Photos posted to a forum that claim to show the new XTR Di2 groupset bear a strikingly close resemblance to illustrations in a patent filed by Shimano, hinting a new flagship mountain bike groupset could finally be on the way.
Patents – including this one, which was filed in 2023 – often give us a glimpse as to what the products of the future may look like but it's rare we have supporting photos ahead of an official launch to potentially corroborate what's shown.
Claimed by the original poster on WeightWeenies to have been sourced "online on a buying and selling website", the photos appear to show a fully wireless design – a key focus of the patent and, as a first for the Japanese brand, the feature top of our new XTR wishlist published last summer.
Images of the rear derailleur feature a '12S' logos, suggesting the pictured components are 12-speed, as opposed to 11-speed on the previous model.
This wouldn’t come as a surprise given the rest of Shimano’s mountain bike groupsets have moved to 12-speed, including the mechanical equivalent of XTR, which launched in 2018.
New XTR brakes, which bear many similarities to brakes spotted last year on some Shimano-sponsored downhill bikes are also seen in the leaked images.
As for names, we expect from Shimano’s usual structure that this will be called Shimano XTR M9200, following on from the current M9100.
It has been nearly seven years since Shimano updated the mechanical version of its top-of-the-range mountain bike groupset and it was 2015 when the Di2 version was last updated. In the time since, SRAM has staked its claim in the high-end drivetrain market, with electronic groupsets taking hold and SRAM launching the Transmission direct-mount line-up.
New Shimano XTR groupset – what we know so far
The images picture two derailleurs – one featuring silver accents and XTR branding, while the other is a darker unlabeled model with a cutaway in the parallelogram.
We’re unsure if this – or either of the derailleurs – is an earlier prototype, or perhaps a look at a new XT derailleur.
Given Shimano’s Di2 groupsets now trickle down to the third tier 105 level on the road side, we expect to see a new MTB Di2 groupset encompassing XT components – and maybe going as far as Deore.
What could be a rechargeable battery can be seen at the rear of the new derailleur. This is similar in layout to SRAM’s Transmission groupsets. This strongly suggests this will be Shimano’s first fully wireless groupset.
A battery housed in the derailleur would be a first for the brand. Its most recent road and gravel groupsets moved away from the fully cabled layout of old, adopting a semi-wireless approach, with wireless shifters controlling derailleurs connected to a central battery.
As expected, there appears to be a clutch mechanism. This keeps tension on the chain so it doesn’t come off on rough terrain.
GRX 1X Di2 has been curiously absent from the new 12-speed line-up.
It has been speculated the gravel groupset will borrow heavily from the updated XTR Di2 rear derailleur, as has been the case for the mechanical equivalents of GRX, which bear a heavy resemblance to their mountain bike counterparts. Could this be a glimpse of what a new GRX groupset will look like?
The leaks suggest the new crankset is carbon fibre – a departure from the aluminium cranksets used across Shimano’s entire product line-up.
The new shifters appear to draw inspiration from current-generation mechanical groupsets, with the buttons positioned in a similar layout.
An additional button appears on the front of the shifter – its functionality remains unknown at this point.
The new brakes were spotted on a few sponsored riders' bikes last year, with many guessing these would be part of an upcoming Saint update.
The new design seems to still use Shimano's dual-size pistons, but a more angular and minimalist look brings them up to date.
