When Shimano finally brought back Di2 to mountain biking this summer, this time in wireless form, it was a long awaited and arguably long-overdue release for the Japanese component manufacturer. It wasn’t exactly what was expected, though. It offered a different take on how wireless shifting could compete against good old cable-driven drivetrains.
With XT, Shimano’s wireless design dropped significantly in price from XTR without losing much by way of function, just less titanium in the construction. XT also, crucially, gets the significant update to Shimano’s brake design that finally resolves many riders issues with those components.
After spending months riding XT Di2, we’re as impressed as we were on day one. It’s not perfect, but it is really good. It’s really fast. It has a shifter that improves on the mechanical version. It is broadly compatible with existing Shimano parts.
XT Di2 and the long-term advantage of electronics
We’ve talked at length about different parts of XT Di2, and Shimano’s new wireless group at this point. In our first impressions story, when it was released and in our comparison to the higher-priced XTR group. After five months on group, there’s not a ton more to say.
That is, in part, because XT still feels much like it did the day we put it on our bike. Which is, to be clear, quite impressive. There’s no change to the shifting feel, shifting speed. It’s not doing anything different or weird. As long as I keep the chain clean enough it still rolls smooth. Even when I don’t, and let it get covered in much and built-up grime, Shimano’s little robots are still quite convincing in forcing the chain to shift quickly and predictably. Even when jamming across multiple gears in a rush, XT Di2 happily obliges. There is the occasional audible clunk to bigger shifts into harder gears under power, but it also always makes the shift.
To sum up, the only change is no change. That might seem like a non-statement, but it is one of the bigger selling points of going electronic. Over the months of testing I’ve jumped back and forth between this bike, my personal bike with admittedly worn out mechanical XT and a new test bike with mechanical XT. While both mechanical groups still shift well, there is a different feel at the shifter between the crisp new test group and my personal group. There’s a different weight, resistance, snap-back of the lever that, if you have strong preferences for lever feel, you have…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…