Shimano doesn’t do a whole lot of press releases when it comes to new components, so when they do, you can expect them to be full of new products – and the latest doesn’t disappoint. There’s so much in fact, that we’re going to split it into two posts, MTB and Road/Comfort products. The mountain side of things brings logical evolution of trickle down technology, but also a few new products that we weren’t expecting. Compact triple anyone? As usual there are completely new products as well as continuous improvement type stuff aimed at keeping Shimano mountain bike parts at the head of the curve for engineering and durability.
Dive into the latest pool of Shimano Blue after the break.
Thanks to trickle down tech, the Deore 610 group might finally get the attention it deserves with a complete overhaul including a Shadow + rear derailleur option and ICE technology for the disc brakes. In addition, there will now be double or triple options for Deore cranksets with shifters that have 2×3 mode converters two to switch between the two. With the addition of 15mm thru axle front hubs, Deore is now mostly up to date with modern XC and Trail bikes offering a feature packed group at a presumably great price.
In a move that they are calling “big wheel specific” Dyna-Sys cranks, Shimano is introducing a new Dyna-Sys compact triple tailor made for riders on 27.5 or 29″ mountain bikes. The compact triples consist of a 22-30-40T chainring combination and will be offered in Deore 610, SLX, and Deore XT to provide optimal gearing for bigger wheels.
To go along with the new cranks, two new derailleurs will be offered in XT and SLx – the FD-M781-A-B and FD-M671-A-B which are down swing designs with a low profile. It isn’t specified whether you will need these for the new compact triples, thought it’s probably one of those deal that for optimum shifting it is recommended – we’ll get more info and report back.
If you’ve seen our Chainwear Challenge, then you know the 10 speed Dyna-sys chains turned out to be more durable than their 9 speed counterparts. Well, they just got even better. Thanks to a new surface treatment that lowers friction and increases the grease holding capacity of the chain, new HG-X chains are more durable and offer smoother shifting than ever.
For the haters of 27.5 or 650b, look away now. If Shimano is getting behind a standard, then chances are it’s here to stay and the new line of 27.5″ wheels shows that Shimano is committed to the tweener wheels. While not pictured, Shimano is offereing 27.5″ wheels all the way up to the Deore XT Wh-M785 along with replacement level wheels like the WH-MT35s pictured above that will also be offered in 26 and 29″ as well, with a lower WH-MT15 available in 26 and 29″. Like most Shimano wheels, the hubs are fixed due to their angular contact cup and cone bearing design – which results in better hub durability, but prevents simply changing out axles to adapt the hub.
