11 speed. 7 pieces (Shifter levers - left and right with cables and housing, bottom bracket, crankset, cassette, chain, front derailleur and rear derailleur). Note: The Q-factor is wider by 10mm on Trail 9020 Cranksets | 168mm than Race 9000 Cranksets | 158mm.
Shimano have just pulled the covers off their brand new XTR drivetrain; M9000, and boy does it look good. Replacing the outgoing M980 10-speed DynaSys groupset, it appears that Shimano are finally ready to make their move in response to the XX-1 groupset from SRAM. Far from just adding an extra cog to the rear cassette though, M9000 will bring with it a whole host of changes and radical improvements that will see the Japanese giant attempt to reclaim the mantle as the drivetrain manufacturer to beat. And from the looks of things, they’re going to give it a red hot crack!
We’ve got the Shimano press release in all its polished glory below, but for those with short attention spans, here’s the rundown: The new drivetrain revolves around an 11-speed cassette with an 11-40t range. Unlike the XX-1 and X0-1 cassettes, Shimano’s XTR offering uses a conventional splined freehub body, so no special XD driver required. Shimano have kept it tight at 11-40t in order to maintain a smooth step-up as you click through the gears – this appears to be one of their main selling points over the 10-42t cassettes from SRAM. The front crankset sees multiple options available, with 3x, 2x and 1x setups. The single-chainring version uses a special tooth profile to aid in chain retention, which Shimano states will eliminate any need for a chain guide. The rear derailleur uses an updated Shadow Plus friction clutch, while an offset pulley and reworked cable-pull ratio look to provide smoother shifting and improve the derailleur’s “stability” over rough terrain. The new rear mech is also lower profile than the outgoing XTR M985 rear mech, which should make it quite stealthy in comparison to the beefy XX-1 derailleurs. A completely new front derailleur boasts a massive improvement in shifting effort, which appears to draw heavily from the new Dura-Ace road groupset. This light shifting ethos is carried forward to the shifters, which employ a ball bearing system and low-friction cables to provide a smoother action overall.
We love this Shimano XTR M-9000 Groupset.
Buy Shimano XTR M-9000 Groupset from Texas Cyclesport, your Online Bike Store.
