Konichi-wa, continued...

Okay, the last installment of this centered on the cranks and wheels. Now we’ll get into the shifting and stopping of it all. One note before that, however: We previously mentioned the unobtanium nature of the carbon/ti composite middle chainring, but neglected to mention that it is standard 4-bolt compatible spacing, so it won’t be absolutely necessary to sell a kidney when replacement time comes. Now, on with the other gubbins:

Shifters. The shifters are now available in either Dual Control or RapidFire Plus layouts. We opted for the RapidFire Plus units. Ergonomics are trim and svelte, they can be mounted in a variety of positions, and the new two-way release lever means that the shifter can be used as either a push-pull or push-push device. I found that I tended to use it as a push-push when seated, and a push-pull when standing. However your tastes run, the action was light and crisp, and the controls fell intuitively to hand. In addition, the release lever is now able to dump two gears at a time instead of just one – handy for those moments when you need to grab more than one extra cog – although it took a few minutes to get used to the difference in feel between grabbing for just one cog instead of two.

We didn’t get much time on the Dual Control levers, but from a brief spin they felt less bulky, more finger friendly, crisper in their action, and generally much nicer than the old ones. Bear in mind that I am not a big fan of the previous Dual Control levers, however. The DC levers also feature the same multi-release function found on the RF pods, and have a nicely textured finish on the brake levers.

Derraillers. Rear units come in either Top-Normal (regular old fashioned) or Low-Normal (formerly known as Rapid-Rise, or reverse action) styles, and work with either set of shifters. The Low-Normal rear units are claimed to greatly enhance chain and cassette lifespan, something Shimano didn’t do a very good ob of talking up in the past. Both systems worked smoothly during our relatively brief time spent crashing on them, and they look much cleaner and more stylish in person than the original photo releases would have implied.

The front derrailler is available in either top or bottom swing configurations, and it absolutely rules. This was the first time in maybe forever that I’ve been able to set a bike up so that it could shift across an entire nine-speed rear cluster and not rub on the front cages, regardless of what chainring I was in. Rock on!

Brakes. There’s a whole lot to crow about here, with Centerlock brake rotors available in everything from supercompact 140mm (rear only) up to DH duty 203mm (front only) diameters. There is a choice of the Dual Control lever, or a new, dedicated XTR M-975 standalone brake lever (weighing in at a very svelte 194 grams per set). The blade is textured, there’s a swank “X” etched into the master cylinder, and the action is smooth and silky. The one-piece alipers come in either post or IS mounts, feature the same top-loading pad and dual piston design as before, and can be adapted for use with any of the different sized rotors. Shimano actually brews up its own proprietary pad material, and bonds it to titamium pad backing plates. Mineral oil still acts as the juice in the squeezer.

On trail performance, with the 160mm rotors front and rear, was very solid. The brakes were given some serious arm-pumping downhill testing in some really slippery terrain where modulation was crucial. My impression is that Shimano went for modulation over outright stopping power: the brakes weren’t one-finger touchy, but they offered a ton of feedback, and very impressively, remained quiet and consistent throughout two days of panicky, sphincter puckered descending. Power-mongers could opt for larger diameter rotors if they wanted one-finger faceplants. Given the terrain we were riding, this was a blessing.

So, there you have it. We didn’t get retail price lists, but were told that the shifters and rear derraillers would be slightly LESS expensive than the flagship SRAM X.0 competition. However, given the quality of worksmanship and attention to detail throughout the line, we don’t expect the parts exactly budget oriented. It’s top shelf gear, designed for and delivering top shelf performance, and it will in all likelihood fetch a top shelf price. Deservedly so...