Yesterday was a huge day in the bike drivetrain industry.
Shimano finally came out with their "big news." They've been taking a lot of hits recently, in the press and in market share, losing out to SRAM on the 1x revolution. They teased a huge release at Interbike '13, and then totally underwhelmed everybody when they released a . . . . wait for it. . . . . . POV camera!!
That's right: that's the hole in the market Shimano perceived and rushed in to fill. For a company with ambitions and ruthlessness on par with Emperor Palpatine, they have more than their fair share of head-scratching moves.
Then they teased more big news at SOC '14, and finally released their 1x mechanical system. They are going with a 11-40, instead of the 10-42 of SRAM, or the 11-42 that the majority of the market, including me, has turned to. That's a mistake. And they are going with 11 speeds, like SRAM, and unlike the majority of the market, which is still between 8 and 10 speeds.
So all that left Shimano wallowing in SRAM's wake, with even MRP, Raceface, Wolftooth, and companies like that starting to chew away at the edges of Shimano's market share.
Finally they came out with some real, really amazing news:
an electric MTB group: XTR Di2
here's some links:
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/first-look-shimano-xtr-di2-electric-shifting.html
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/article/shimano-xtr-di2-electronic-shifting-comes-to-mountain-bikes-41184/
http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/05/30/shimano-unveils-xtr-di2-mountain-bikes-go-digital-lose-a-shifter/
http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/05/31/shimano-pro-components-adds-di2-integrated-xc-handlebar-stem-seatpost/
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/components/groupset/groupset-mountain/product/review-shimano-xtr-di2-48474/
Quite a few of Shimano's pros are switching immediately to Di2 for this weekend's race. Of those, most will be running 1x instead of 2x, and none will use 3x.
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/albstadt-bike-checks-xc-world-cup-2014.html
According to the blog of a race mech with one of the world cup XC teams, less than a quarter of the riders this weekend will use 2x, and none will use 1x. Makes me smile. In 2011, I was told in no uncertain terms that 1x would never work, in particular because of resistance from hard core XC riders, especially European ones. It was four SRAM executives who told me that, four of the highest in the company. We argued strongly that they were wrong. On the day, we lost the argument. In the long run, we lost the deal and went with another buyer. But in the long long run, we seem to have totally won the argument.
One argument I still lose with people though: I maintain that 1x is the future of all biking, not just MTB. On road, touring, cruiser, whatever the bike, it just makes sense. It's been tough getting people to listen to me on that one, but the industry is starting to come around. This is the second year in a row I've seen a review of a 1x road bike in a major mag.
http://bicycletimesmag.com/first-impression-fyxation-quiver/
That's right, a 1x stock setup on a road bike. I was told by people on my own team, by SRAM, by anybody who would listen, it was a stupid idea.
We'll see. . . . . . .