwalbe, and yes, to Specialized and SRAM. And today I can finally talk about a whole new stack of innovations. Shimano’s wireless M9200 XTR Di2 group is here. And it is good. But perhaps more importantly, it’s another choice in the mainstream high-end mountain bike market to rival SRAM. And not in a Coke vs. Pepsi sort of way. There are several meaningful differences between XTR and XO. Shimano zigged where SRAM zagged. I’ll start by covering the vital stats, but I’ve been using the new XTR for almost four months. Stay tuned until the end for ride impressions. And this is gonna be a long ride, so if you want to skip ahead, here’s a table of contents:

Availability

The new XTR is available from retailers today. And several complete bikes speccing XTR are on store shelves as you’re reading, though I didn’t have a complete list of them as I was writing. This is a big deal for Shimano. I covered the launch of the previous generation XTR in late May of 2018, and it was very much not available at launch. I hadn’t even ridden the stuff yet. In fact, I wouldn’t ride it until the following September. For this go-around, Shimano has product for sale day-of, not to mention working drivetrains in journalists’ hands months ahead of time. That says a lot for Shimano’s commitment to staying ahead of demand throughout this next step in its high-end offerings.

Prices and Weights

Yes, It’s Wireless

The most recent GRX, Ultegra, and Dura-Ace groups are only “semi-wireless,” where the shifters communicate wirelessly with a derailleur (or derailleurs) wired to a separate battery. Shimano stands by that approach in road and gravel because front and rear derailleurs can be wired to the same big battery, and that battery can fit inside the usually non-dropper seatpost. But the new XTR is truly wireless. And yes, you can pair the new XTR wireless derailleur with Shimano’s wireless drop-bar shifters.

There’s a fascinating story about why it took Shimano so long to go fully wireless. It’s probably worth its own article. But briefly, SRAM filed a patent back in 2013 for a derailleur with an onboard battery, wording it so they could effectively own the fully wireless drivetrain market. It wasn’t until years later that Shimano came up with a way to get around SRAM’s patent, though Campagnolo figured it out last year.. Shimano’s approach has to do with exactly how the battery mounts into the new XTR derailleur, which happens to have a few benefits that I’ll get to later. Side note: Shimano found that workaround after Fox had started development on the NEO battery ecosystem used on their suspension and dropper posts. It’s safe to assume that’s the reason Fox and Shimano batteries are not interchangeable. But hey. Talk about first-world problems.

The New XTR Derailleur

Yes, it still mounts to a hanger. Although Shimano has a patent for its own direct-mount derailleur design that’s similar to SRAM Transmission, the new XTR attaches the old-fashioned way. It’s even got a traditional adjustable B-bolt. The only new “compatibility” stipulation relates to off-the-shelf SRAM UDH hangers, which are partially plastic. That makes them less stiff than many other thru-axle replaceable hangers. That said, my testing was done with a standard UDH, and I had no alignment-related issues. Still, Shimano recommends that riders with UDH-equipped bikes use an all-aluminum version like a Wheels Manufacturing or North Shore Billet instead. Most non-UDH thru-axle hangers are plenty stiff, so no special instructions there.

Derailleur Quick Hits

Wireless
Mounts to traditional hanger
Available in long-cage or mid-cage with matching cassette
No clutch in pulley cage
305 mah battery
391g (long cage)
389g (mid cage)
$650

Before I get into more about the derailleur—and there is a lot more—I want to pause to say that the mounting method is just the beginning of why I think Shimano is making good choices. There was a lot of pushback directed directly at the direct mount. Maybe that’s because it eliminates a cheaply replaceable failure point, or it inhibits frame-design freedom, or it’s just big and ugly. Or maybe it’s because we feared a divided future where your bike choice dictated your drivetrain choice and vice-versa. Fear not. Shimano has heard you.

The new XTR derailleur has no clutch. I was shocked at first, but I shouldn’t be. This friction-based chain-retention system is a common point of failure for both Shimano and SRAM (though Shimano’s is serviceable). I had assumed the clutch was a necessary evil, but it actually predates 1x and even 2x drivetrains. Shimano introduced it back in the 3×10 days to prevent dropped chains and reduce chain slap. Dropped chains are all but extinct thanks largely to narrow-wide chainrings. Shimano addressed chain slap (and chain retention) by significantly increasing the spring tension in the new XTR pulley cage. Interestingly, there are two concentric springs working in tandem. That allowed Shimano to make the structure thinner. And thinner is better.

Derailleur clutches wide and square. If they catch a rock, all the energy will probably go into the derailleur. The new XTR derailleur’s shape is meant to glance off obstacles. The angled outer surface is armored with slippery replaceable composite skidplates. And if they collide with something on the trail, there’s a mechanism inside the derailleur that allows the motor to yield, and then return back to the gear it was in.

