We will be featuring bikes that are build at Tionghin from now and having a bike checks on the complete set up!
Bike Checks on a Santa Cruz Bronson Carbon!!
We do provide Race Shield protections on your bikes with additional cost on the labour charges too!
Read on..
The complete build of the bike!
Components List
Frame: 2015 Santa Cruz Bronson Carbon
Fork: 2016 Fox Float 36 RC2
Headset: Cane Creek 101 headset
Wheels: Chris King hubs with ZTR Arch EX
Tires: Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35 front and rear
Bar: Santa Cruz Carbon bar
Grip: Santa Cruz Lock on grip
Crank: Race Face Next SL Carbon crankset
Brake: Shimano XTR Carbon lever brakes
Rotor: Shimano Ice Tech Rotor 180mm front and 160mm rear
Stem: Easton Stem
Seatpost: Rock Shock Reverb Stealth seatpost
Saddle: WTB Saddle
Pedal: Nil
Cassette: Shimano XTR 11speed cassette
Shifters: Shimano XTR 11speed
Rear derailleur: Shimano XTR 11speed
Front derailleur: Nil
Chain Guide Device: Nil
Chain: Shimano XTR 11speed chain
Stay tune for more upcoming new builds and bike checks!
Shimano released their new XTR M980 components late last summer and their recently launched 2012 Shimano XT components see many similar revisions. XT has always been a go-to setup for most riders who want quality components without the additional expense of XTR. From racers to enthusiasts, the XT line of products offer some XTR features but at a more affordable price point. Shimano has brought many updates to the XT components in the M780 series that should have many riders jumping for joy. Inside is a preview of some of our first impressions on the new XT gruppo.
So for this press presentation of the 2012 Shimano XT components we’ve lined up a Pivot Cycles Mach 5.7 to bolt the new components to. Pivot Cycles is well known for providing good pedaling performance without sacrificing bump absorption. It makes for a good work horse to bolt the 2012 XT components to given the demograph of the Mach 5.7. FOX has updated their fork seals and more for 2012 so a 15mmQR 150mm FOX Talas 32 RLC with Kashima coating was bolted up front to handle front suspension duties. It’s been doing quite well so far and the actuation has been smooth and full travel utilized. The Talas option allows the travel to be swapped to 120mm or 150mm but we’ve stayed with 150mm mode so far.
Ride one on the new XT components took place outside of Northstar in Galena Creek state park. We rode a wide variety of trails in this region that tested out almost every aspect of the new components. We descended, climbed, and did most everything in between. You can see some snips of the ride in the video below.
Shimano XT overview with Devin Walton
Brakes
So to begin with the BL-M785 / BR-M785 Hydraulic Disc Brake System sees similar revisions that are carried over from the XTR M988 brakes. Servo wave technology, iSpec, oversized 22mm ceramic piston, and much more. The brakes feel almost identical to the XTR M988 brakes. In a blind test without the holes in the XTR brake lever, I’d be hard pressed to identify them from each other.
Shimano claims 25% more power with the ICE brake pads and rotor combination. These brakes have a lot going for them. The short lever I’ve found has made me move the brake lever inboard quite a bit more in comparison to other brakes. One finger setup is ideal for these.
You will notice the servo wave technology carried over again here form XTR. Free stroke adjustment is there again, but in my opinion still isn’t as great as it could be in terms of a wide adjustment range.
The styling is clean. Shimano offers this new XT component set in either a black or silver setup.
Front detail shot with the shifter snugged nicely inside. If you are after an integrated setup, Shimano also offers these shifters to mate to the lever with an ispec adapter.
One bolt access for the brakes allows them to be removed without removing your other components on the bar. There is a safety mechanism in place that helps ensure the lever doesn’t disengage fully unless you depress the safety mechanism on the side of the brake lever clamp.
The rear caliper sees 22mm ceramic pistons as well as ICE-Tech rotors that have finned pads to aid in cooling. Additionally the brake rotor has a sandwiched aluminum design that helps keep things cool here as well. For those of you who have been after ICE-Tech rotors but do not run centerlock hubs, Shimano has a new 6 bolt disc option for ICE-tech rotor.
Finned pads to aid in keeping things cool.
