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Shimano XT goes on Tour with new T8000 trekking group

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Shimano_XT-Touring_trekking-groupset_complete-group

Hot on the heels of their new XT-level STePS MTB e-bike drive system, Shimano has another XT group expansion to share. This new T8000 series broadens the reach of XT to deliver top-level drivetrains adapted specifically for trekking and proper bike touring. The top-tier of these bikes had been often built up with XT groups already, so T8000 aims to give them some solutions, like gearing tailored just for their needs, with their performance of XT…

Shimano_XT-Touring_trekking-groupset_FC-T8000_triple-cranks-teaser

Shimano wanted to build a new group for bike tourers that could provide the level of reliability and durability needed to ride all over the world on pretty much any road or trail surface. For that they went with a triple crank, and interestingly a 10 speed cassette. It seems that worldwide availability of 11 speed mountain cassettes (remember road cassettes mean a different freehub body and in most cases different hub are needed) is still pretty limited with only the most recent XT and XTR fitting the bill. So sticking with 10 speed means that any 10 speed Shimano or SRAM cassette, road or mountain, can be swapped in a pinch.

Shimano_XT-Touring_trekking-groupset_DH-T8000-3D_generator-hub-front

Many of the individual components look to be directly plucked out of the mountain biking lineup (albeit the 10 speed versions), but some interesting new parts developed for touring standout like…  an XT centerlock, QR generator front hub. The new T8000-3D hub has a 3W/6V power output for use from 26″ and bigger wheels and can be paired with the standard matching M8010 rear hub. No word on whether the hub can be converted to a thru-axle, but from the looks of it, that isn’t likely.

 Shimano_XT-Touring_trekking-groupset_PD-T8000_R_clipless-pedal Shimano_XT-Touring_trekking-groupset_PD-T8000_R_platform-pedal

A new 1-sided SPD pedal isn’t really innovative, as many cheap variants are available, but an XT-level build means it should beat most on performance and longevity. At the same time it offers a nice forged aluminum platform cage with replaceable traction pegs on the other side for riding in street shoes.

Shimano_XT-Touring_trekking-groupset_FC-T8000_triple-crankset-with-chain-guard

The crankset looks like a carry-over of the XT triple, but gets a outer chain guard to keep pants from getting greased up or caught by the big ring. It does now get a 48/36/26 chainset for a good bit more gearing than the 40/30/22 spread of M8000. Cassettes though are direct carry over, using the 10 speed XT cassettes that will stay in eth catalog for a while longer in 11-32, 11-34 & 11-36 options.

Shimano_XT-Touring_trekking-groupset_SL-T8000_shifter Shimano_XT-Touring_trekking-groupset_RD-T8000-SGS_rear-derailleur

Rapidfire shifters and derailleurs are pretty straight forward XT bits, albeit with a previous generation look to match their 10 speed function. The long cage rear derailleurs, in order to match up with the triple, do not get a Plus clutch in any of the T8000 variants, although they do get the lower profile Shadow mounting system.

Shimano_XT-Touring_trekking-groupset_BL-T8000_brake-lever

Brakes use a design that looks a lot like last year’s M800, but with a longer multi-finger lever shape and repositioned adjustment. Otherwise they use the same calipers and get I-spec2 clamps, plus the same IceTech rotors in 6-blot or centerlock from 160mm and up.

The new XT trekking group will be available from September 2016, so like STePS MTB, it should start popping up on production bikes by the end of the summer.

Bike.Shimano.com

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drosser
drosser
7 years ago

So in the minds of Shimano, bike tourers only use flat bars.

TheKaiser
TheKaiser
7 years ago
Reply to  drosser

I found the lack of drop bar options strange too. With hydro discs hitting the Tiagra (which is still 10spd) level, you could use the BR-RS405 shifters, but I guess part of the point of this group is that it eliminates the mix and match that tourers have had to do in the past, so that wouldn’t please everyone.

anonymous
anonymous
7 years ago
Reply to  TheKaiser

I think dynasys actuation is different from 11sp road actuation ratio

James Butler
James Butler
7 years ago

From memory XT is aMTB groupset!!!

TroofMan
TroofMan
7 years ago
Reply to  James Butler

Actually Deore & Altus were originally road parts…

AS
AS
7 years ago

Weird.

Micah
7 years ago

D*mn, I was hoping there might have been a 10 speed 11-42 cassette in there.

TheKaiser
TheKaiser
7 years ago
Reply to  Micah

You can get such a thing from SunRace and a few other smaller manus now. With the Hyperglide patent expiring and better tooth contours spreading beyond Shimano, I have heard they shift quite well, and are actually lighter than Shimano equivalents.

David R
David R
7 years ago

Good stuff! Been touring on XT, SLX and Deore triples for years — set up 48-36-24, with 11/32 or 11/34 cassettes. They shift well with 10-speed Ultegra or 105 shifters and 9-speed MTB derailleurs.

Carbonfodder
Carbonfodder
7 years ago

finally, long brake levers for use with Grip Shift… My fatty will be happy

will
will
7 years ago
Reply to  Carbonfodder

Except the position of that adjuster knob will mess with your grip shifters….

