Shimano followed up their first wireless, and first wide-range 1x electronic GRX Di2 RX820-series gravel groupset, with a new lower-cost GRX Di2 RX710-series. Much like on the MTB side, a slightly heavier Di2 rear derailleur cuts cost considerably. Then, simplified shift & brake controls save your wallet quite a bit more, now with Shimano’s first 1x-only Di2 dropbar controls to cross over to road bikes, too.
We just got our hands on a sample of the more affordable GRX Di2 setup, so naturally, we threw it on the scale before building it up.
Shimano GRX Di2 RX710-series mix-and-match gravel group
There are really only three components to the new GRX Di2 RX710-series groupset (bottom left & bottom center). But we combined it with a mostly mid-spec component setup fitting to the mix-and-match nature of all of GRX’s possibilities, to see how much a complete RX710-series drivetrain weighs.
Plus, let’s take a look at how the actual RX710-series component weights compare to recent Shimano Di2 gravel & mountain bike product debuts…
Shimano GRX Di2 RX10-series weight: 1x SGS Rear Derailleur
First off, there’s the new GRX Di2 rear derailleur. With the same exact tech we saw for XTR, XT, Deore & this summer’s RX825 GRX, the new RX717 derailleur features full compatibility across the entire wireless Di2 ecosystem. It gets the same low-profile design, impact recovery, and the dual-spring ‘not a clutch’ Slim Stabilizer for reliable chain retention. Plus, it gets solid pulleys that you won’t have to dig grit out of to keep your drivetrain cleaner.
The one real distinguishing feature from the other new wireless Di2 derailleurs is the long SGS steel cage, bringing the weight of the new $435 / 380€ GRX Di2 RX717 rear derailleur to 518g, complete with its battery.
That’s actually just 1g over Shimano’s claimed weight, which is without the $55 / 45€ battery. Can electronic drivetrain makers please stop quoting component pricing & weights without the battery, since that would obviously make them useless! Anyway, it’s the same new 23g wireless Di2 battery as all the other off-road drivetrains, which all share the same USB-C charger, too.
Just like we expected, it looks like DRX Di2 RX717 is exactly the same as Deore Di2 M6200, just with a different finish. Yes, you could have already paired a Deore Di2 derailleur to GRX Di2 shifters to save a little money (which promises all of the performance of the SGS versions of XTR, XT, or GRX RX 825… just with a weight penalty).
But now Shimano makes it a unified group, with their first proper wireless Di2 dropbar levers for 1x drivetrains…
Shimano GRX Di2 RX710-series weight: 1x Brake & Shift Levers
While many gravelers coming from the road still like 2x setups, 1x really seems to be the way forward for simple gravel setups for most riders. And there’s no need for putting smart wireless electronic shifting hardware inside the left-hand lever on a 1x, so Shimano could save you a bit of money and weight here.
Our $230 / 210€ right-hand RX717 dual control Di2 brake & shifter lever weighed 219g. That’s a pre-bled brake lever with a plastic plug keeping the mineral oil from escaping, easily accounting for an extra 6-10g. Same story with the slightly cheaper $205 / 175€ left-hand RS715 brake-only lever that weighed 198g (pre-bled & plugged
So you save $25/35€ and 23g by doing without any Di2 shift electronics or the two small CR1632 button cell batteries inside.
That right dual control appears to be an exact copy of the ST-R7170-R 105 Di2 lever, only this new gravel version gets GRX-branding and a slightly more matte finish. As for the left 1x brake-only lever, it appears that the Shimano-branded version does also get that other shiny finish for anyone wanting to seamlessly match 105 for a 1x road Di2 setup.
More affordable Shimano GRX Di2 build: RX410 Brakes weight
That’s the end of the official GRX Di2 710-series, though.
To complete a more affordable Shimano GRX Di2 build, you need to dig through the myriad of almost a dozen different levels of GRX components. That’s a blessing and a curse in my opinion. One, it’s nice to have a lot of options. But it’s also easy enough to get confused.
For GRX-branded flat mount disc brake calipers, there are four possible options: 400, 410, 810 & 820. We went with the newer ~$70 / 65€ 410-series as one of the simpler & cheaper options, now with “enhanced modulation and a quicker initial braking point” over the previous 400-series. They weighed in at 168g for the uncut front with the fork mount adapter, and 167g for the longer uncut rear caliper & hose.
More affordable Shimano GRX Di2 build: RX610 1x Crankset weight
The crankset is another place where you get a couple of options. There are eleven different GRX cranksets, but only two are 1x and 12-speed compatible – RX610 & RX820. We went for the cheaper $180 / 155€ aluminum RX610, which weighed in at an even 800g for our 172.5mm crankarms and 38T chainring combination.
For comparison, the 820 cranks in the same size weigh more than 165g less for an extra 70€. That’s quite a bit of weight savings that looks like a good deal in hindsight.
Our more affordable GRX Di2 build still gets XT Cassette, Chain, BB & Pedals
That’s the official extent of components that get GRX branding. The remainder comes from the mountain bike side of things because of the shared wide-range 12-speed gearing and off-road use.
So, for our more affordable GRX Di2 test bike setup, we stuck with all XT-level (MT800 or M8100) components. XT tends to offer the best performance at mostly reasonable prices, even if it’s a bit more expensive than the SLX or Deore level.
We start with this 10-51T XT M8100-series HyperGlide+ cassette that came with the first mechanical 12-speed XT more than 5 years ago, weighing 466g. It’s $195 / 165€, which can often be bought a bit cheaper than the newer 8200 version, and the only obvious difference being its black alloy cogs vs. grey on the newer cassette. Interestingly, the 10-51T option is about 10% heavier than the new 9-45T XT offering that is designed for the shorter GS cage only offered for XTR Di2 & XT Di2. GRX Di2 does not get a GS short cage option, even though it would save weight, likely because drivetrains tend to have increased drag at smaller cogs, making pedaling in a 9T less efficient.
Nothing fancy in our $44 / 33€ classic external BSA threaded MT801 bottom bracket at 77g, or in the $62 / 54€ M8100 12sp HyperGlide+ chain at 279g for the full 126-link uncut length.
Lastly, no fancy special limited edition GRX pedals were available, so I stuck with a set of trusty $140 / 135€ XT Race M8100 cross-country pedals.
GRX Di2 vs. GRX Di2, Total Weight & Price Difference
It’s a bit tricky to directly compare the newly more affordable GRX Di2 RX710-series 1x groupset to the original GRX Di2 RX820-series, as neither is as purely complete as Shimano’s road or mountain groups are. So there’s a bit more room for picking and choosing individual components.
In the strictest sense, based just on the new derailleur and shift/brake controls, the new RX710-series weighs 935g and costs $870 / 765€. And the RX820-series of the same weighs 893g, for $1425 / 1160€.
So the weight penalty on derailleur and levers alone is just 42g for a substantial cost savings of $555/ 395€.
If you add up all of my components (above) and compare them to the 1x GRX Di2 on Jordan’s bike that still has left & right shifters, his RX820-series setup weighs 2715g, and my RX710-series weighs 2892g. That’s still a difference of only 177g, while my setup retails for $845 /506€ less. At about $1550 / 1346€ for everything except rotors, wireless electronic setups are still not nearly as cheap as mechanical. But this new RX710-series, paired with GRX 400 & 600, certainly makes Shimano GRX Di2 a lot more affordable.
Read more tech details in our ‘affordable GRX Di2’ launch coverage, here!