The battery has a 305 mAh capacity, 5 whole mAh more than SRAM AXS. It is housed within the derailleur’s parallelogram, which presumably helps keep it out of harm’s way. Also, the contact terminals are above the battery, not below it, which Shimano claims can prevent moisture from pooling around that vital junction. The battery is wedged up and into the contacts by a composite “door” that doubles as one of those replaceable skidplates. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a spare part people start carrying.

The leading edge of the pulley cage draws a straighter line than most, with less of a “hook” that could potentially grab obstacles. And the pulley wheels are solid to prevent sticks from jamming up the works. Durability features like these were the main talking points as Shimano walked us through the new derailleur. There was an emphasis on learning from failure, and PowerPoint slides showing piles of prototype derailleurs that were harmed in the making of this drivetrain. This topic didn’t get nearly this much attention when all we needed to fully bounce back from a shredded rear derailleur was $100 plus the cost of a hanger. This derailleur is $665, so durability had better get some attention.

The Other New XTR Derailleur

There’s also a whole other derailleur / cassette configuration in the M9200 ecosystem. The one I’ve been riding is a familiar long-cage version that works with the existing 10-51 12-speed cassette. But there’s also a mid-cage derailleur meant to pair with a brand new 9-45 12-speed cassette. That’s right. A 9-tooth small cog, but more on that later. This compact configuration is aimed at the race crowd. That includes XC race because the derailleur and cassette are lighter, and the chain is shorter (read: lighter). And also Enduro race because it creates more ground clearance and potentially better chain stability. What separates them will be crank / chainring configuration, but more on that later, too.

The Other Other New XTR Derailleur

Derailleurs intended for use on e-MTBs can be wired to the bike’s main battery, though some e-MTBs will still spec an onboard-battery derailleur. Either way, the shifter needs to be set up for single-shifts only, but I won’t go into any more e-MTB detail. The reason I bring it up is that one of those e-bike-specific derailleurs is programmed to work with the 11-speed, 11-50 Linkglide cassette, one the most durable drive systems ever made. Currently, that configuration will only be available with an e-bike wired power supply.

The New XTR Shifter

This one’s for the folks who miss having physical knobs on their dashboards and microwaves. Analog interfaces are often better than digital ones. The new XTR shift levers don’t feel like buttons. They feel like levers. And each one is in two very different places. Because they do two very different things. Anyone familiar with a modern indexed shifter, whether from Shimano or SRAM, will feel immediately at home here. And if you don’t feel at home, the lever tips can be adjusted independently, pitched towards or away from you and angled up or down. And of course the whole shifter can be angled, using the same I-Spec EV configuration present throughout most of the Shimano shifter and brake-lever lineups.

Shifter Quick Hits

Wireless
Double mechanical click in each lever
Each click offers programmable multi-shifting with customizable speed
Shimano i-spec EV mounting
Third programmable button for shift adjustment or accessory control
2x replaceable 1632 batteries
97g
$220

And the analog interface doesn’t stop there. Each lever offers two clicks. You can hold a trigger down after the first click to start multi-shifting. But if you just push a little harder, there’ll be a second click that results immediately in a second shift. What’s more, that second click is firmer than the first one. That progressive resistance prevents accidental overshifting, though if you don’t like it, there’s a physical switch under the shifter to turn off the second click. Either way, you can hold down the fully compressed lever for multi-shifting, or jam through gears by tapping the lever multiple times in a row. And you can deeply customize everything, but I’ll get to that later.

There’s a subtle third button on the shifter body itself. Out of the box, this is used to put the derailleur into adjustment mode. Hold it for three seconds, and the paddles effectively work like a barrel adjuster. If there’s consistent hesitation when shifting, you can fine tune the alignment without even getting off the bike. Or, if you prefer, you can instead pair that button with compatible electronics like lights or GPS units.

Common on most wireless controls, the new XTR shifter runs on two 1632 batteries that should last several months, but require a small screwdriver to replace on the trail. And on the battery note, the shifter and derailleur go to sleep when not in use, but unlike SRAM AXS, they’re only awoken when you push a button, not when they vibrate. That means you shouldn’t have to worry about draining your battery while transporting your bike. Just make sure to wake it up with a couple clicks in the parking lot or even after a long break because it does take a second.

The New XTR Crank and Chainring

Two all-new cranks are dropping with the 9200 group, a trail/enduro version and an XC version. The previous generation’s bonded two-piece mountain cranks didn’t suffer the widespread failures seen on some of Shimano’s similar road cranks. But still, they went with a fundamentally different construction for the new XTR crankarms. The arms are hollow-forged instead of bonded two-piece. The left arm still clamps to the spindle with a double pinch-bolt, and of course, both arms are still made of aluminum, not carbon.