A close up of the ICE-tech center lock rotor.
Crankset
The new XT crankset is offered in a double option or a triple option this year. The triple option you see here (black 24-32-42) is available in black or silver options as well as a variety of chainring sizing options. The shifting on these cranks are similar to XTR but there certainly are differences. The DynaSys 10speed chain is also a big component to ensuring things work properly as the asymmetrical chain allows the chain to traverse up and down the cog/chain rings with ease.
Classic pinch bolt setup to ensure these cranks stay on. Proven design and has worked quite well in our experience without any issues.
Derailleurs
The rear XT derailleur is available in black or silver as most all of the new XT components. They have revised the cable routing as well as still utilize their Shadow Technology that keeps the derailleur tucked nicely out of harms way. The 11-36t 10speed cassette is a nice feature that allows you to stay in a given chain ring longer. The 36t offers some nice bail-out that lets you stay in the middle ring.
Shadow derailleur tucks inside out of harms way from rocks and other trail obstacles.
The front derailleur on the Mach 5.7 uses a direct mount front derailleur setup. This makes aligning derailleurs almost 100% idiot proof but some will find a way to set things up incorrectly. Shifting is crisp and predictable.
Pedals
One of the big highlights of the XTR M980 series was the addition of the trail pedal. Similarly, XT also gets a Trail version that offers much of the same benefits but in a more affordable package. Weight wise they’re not as light as the XTR option, but you’ll save a good amount of money here with similar performance. The wider pedal body allows for more contact with the shoe in general whether you’re clipped in or not. If you are after a more traditional XC style clipless pedal, Shimano XT also an option for that as well.
Shifters
These new XT shifters have a lot of new features to them that have trickled down from the M980 series shifters. The action is quite light and you can feel the mechanical advantage of Shimano’s Vivid system. In comparison to XTR these are very close in quality shifting. We did find they do offer a very positive click in comparison to XTR. Some may actually prefer the actuation of the XT to the XTR. Additionally, XT has adopted XTR’s dual down shift technology. So with the push of the downshift lever, you can click one or two gears easily. The detente spacing has improved since M970 that I felt was easier to downshift twice accidentally. The new XT and XTR shifters offer a better predictable double down shift in comparison.
Gear indicator on the XT shift levers as well. They hug low so should prove to be more durable in crashes. The shift indicator can also be removed as well should you decide you don’t want it.
The front shifter features a mode select option. If you are running a double or a triple XT crankset, this handy switch allows you to run the same shifter without having to spec a specific front shifter for both systems.
Wheels
Shimano has revised the XT wheels here as well. They are still tubeless rims but the rim bed height has been reduced slightly. The XT wheels are available in two trim levels. The XC-ish setup offers a 19mm internal rim width and a 135QR / 15mm / Front QR option. The Trail level offers similar options but has a 21mm internal rim and an additional option for a 142x12mm wheel. Both wheelsets are still centerlock and utilize the classic Shimano angular contact bearings as well.
Overall the 2012 Shimano XT components have a ton of trickle down from the XTR M980 series. The brakes, pedals, shifters, wheels, shifters, derailleurs, and much more benefit from XTR’s technology advancements. This workhorse gruppo can work well on a variety of bikes. I suspect many riders will spec XT over XTR based on price alone. XT offers a great amount of new Shimano technology found on their higher priced XTR gruppo. XTR still offers a finer finish and polish to it but I suspect for the general rider, it will be hard to pony up for XTR when XT offers much of the same from a features perspective.
The new Shimano 2012 XT Groupset are available at Tionghin now!
Shimano’s 2012 XTR Rear Derailler Explained on how the system works and to get the low down on its “ON” and “OFF” switch,
The newest addition to the XTR Dyna Sys drivetrain is the RD M985 Shadow Plus rear derailleur. The Shadow Plus feature provides a selectable pivot for the pulley cage that can use a heavier spring and increased pivot friction to counteract the forces of up and down chain momentum in rough terrain.
The chain bouncing can often cause noise as the chain slaps the top and bottom of the chainstay, or even cause the chain to derail from the front ring in extreme circumstances.
