GMBN's First Look At New Shimano XTR | 12 Speed MTB Drivetrain

We were invited out to the recent UCI World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy to take a look at Shimano's new XTR Drivetrain, their first ever 12 speed offering. With big changes as well as some detailed refinements to the famous groupset, we were more than a little excited to get riding!

In association with Shimano

Shimano have redesigned their classic freehub body to a 'Micro Spline' version which accepts this new 10-51, 12 speed cassette. Other big news is the addition of a 4 piston brake calliper for that extra power. The brakes also receive cooling fins and the levers get an extra point of contact on the bar to increase lever stiffness.

Amongst the major differences are some neat new refinements. Gone is the old preload cap and 4-bolt spider on the cranks and the shift levers get rubberised points of contact for feel and grip.

Watch more on GMBN...

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Leave us a comment below!

[maxarnold]

Damn gmbn posting a new video nearly every day. Killing it well done.

[martinwentz]

Shimano is the best! And you guys are amazing, keep doing this!

[jackedrussell]

Back in my day, we had 6 speed and we were grateful for it.

[RobertSchuster]

GMBN amazing video!! Thank you so much for the details. I’m out of a time you only had a monthly Magazin in your hand. It is so great to see, how you have been able to Digitalizing all this!💖💖
It is so good, that I’m watching it in parallel to the soccer world championship final FRA-CRO. You are clearly the Michael Jordan of all mtb YouTube channels!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

[ThunderStruckMTB]

I've been riding MTB since '87 and have never owned a single XTR not sure why really, but XT is my ceiling and SLX my floor.

[tommyestrada]

Another nice video, I would love the XTR, but I’ll wait for the XT’s.

[th_js]

I saw that exact same bike on Singletrack Magazines video and I will say this again. That's literally my dream bike build right there!

[WorldwideCyclery]

Nice peek into Shimano's new toys!

[pvillaluna]

Great in-depth review of this group set

[michaelutley]

Sram is the pioneer but man these XTR bits look sweet! Loving the new hub! Well done shimano

[carbonsuicidemtb]

The new xtr looks like the best xc groupset they've ever made, the option of a two by is genius, Shimano will always support us xc guys, thanks Shimano! Can't wait to get my hands on this groupset

[Arh-jpoi]

Beautiful bike, all in all. Really like the color combo! :)

[rigorhead]

Excited to try the new XTR stuff! I've been running full XTR drive train, brakes, and pedals for a couple of years now and I've been very happy with it all. However, my cassette has some significant wear and it's time for a new one. 12 speed this time!

[lynxg]

Shimano have finally gotten it right with the new i-spec, finally actually usable, hated it before, always ran separate shifter/brake levers for that reason. As with most others, will wait until it trickles down to XT and SLX, but honestly, have absolutely no trouble/wants with my current 10spd XT setup.
Honestly, you're a good bunch of guys, but for people who are supposed to be "In the know" your lack of knowledge/preparation sometimes when reporting on stuff amazes me. XTR has had Titanium cogs on it all the way back to 8spd, no experience with it before then.

[KAHx]

“Yay another I-spec standard” said no one ever...

[MrGruzefix]

It's already available on our shop's retailer's website. Crazy expensive, though :O

[MonteiroM]

When I got my first nice bike with Shimano Alivio derailleurs, they looked so good compared with the even cheaper ones, 7 x 3 speed, great times.

[nukedathlonman]

Nice, but how consistent is the gain ratio (resistance) change between the ratio's?

[michaelvernon]

Cant wait to see a u guys using a 1x13

[thembrown]

This was 2 years ago, but the rotors shown are the old ones, previous XTR cassettes like the m9000 had titanium