Crank and Chainring Quick Hits

Hollow-forged aluminum instead of two-piece bonded
55mm chainline with zero-offset Shimano chainring
Chainrings sold separately
Same direct-mount interface as previous Shimano 12-speed MTB
Crank: $310
Chainring: $150
Available in trail / enduro or XC version
XC version:
- 168mm Q-factor
- 165mm, 170mm, 175mm lengths
- Weight TBD as of launch
Trail / enduro version:
- 176mm Q-factor
- 160mm, 165mm, 170mm, 175mm lengths
- 596g (170 mm arms, 32t ring)

The XC cranks have a lighter spindle, a narrower 168 mm Q-factor, and are available in 165, 170, and 175 mm lengths. The trail/enduro version essentially have the Saint DH spindle, a wider 176 mm Q-factor, and are available in 160, 165, 170, and 175 mm lengths. The default chainline if you use a standard M9200 chainring will be 55 mm. The new XTR drivetrain is designed with that chainline in mind, but it’ll work great with narrower (AKA: better) chainlines, too. If you want less cross-chaining in the lower gears, there’s nothing wrong with running a 52mm chainline as long as your frame has room. On that note, there’s nothing wrong with running your old Hyperglide+ (Shimano MTB 12-speed) crank and/or chainring. The tooth/chain interface hasn’t changed, nor has the crank/ring interface. But there is now a myriad of spindle lengths and chainring offsets. Use caution if mixing 9100 and 9200 rings and cranks.

The new XTR cranks and chainrings will always be sold separately aftermarket. Chainrings go from 28t up to 38t, even numbers only of course. And chainring size is a big deal with the new XTR because of what they’ve done with the cassette.

The New XTR Cassette

The 10-51 M9200 cassette isn’t significantly different from the M9100 that preceded it. The largest three rings used to be black, but the coating would wear off pretty quickly, so they went with XTR’s natural pewter. And then the largest individual titanium cog has a larger base for better durability. Otherwise, functionally identical. And you can use any 10-51 or even 11-51 12-speed Shimano cassette with the new XTR wireless drivetrain. Also, for another SRAM / Shimano comparison, the XX and XO cassettes are CNC machined from a block of steel with a single alloy 52t cog bolted on the back, which is really cool, but there’s a reason Shimano still does it the old-fashioned way. Every cog is forged, not machined, which preserves the metal’s natural grain and makes for less brittle teeth.

Cassette Quick Hits

Compatible with previous-generation Shimano 12-speed MTB components
Available in 10-51 and 9-45 configurations
Micro Spline freehub only
369g (10-51)
327g (9-45)
$500

The Other New XTR Cassette

This compact 9-45 cassette is designed to work with the mid-cage derailleur. 9-tooth cogs must be a tricky thing to do right. There’s not a lot of room in there to support such a high-torque object. I’ve had no problems with my e*thirteen Helix Race 9-52 cassette, but its unique mounting method doesn’t require a traditional spinning “lockring.” That allows the tool splines to be machined directly into the e*thirteen cog itself. Well, guess what? Shimano fixed that by making a brand new tool! The 9-45 XTR cassette uses a lockring that fits into the tool, not the other way around. That gave them more room inside to make a stronger cog.

There’s a subtle difference in the smaller cassette’s construction. If you’ve never installed a Shimano 12-speed cassette, it’s a pain in the ass compared to a SRAM XD cassette. It’s a puzzle getting the smaller cogs and spacers on at the right orientation and in the right order. But cleverly, the small-est cog doesn’t slide over the freehub body. It locks into the second smallest cog. For the 9-45 cassette, Shimano went one better by making the 9t and 10t cog out of one piece of metal. Most interestingly, the 9-45 cassette has nearly the exact same gear range as 10-51. 500% versus 510%, which is only a 2% difference in overall range.

The idea is to pair the 9-45 cassette with either a 28t or 30t ring. That either puts you slightly below or slightly above the gear-inch spread of the 10-51 with a 32t ring. But it gets you lighter weight and more ground clearance. This is another example of Shimano listening. Not just to those who think derailleurs have gotten kinda big. But also to their own customers. Shimano has offered a 10-45 cassette and short-cage derailleur since their 12-speed drivetrains launched. That saw almost zero OEM spec on complete bikes, but in some regions, it accounted for 20-30% of their aftermarket sales. If you have one of those 10-45 12-speed cassettes, we’ve heard from unofficial sources that the mid-cage new XTR Di2 derailleur is compatible with it, but there’s no stamp of approval yet in the Shimano technical manual.

That compact configuration may shake things up in unexpected ways. When 1X drivetrains took over, full-suspension bike manufacturers suddenly didn’t have to worry about designing their linkage to tolerate three chainrings. If a manufacturer cares about how their suspension behaves under pedaling load, it matters exactly where that load originates. Generally, bike brands expect it to originate from the top of a non-oval 32-tooth chainring. This new XTR cassette is helping bring 30t and 28t chainrings into the mainstream. According to Shimano, the responses from bike brands were across the board. Some claim it will have a negative impact on how their bike pedals, others seemed totally fine with it. I’m not an engineer, but worst case, it may raise your anti-squat values a tad.