The new pivot when selected to the ON position dampens the cage and consequent chain movement for a nearly silent and stable riding experience. In the OFF position the derailleur will function like a standard Shadow rear derailleur and eases the installation and removal of the rear wheel by relaxing the spring tension on the cage.
Shimano didn’t waste anytime updating both their XT and XTR groups. Reissued in 2010 with Dynasys and 2×10, IceTech and directional chains, both groups aren’t exactly aging. But, for 2012, both will see improvements.
XTR gets the new Shadow Plus rear derailleur, which claims to all but eliminate chain slap and dropped chains…which means a quieter, more flawless ride. XT gets a far more drastic update, adding a 2×10 option and borrowing a lot of the brake technology from XTR to virtually create a whole new group. In the video above, Shimano’s Bicycle Components Project Manager Matt Robertson runs through the changes.
Inside the new XTR Shadow Plus rear derailleur is a locking cam gear that holds the lower pulley cage in place. The effect is considerably more resistance to the cage pulling forward, even when pushing on it manually with more force than a bouncing suspension is likely to generate on bumpy trails or big drops. The gold switch should be turned downward (off) to remove the wheel and adjust the shifting, but for riding, it should remain on. As it rotates upward, a graduated cam pushes the silver band closed, clamping down on the ratchet gear and holding it in place.
The assembly adds a bit of weight, but nothing that trail/all-mountain riders should balk at for the potential gains in performance, quiet and keeping the chain where it’s supposed to be. I played around with it on the demo bikes and it does add some resistance to the downshift (thumb lever), but most people should acclimate to it quickly. It should be available in June.
In order to test the limits of the Shimano XTR Ice-Tech rotors, Shimano solicited the help of Velotech to test the Saint as well as XTR brakes. See inside for the results from Shimano.
Shimano introduced a revolutionary cooling technology for disc brakes in 2010 named ICE TECHNOLOGIES. Since in any brake system there is a direct relation in between the generated kinetic energy (for brake power) and thermal energy (generated heat), Shimano has focused on the management of the system temperature. Lowering the temperature contributes to avoid negative effects on braking performance, as a result ICE TECHNOLOGIES brake systems have practically zero brake fading in normal usage, it increases the pad-durability up to 100% and reduces noise substantially.
XTR Trail brake with cooling fins and Ice Tech rotor
This technology basically consists of two elements. First of all, the rotors have a 3-layer sandwich structure of an aluminum core and two stainless steel outer layers; due to the higher heat dissipation of aluminum it reduces the rotor surface temperature with around 100 degrees. Secondly, the ICE TECHNOLOGIES brake pads that are recommended for trail riding feature aluminum cooling fins that can further improve the heat dissipation and reduce the brake-pad surface temperature by another 50 degrees.
The renowned German test institute “Velotech.de” has tested all SHIMANO XTR disc brakes in the previous weeks with striking results. They have tested the Cross-Country as well as the Trail version of the new XTR with different rotor-sizes and compared them to the famous SAINT brakes as well as with other high-end brands that are included in the usual magazine- tests regularly as well. You can check the details of the test results for the tested brake-models in the attached PDF’s of the original “Velotech.de” certificates and test reports at the right side of this web page.
The result in short:
All tested new SHIMANO XTR disc brake models/rotor sizes/pad combinations have exceeded Velotech’s firm disc brake standards, as well as the DIN EN 14766 and GS standards. See the attached reports for the detailed data.
The Ice-Tech brakes do withstand testing even under conditions that are 3 times as hard as required by DIN+.
Even if trying to test until failure of the brake Ice-Tech brakes are far ahead of the other brands and do withstand the test under 1050 Watt, while even the famous SAINT brake cannot do that (as a tip for SAINT users we recommend the usage of Ice-Tech rotors as these will improve the system performance a lot!!!).
Footnote:
* = marked brakes did complete the test without failure
** = the brake did fail in the 700W test already
The new XTR brakes work on a much lower temperature level than regular disc brake systems and do have practically no fading as you can see in the below chart
Shimano’s Conclusion – The Ice-Tech system contributes a lot to the lifetime of your system and the reliability and stability of your brake performance. Enjoy the ride!
Tiong Hin Co Tyre - MTB Zone 