2012 Shimano XT First Look

Words Stuart Kernaghan

Date Jul 3, 2011

Anniversaries are always a great time to relaunch a product, and as luck would have it, 2012 marks the 30th anniversary of Shimano’s XT mountain bike group. XT has symbolized quality and performance without the top-shelf pricing of its XTR sibling,

I was invited down to Lake Tahoe, CA to check out the new bits and pieces. Everything looked great and worked well on the local trails, but it’s difficult to really get a feel for new gear until you’ve had some time on it on your local trails. So, what you get here is some photos of all the new parts mounted up on a bike. Next week, I’ll put serve up some first impressions of the new XT group, and then I’ll do a complete review after a few months of thrashing the parts on the trails around home.

On with the show…

Brake levers in black, with a shiny silver cover on the reservoir.

The 2012 XT brake levers are small and light. They incorporate Shimano’s Servo-Wave technology, as well as free stroke adjuster to change lever feel and tool-less reach adjuster. These brakes use mineral oil, like all other Shimano brakes, and feature a one-way bleeding system. They’re also compatible with Shimano’s Ispec mounting system. The clamp is also hinged, so you can remove the brakes without having to slide them off the bars.

Shifters can be mounted inboard or outboard. You can use gear indicators if you want, or go naked.

XT shifters are Rapidfire Plus with Vivid indexing (Shimano’s positive click action for shifting). They feature 2-Way Release as well, and a mode converter on the front shifter that lets you switch easily between double or triple cranksets.

A 180mm rotor mounted on a Fox fork with a 15mm axle.

Shimano unveiled its three-layer Ice-Tech three-layer rotors with XTR last summer, and it’s now on XT as well. The aluminum core helps dissipate heat, while the steel outer layers provide solid stopping power. Match that up with Ice-Tech pads and you should have much fewer issues with fading. Ice-Tech rotors come in 160, 180 and 203mm sizes for Center Lock or six-bolt rotor mounts.

A direct mount 160mm rear rotor mounted on a Giant Trance.

The new XT caliper uses oversized 22mm ceramic pistons for more power than the current version XT brakes.

Ice-Tech pads with aluminum cooling fins.

The XT disc brakes can be used with Ice-Tech pads in sintered or resin compounds, or standard Shimano pads.

The sexy new black XT cranks in three-ring flavor.

XT uses Shimano’s new Dyna-Sys drivetrain and comes as either a double or a triple chainring set-up. Triples come in a 42-32-24T, with a composite middle ring. Going with a 24T small ring means there’s less of a drop from the middle ring, so there should be fewer dropped chains. Double ring cranksets come in either 38-26T or 40-28T options.

The non-drive crank. There’s a threaded cap on the end to snug the crank onto the axle, and then two pinch bolts to hold it secure.

Perhaps one of my favorite parts of the entire group – the new XT pedal.

There are two new XT pedals available, an XC version and a trail version. They both get some serious upsizing, for increase surface contact area. The XC version has five times more surface area and comes in at 343 g/pair, while the trail version has eight and a half times more surface area for 408 g/pair.

The new XT rear derailleur…

You get a revamped Shadow rear derailleur with the new XT group, with minor modifications to fine tune performance. Rear derailleurs are available in short, medium length cages.

… and the new XT front derailleur.

Enhancements for the front derailleur include angled adjustment screws and clamp bolt for simplified installation and adjustments. Front derailleurs come in top and bottom swing verisons, as well as direct mount.

The new XT cassette, from the back. A lightweight spider carries the cogs.

XT is 10-speed, and uses the new 10-speed HG-X directional chain for optimal shifting. One tip – make sure you install the chain with the logo facing out. The first time. It comes in 11-36T, 11-34T and 11-32T options, so choose the right size for your fitness level and local terrain.

The XT group comes with two different wheel options, an XC version and a trail version.

There are two XT tubeless wheel options, an XC set and a trail set. Both use a 15mm front axle; the trail rear wheel comes in 142 x 12mm thru axle or a standard QR options and the XC version is standard QR only.

The rear trail wheel…

These wheels (and all others from Shimano) come set up with cup and cone bearings, and are only set up for Center Lock rotor mount. They have 24 stainless steel spokes on both wheels.

As far as the numbers go, here’s the breakdown from Shimano. MSRPs are in US dollars only at the moment.

SL-M780 Rapidfire Shifter	255g	159.99
BL-M785/BR-M785 brakes	266g for the set; 242g per caliper	$159.99 per wheel
ICE Tech rotor	Weights not available	$49.99 / £39.99 (160mm); $54.99 / £44.99 (180mm); $59.99 / £49.99 (203mm, Center Lock)
FC-M780/FC-M785 crankset	860g w/BB triple; 820g double	$319.99
RD-M780 rear derailleur	234g	$109.99
FD-M780/M781/M785/M786 front derailleur	153g for the low-clamp, top swing version	$54.99
CN-HG94 chain	343g	$49.99
CS-M771 cassette	273g	$99.99
WH-M785 Race wheels	1,625g with 15mm front	$749.99 for the set
WH-M788 Trail wheels	1,795g with 15mm front and 142mm rear	$749.99
PD-M780 Race pedals	343g	$149.99
PD-M785 Trail pedals	403g	$149.99