The Chain

It’s the same chain. Hyperglide+ is Hyperglide+. And again, cassettes and chainrings haven’t fundamentally changed, either, making the new XTR pretty plug-and-play for current 12-speed Shimano users.

The Upgrade Kits

For $985, you get a derailleur, shifter, battery, charger and chain. You technically shouldn’t need a chain to upgrade to the new XTR, but you will someday. In fact, I think it’s no coincidence that, if you don’t include the chain, the price of everything listed above adds up to exactly $985. So, you basically get a free $85 chain if you buy the upgrade kit. There’s also a brake upgrade kit for $670 that includes front and rear 4-piston servo-wave brakes which actually go for $665 individually, but the kit includes two sets of resin brake pads and two sets of metallic brake pads as well as a bottle of the new fluid. Yes, there’s new fluid, so let’s talk brakes.

The New XTR Brakes

It wouldn’t be New XTR Day if there weren’t new everything to go along with it. And some might say that Shimano brakes are in particular need for new-ness. In fact, one of the first things the Shimano product manager told us when giving us the spiel was the steps they took to fix the wandering bite point suffered by many current Shimano brakes. He actually used the term “wandering bite point” on the record. I often have a hard time getting straight answers—or sometimes any answers—when asking brands hard questions, so I can’t tell you how refreshing that was.

Brake Quick Hits

All new seal material and fluid chemistry effectively eliminates wandering bite point
Servo-wave lever uses a “pull master cylinder” for better ergonomics
Low-profile hose exit
Available in three configurations:
- Servo-wave lever with four-piston caliper
  - $335
  - 295g (front, no rotor)
- Servo-wave lever with two-piston caliper
  - $305
  - 259g (front, no rotor)
- Single-pivot lever with two-piston caliper
  - $295
  - 212g (front, no rotor)

If you’re not familiar with wandering bite point, it can result from a specific combination of conditions and actions that cause a brake lever to suddenly pull almost to the bar. It can happen to any brake, but it’s common with Shimano. Some power still gets to the caliper, but not much. To understand a primary cause for this, we need to understand caliper seals. They move the pads by flexing in and out against the pistons kinda like the springs around the edge of a trampoline. As heat builds up, the seals’ rebound speed increases. Simultaneously, fluid viscosity drops, and it can be pushed into the brake-lever reservoir too quickly. Then, if you immediately pull the brake again, there may be be less fluid in the system and the bite point can “wander” in. It’s the opposite problem that I had with the SRAM Maven brakes, whose bite point would wander out because the seals couldn’t push the fluid up fast enough. The solution is balance.

The new XTR brakes run on different fluid, which pairs specifically with different materials in their seals. Shimano tweaked the chemistry in each to better work in unison as operating temperatures change. The “in unison” part is key. You can’t just use the new fluid in old brakes and solve the issue. In my four months on this stuff, I never noticed any significant wandering bite point.

Outside the brakes, there’s one obvious change, which is the hose exit is closer to the bar. It was done to accommodate headset cable routing, an embarrassing trend in mountain-bike design. But Shimano claims to have focused on optimizing for external routing. I see what they mean. The hoses aren’t angled back towards you. You don’t need cable clips on your stem bolts to keep them from rattling against your bars as SRAM suggests on their Stealth brakes. It’s fine. I’ll allow it.

A less obvious change is the lever pivot position. The closer a pivot is to the bar, the more ergonomic the direction of the lever stroke. It arches towards your hand instead of away from it. The new Servo-Wave XTR lever moves the pivot from an already impressive (approximately) 35 mm from bar-center down to (approximately) 29 mm. This is possible thanks to a “pull master cylinder,” a concept Shimano has used in their road brake levers. It works just like you’d think. The lever pulls the piston into the master cylinder instead of pushing it. The good ol’ Servo-Wave linkage still ramps up power late in the lever stroke, but it also now pulls instead of pushes. Even more subtle than the pivot point is the slight upward tilt in the lever blades themselves. Though, I can already hear the jokes. Shimano lever blades are so thin, most that are currently in the wild are probably canted up or down a couple degrees already. The idea, like the change in pivot point, is to work with your hand’s natural motion. The new shape is aimed at a more “aggressive” (flatter) lever position.

Aside from the new chemistry in the piston seals, there’s not much change in the caliper design. They still use the same piston sizes and pad geometry as other four-piston Shimano brakes. But there was a subtle update to address a rattle that seemed worsened by the cooling-fin-equipped Ice Tech pads. So, Shimano investigated and found most of the noise wasn’t from the cooling fins hitting the caliper body, but from hitting the retention pin that kept them in place. So, they simply made a tighter fit between the pad body and the pin.

The Other New XTR Brake(s)

There’s still a lighter-weight XC version of the brake, with a two-piston caliper and a simpler, lighter lever without the Servo-Wave link, pull cylinder, or new pivot point. It’s effectively the same as the old XC two-piston brake, just with the new seals and fluid. But there’s an interesting half-step between the two. Shimano found that the Servo-Wave lever added more power than the four-piston caliper, so Shimano offers a kit with the two-piston calipers and the fancy new lever.

The New XTR Wheels

Last but not least, Shimano’s on-again-off-again relationship with carbon wheels is on again. There’s an XC and a trail/enduro option. Both are 29-inch only, and both use an updated version of Shimano’s Direct Engagement ratchet mechanism that kinda resembles Chris King in that the ratchet rings are on helical sliders. The new Shimano hub is actually faster than a King, now engaging 3.5 degrees apart compared to 5 degrees. The real news, though, is that the XTR hub is no longer a cup-and-cone design. Yeah, cartridge bearings are less romantic, but all things considered, they’re lower maintenance. And Shimano made some purpose-built tools to safely replace them.

Wheel Quick Hits

3.5-degree engagement
Sealed cartridge bearings
3-year warranty against defects
29-inch only
Trail / Enduro Version
- 30 mm inner width carbon rim
- 4mm bead walls
- 28 J-bend stainless spokes
- 1,791g / pair
- $1,715 / pair
XC version
- 29.6 mm inner width carbon rim
- Hook bead
- 24 straight-pull titanium spokes
- 1,157g / pair
- $2,395 / pair

The trail / enduro hub uses 28 traditional J-bend spokes, while the XC rim uses 24 straight-pull titanium spokes. I always heard ti spokes made for flexy wheels and they never stop stretching, though I can’t speak from personal experience. No word from Shimano if there’s any special sauce in them.

The trail / enduro rim has a 30 mm inner width with 4mm-thick non-hooked bead walls and an asymmetric cross-section. The XC rim has a 29.6 mm inner width, hooked bead walls and an asymmetric cross-section. The wheels are covered by a three-year warranty, but it’s not the “no-questions-asked” sort of warranty that’s been adopted by many carbon wheel brands. Only damage determined to be caused by a manufacturer defect will be covered.

Ok, so that’s the nuts and bolts of it all. Let’s talk about the experience.

Installation and Setup

The first couple steps of installing the new XTR wireless derailleur isn’t very different from on a traditional Shimano drivetrain. I’ve gotten in the habit of starting by checking hanger alignment, since it’s so crucial in our wide-range world. Next, you follow Shimano’s guidelines for cutting your chain to length, you bolt on the derailleur like normal, and you thread the chain through it. No need to deflate the shock and contort your linkage into bottom-out. Though you do need to pair the derailleur to the shifter, which doesn’t require the Shimano’s E-Tube app, but it helps. I’ll dive into all of its beeps and boops later.

You adjust the B-bolt like you would any other Shimano derailleur, and you fine tune the shifting with that small third “adjustment mode” button. The stop screws are a little tricky because you can’t tug at the cable and listen for the “thunk.” So, at each end, I’d push the parallelogram with my hand and adjust the stop screw until it stopped

It’s hard to compare this process to SRAM Transmission installation, but it’s also hard not to. They’re completely different, but they’re direct competitors. I’ve actually gotten quite used to the very robotic, rules-based Transmission setup, and now that SRAM has increased the mounting-bolt torque spec, it’s never done me wrong. But I will say it was comforting to have full control over my drivetrain installation again.

Shifter Setup

The paddle-angle-adjustment feature seemed like a gimmick at first, but I don’t think of it as angle-adjustment. I think of it more like relative-position adjustment. I tilted the shifter down and forward, and tilted the paddles up and back to compensate. It had the effect of making them more “above-and-below” than “in-front-and-behind.” I’d survive without it, but I liked it.

App Functions

The app offers even deeper customization. You can program a long hold on the shift to result in multi shifting of two gears, three gears, or all the way until you run out of gears. And you can actually adjust the speed of that multi-shift. Choose between very slow, slow, normal, fast, or very fast. And remember, the new XTR shifter paddles can double shift. Each one goes click-CLICK. So, you can program what the shifter will do for each click. Here’s the configuration I ended up with:

First downshift click: Single shift
Second downshift click: Multi-shift, all gears, very fast
First upshift click: Single shift
Second upshift click: Multi-shift, two gears, very fast.

That way, lazy individual shifts never became accidental multi-shifts. For frantic downshifts as I was approaching an uphill, I could push into the second click, hold it down, and get a bunch of gears at once. Then on upshifts, I rarely want such drastic change, but if I do, I still want it to happen fast.

And I can’t overstate the artistry in the double click. It mimics the tactile feel of a cable-actuated shifter, but much quicker and with much less physical effort. And the ramp-up in resistance in that second click makes accidental double shifts very rare. It’s the way electronic shifting should be. I know some people like that the new SRAM pod shifter puts two very similar-feeling buttons very close together despite the fact that they do very different things. But it never made sense to me. This does.

Drivetrain

It wouldn’t be very helpful for me to spend another 1,000 words telling you that the new XTR drivetrain shifts quickly. I just did it in half a sentence. So, I thought I’d elaborate by comparing it to three also-quick 12-speed options: Cable-actuated Shimano, traditional SRAM AXS, and SRAM AXS Transmission. I’m excluding SRAM Eagle 90 because, though impressive on its own terms, SRAM doesn’t make a cable-actuated Transmission drivetrain to rival XTR. I did a very short loop on each and scrutinized how they shifted in various scenarios. Granted, the other drivetrains weren’t new, and they weren’t XTR quality. But each one’s performance was consistent with how I’d experienced them in the past. So, it’s a valid experiment, but no, it ain’t perfect.

XTR Di2 vs. Cable-Actuated Shimano

Hyperglide+ (the tooth/chain profile of Shimano 12-speed) is uniquely good at crossing several gears at once. That’s especially true when going from high to low for a sudden climb. It can’t do it under load, but adding electronics won’t change that. And, it’s a double-edged sword. To me, it feels more natural to make two deep, forceful swipes with a mechanical paddle than it is to press and hold a button, or to spam it like Space Invaders. I have gotten used to that approach, but I wouldn’t say Di2 is any better at leaping to the granny gear on short notice.

If we’re shifting just one or two gears, Di2 did feel faster than mechanical. And although this new XTR isn’t any more tolerant of shifting one gear under load, it’s definitely no less tolerant. You have to be reasonable, though. Cranking full-bore and intentionally jamming in a shift won’t turn out well. But it’s ok if you shift a little late and you got on the gas a little early. This is true of wired and wireless Shimano, but those late shifts are where wireless has the edge. Wireless shifts feel like a reflex, so they were rarely late. Shimano still has the best cable-actuated drivetrain I’ve ridden, but it made me miss the effortlessness of wireless.

XTR di2 vs. Hanger-Mount SRAM AXS

Here’s a good place to mention that it’s possible to use a hanger-mount AXS derailleur with a Shimano chain and cassette. The gaps between the cogs are effectively identical between the two. But Shimano once told me that there are geometric differences that can negatively impact shift quality. Like, the upper pulleys sit at different distances from the cogs. The chain won’t hit the cassette at the angle Shimano optimized Hyperglide+ shifting around. At this point in drivetrain evolution, the gains are microscopic, so I get it.

That could be a good topic for an in-depth head-to-head someday, for the purposes of these comparisons, I’ll play by the rules. Hanger-mount SRAM AXS of course offers the same effortless but instant reaction I keep praising on Shimano Di2. It’s why I love having SRAM AXS on my touring bike. But it also has that big jump at the low end, which Shimano Di2 does not. And again, Shimano’s Hyperglide + makes for better, smoother transitions from gear to gear, especially when there’s a reasonable amount of load on the chain. And Hyperglide+’s talent for big sweeping shifts pairs well with the new XTR shifter’s double-click levers and smart customization.

XTR Di2 vs. SRAM AXS Transmission

At some point down the road, I’ll do a deeper dive into this comparison, too. It deserves it. But I’ll keep it brief here since there’s already so much to cover. I’ve been riding Transmission a lot in the past two years, and I’ve gotten used to how set-and-forget it is. I never have to fine-tune anything. It always works the same. The new XTR would occasionally hesitate. I needed to its micro-adjust function twice during my test period, while literally never having needed it on my GX Transmission drivetrain. Not a big deal, but not insignificant.

SRAM Transmission is better than XTR Di2 at downshifting one or two gears under load. It’s quicker and quieter, and that doesn’t change significantly as you increase load. Even to unreasonable levels. There’s still a loud singular “snap” as the last link makes its move, but SRAM almost feels like a continuously variable transmission. Especially when shifting just one gear, I usually feel the ratio change before I even hear a sound. While on XTR Di2, loaded downshifting creates a very brief but audible grind that you can feel through your feet. Loaded upshifting isn’t that different between SRAM and Shimano, though I’m rarely in such a hurry to upshift that I can’t back off the pedals.

In fact, after more than three decades of learning the hard way, it’s extremely rare that I shift under load at all. Maybe it’ll happen accidentally, like those aforementioned last-minute decisions that set Di2 apart from cable-actuated Shimano. And Transmission is more tolerant of those, too. It’s truly impressive what SRAM has pulled off. But I don’t think every rider needs to—or ought to—have loaded shifting high on their list of deciding factors. If you’re racing, sure. Or if you’re on an e-MTB. I’m not a big fan of either. They’re a perfect setting for Transmission’s brute-force approach to problem solving. XTR is more elegant.

Drivetrain Pros

Shifts as fast as you can push a lever
Tactile shifter design makes sense
Deep, smart customization
No clutch to wear out or fail
Low-profile shape
Traditional, familiar set-up process
Mounts to a replaceable hanger
Derailleur is flexible enough to absorb direct hits
Mid-cage option for aggressive and/or weight-couscious riders
Compatible with existing Shimano 12-speed components
Compatible with 52.5mm chainline

Drivetrain cons:

Not as “set-and-forget” as SRAM Transmission
Doesn’t shift under load as well as Transmission
Battery not compatible with any wireless dropper or electronically controlled suspension.
Expensive … until it trickles down

Longevity Impressions

I haven’t had enough time on the new XTR to speak to its longevity, but I do have two anecdotes that relate to things that can go wrong over time with a drivetrain. One was an unexpected overshift on a steep fire-road climb. The chain dropped off the large cog into the spokes. That’s not a news-worthy event. It’s the kind of thing that simply happens once in a while. Maybe your stop screws aren’t quite perfect, maybe your hanger got bent at some point. But it stands out because this has never happened to me on my any Transmission drivetrain. It would be quite a feat if it had, because the T-type’s stop “screws” are fixed, and its hanger is famously robust. That’s its whole deal. I caught this derailment in time, pulled the chain out, and sure enough, found the lower stop screw was slightly too far out. I hadn’t checked it since Shimano had installed the derailleur, but new bikes have things “settle in” sometimes. I’ll just have to keep an eye on it, I guess…

The other anecdote would be a lot more dramatic if I had taken a picture of it in the field. The above photo is my attempt at re-enacting what happened, though I failed to actually replicate the state the derailleur was in after “the incident.” It somehow jammed itself up against the cassette and I had to forcably dislodge it for the chain to move again. This was pretty much a worst-case scenario derailleur strike. I sorely misjudged the gap between a couple rocks I was threading through, and one scored a direct hit to the front of the newly slimmed-down pulley-cage connection. My pedals jammed up, and I feared the worst. Looking back at it didn’t help. But lo and behold, it turned out almost unharmed.

In a moment of unintended cooperation, the SRAM hanger may have helped save the Shimano derailleur. UDH is able to pivot back in the event of an impact. The XTR derailleur can also can pivot back. Somehow, the chain got yanked past the little retention fin in the pulley cage, so before I could ride again, I had to remove the lower pulley and scissor the chain back in place, but damn. The thing still works great.

Although a Transmission derailleur’s broad clutch assembly makes collisions more likely, I haven’t experienced one nearly as dramatic as what I put this XTR derailleur though. T-type derailleurs also can rotate back, but only as far as one pivot will allow it. Shimano uses a hanger, which means it has two pivots. Looking at this above image, the derailleur can stretch out nearly parallel with the chainstay. Theoretically, it should be able to get out of the way of almost anything that clears your dropout. It must have worked, because even after checking with my hanger alignment gauge, I found barely any evidence of trauma. And it still shifts like new.

Brakes

I like how Shimano brake levers feel. I like how short they are. Using them feels like a reflex. And the new closer, more ergonomic pivot position adds to that sensation. That slight upward angle of the blades is kinda ‘meh,’ though. I don’t really notice it, but I suppose that’s better than distracting me. I will say I liked it more the flatter I set my levers, which is something I should do anyway for better body positioning and less death-gripping. My only real complaint is that the free-stroke (lever motion before pads make contact) is on the long side for my taste. Hayes has cut theirs down to a minimum and new SRAM brakes are quicker, too. There’s ways to cheat, but they can cause inconsistencies when pads wear or fluid heats up, so I played by the rules.

If you’ve used Shimano brakes in the past, these perform similarly on the trail. Again, the lever ergonomics have improved without feeling unfamiliar. And that new pivot positon technically should add a bit of power because less of your finger’s effort is being wasted by pulling the lever in a direction it doesn’t want to go. But that all must be subtle because the overall power felt the same as what I was used to. And the power curve felt the same, too. It ramps up after an already pretty bitey initial contact, but a Shimano brake’s moderate squishiness means that its ramp-up is easy to navigate. I tested them with metallic pads, so there’s room to soften that initial bite if I wanted.

The tighter pad / retention pin fit seemed successful in quieting down the pad rattle, something I’m uniquely sensitive to. I usually hacksaw the cooling fins off the pads on my review bikes. I don’t think the rattle is completely gone, though. There are a lot of noises that could be masking it, but the point is that it doesn’t stand out. And that’s nice, because I like those finned pads. Shimano tells me their finned, steel-aluminum-steel sandwich Freeza rotors pull out more heat than the finned pads do, but I remember the finned pads alone getting me a good 20% further down some unsustainably steep fall-line trails before the heat had them howling and the power dropping. That hasn’t happened in my testing of the new XTR brakes. I haven’t ridden them anywhere unsustainable yet, but I have taken them down an over-3,000-foot, sub-three-mile descent, and they never changed their behavior or sound.

Speaking of which, my most important takeaway on the brakes is that I never experienced any wandering bite point. The last Shimano brakes I rode were on the Ibis Ripmo I tested, and on my first run down that brake-burning 3,000-foot descent, its current-generation XT levers started pulling to the bar about three quarters the way down. And I’m kinda the perfect person to test this. I weigh over 190 pounds, plus gear. And I do a lot of indecisive “feathering” on my brakes. So, I give the brake fluid a lot of opportunities to overfill the reservoir. I suppose it’s still happening to some extent. The reason we have reservoirs is to allow things in the brakes to change, and that balance is never going to be totally perfect. But if the bite point did wander, it never left my sight.

Brake Pros

Zero perceptible wandering bite point
Close-to-bar pivot feels great and adds power
Strong, but not too strong
Hose angle looks fine with non-headset routing
Pads are less rattly than previous brakes

Brake Cons

Free-stroke may be too long for some tastes
Reach adjustment is a little hard to adjust on the fly

Wheels

This was kind of a surprise. Shimano isn’t really known for their mountain bike wheels. Even the hubs are rarely seen in a world dominated by DT Swiss and Industry Nine. But I think the move to cartridge bearings and a very quick-engaging freehub at least brings the hubs into the modern era, even if the rim warranty does not. This is a good time to give another shot at complete wheels.

The hub is a bit on the loud side. Not as loud as an Industry Nine Hydra, but louder than either DT Swiss wheelset I had on hand. The volume and pitch are actually really similar to a Chris King, as is the engagement. My trials background has made me a lifelong fan of quick-engaging hubs. They can exacerbate pedal kickback, but I can’t really comment. My trails don’t feature much of the mid-speed high-intensity drops most likely to expose kickback problems, nor are my bikes of the long-travel sort that do the same. At least I didn’t have any issues with kickback running these wheels on the Spot Mayhem 140, or the bike they’re on as I write this.

There’s nothing noteworthy about the rim feel, but I suppose that’s a good thing. It hasn’t been since the early ENVE days that I’ve felt a rim be distractingly harsh. And any damping offered by the unique thermoplastic Forge + Bond wheels was extremely subtle. Claims of revolutionary compliance have died down in general, though, so I’m kinda glad Shimano’s not making a big deal of it.

My rear wheel developed a slight bend late in testing, but it was minor. And the resulting spoke tension imbalance was on my side as I trued it up. So, good as new, but that has me thinking these are a shade on the trail side of their trail / enduro hyphen. With one exception, though. My second ride on the new XTR was on a particularly rocky trail I hadn’t ridden in years. I bottomed-out the Maxxis Double-Down-casing tire hard on a pretty sharp edge, and the rim survived.

Thoughts On the Future of Cable-Actuated XTR

Shimano didn’t tell us whether they had plans to stop production on cable-actuated XTR any time soon, but you probably won’t see any bike brands speccing their flagship models with it. As for aftermarket availability, take a look at Dura-Ace. The current-generation 9200 series Dura-Ace group doesn’t include a cable-actuated version, but there still are plenty of cable-actuated 9100 shifters and derailleurs for sale. So, beyond just parts and warranty support, it’s likely that 9100 XTR will stick around for at least a little while. Also, Shimano has shown a commitment to investing in practical, robust cable-actuated product lines like Linkglide and Cues. Shimano doesn’t appear to be abandoning cables.

Thoughts On the Future

I’ve got plans for these parts. They’ll be making the rounds on frames from small brands who might not have complete bikes available to send out for review. We’ve already got a couple cool little European numbers lined up. Meanwhile, my SRAM AXS Transmission will stay on my personal bike. And I bet I’ll think about it sometimes. Like how Transmission will never drop the chain into the spokes, or how it so graciously forgives me when I get on the gas before a shift is complete. But once in a while, I’ll probably have a reason to bring my bike out of hibernation. Like maybe one of those European frames will get stuck in customs. And then, I’m sure I’ll miss the satisfying tactility of the XTR shifter, or the unbeatable speed of the XTR derailleur.

That’s what’s so encouraging about this new era of the SRAM / Shimano rivalry. Each brand’s strengths dovetail perfectly against the other’s. SRAM is direct-mount, Shimano is hanger-mount. SRAM shifters feel digital, Shimano shifters feel analog. SRAM focused on loaded shifting, Shimano focused on fast shifting. SRAM has a clutch, Shimano just has a spring. Hopefully, as these new XTR concepts trickle down, this divergence will continue. There’s only so cheap that an electronic drivetrain can go, but rumors indicate Shimano may be going more affordable than they ever have. Anyway, Shimano clearly cares about their cable-actuated customers. A clutch-free mechanical drivetrain is potentially on its way. Maybe even a stout little 9-45 one, too. And Shimano has long been the king of affordable hydraulic disc brakes. If XTR’s updates make it to the whole line, the impact would be huge. Point is, innovation soldiers on. There was a real fear that the precedent set by Transmission would erode consumer choice, but Shimano’s first rebuttal indicates that choice is alive and well.

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