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
7 years ago

Yeah…11-36? I figured they’d actually want to take advantage of bigger cogs and maybe do an 11-40 or bigger. I don’t see how this gives you much of an advantage these days. That 11-40 or bigger would be great for lower end OEM bikes too. This just gives SRAMS new, low end 2×10 stuff a bigger advantage than before.

Groghunter
Groghunter
7 years ago
Reply to  Veganpotter

This is 10 speed spaced, they don’t offer that bigger cassette in 10 speeds. & honestly touring benefits from steady cadence enough to make a 10 speed cassette with bigger jumps a non-starter.

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
7 years ago
Reply to  Groghunter

Plenty tour with 8 speed 11-32s. A 10 speed 11-40 is an even tighter cassette:)

durianrider
7 years ago
Reply to  Groghunter

I got to the summit of Mt Baldy yesterday on my road bike and all I was a 32. If I had a 40 on the back I would have been able to ride more sections I had to hike as the gravel traction would have been enhanced if I could spin on the ramps vs grind and spit the back wheel out.

A jump in 10-20% of cadence does NOT slow you down. Only a Fred would think, believe or say that.

Same guys who think 80rpm is ‘spinning out’. 😉

augsburg57
7 years ago

For bikes with drop bars, like my Salsa Fargo 2, the SRAM solution of a 2×10 with a 28/42 chainring and 11-36 cassette paired with SRAM’s Apex drop bar shifters/brake levers is a great combination. Lots of range for hilly terrain. The simplicity of 2x. Only thing missing is the ability to use (fully) hydraulic brakes. Don’t know why Shimano has not figured out how to offer a similar product.

Beat_the_trail
Beat_the_trail
7 years ago

Seems like the hydro brifters are all only 11sp. I didn’t see any dynasys labeling on the R. Der so possibly you could mix some 3/10sp 105 STI levers in and use TRP HY/RD although those things sort of suck.

Paleo Velo
7 years ago

Pretty much. Shimano has stubbornly refused over the years to offer solutions to the need for drop bars and touring gearing, pushing people into the arms of SRAM.

anonymous
anonymous
7 years ago
Reply to  Paleo Velo

Since when has SRAM made anything drop bar compatible with triples?

Try Campy.

Eric Hansen
Eric Hansen
7 years ago
Reply to  Paleo Velo

I just built a Shimano Di2 drop bar all-road touring bike; Alfine. SRAM doesn’t make anything for touring at all.

Groghunter
Groghunter
7 years ago

Huh. looks like that’s the four groups Shimano is dropping this year, then: Di2 XT, new SLX, XT STePS & XT Touring. Color me surprised, I really expected an 11 speed spacced Saint.

Skip
Skip
7 years ago

Thats awesome! I’d sell the hell outta that if it was possible to sell Shimano in my shop!

anonymous
anonymous
7 years ago

I guess Shimano has been phasing out the alternative touring tier designations because it got confusing for consumers who had two mtb tiers that were the same level.

What I want out of a touring groupset is a triple crank with touring rings, and a normal Q-factor. I’d much rather use a 50-39-26 with the stock 30 replaced with a 26 than this simply because MTB Q-factor is no fun when you aren’t trying to clear 2″+ tires and swingarms and whatnot.

hjb1000
hjb1000
7 years ago
Reply to  anonymous

I agree with you re q-factor. XT crankarms have 175mm q-factor which is, pretty freaking wide. Okay for a big person, but not cool if you like road bike feel width.

anonymous
anonymous
7 years ago

Also a 44/32/22 is a good combination for touring, since most cassettes now come with an 11t top, certainly most of the wide range ones do. That gets you a full 200% range in the front, and a 4:1 top gear, same as the traditional 52×13 top gear. It gives you more options for running closely spaced road gears for cruising, as even an 11-23 will get you an almost 1:1 gear, or lets you get walking speed gears.

cyclecuse
7 years ago

Flat and butterfly bar touring bikes are very popular in Europe, which is where all of this XT trekking stuff has been available for years now.

RE the dyno hub: AFAIK specs are the same as the 3D80, and no, it can’t be converted to other axle types.

JBikes
JBikes
7 years ago

I really like those pedals. Yeah cheaper options exist but those are really nice compared to me a530 which might as well be platforms made of greased Teflon

typevertigo
typevertigo
7 years ago
Reply to  JBikes

I run the Deore XT PD-T780 pedals on my cross bike, which are the direct predecessors. Apart from the more angular platform, the only real difference of the T8000 pedals is the traction pins on the platform side. The T780 pedals don’t have them.

Otherwise, they’re great pedals.

I’ve also heard of people complaining the A530 pedals have quite a narrow platform. The XT Trekking pedals are a good 85 mm wide at the platform pedal body.

Bob Log
Bob Log
7 years ago

I’d be shocked to see this spec’d on anything aimed at the US market… Germany will love it though.

pollymath
pollymath
7 years ago

Fun fact – the levers are the same as the XTR Non-Servo wave units, just minus a carbon blade. Popular for use with Saints for better modulation.

traildog
traildog
7 years ago
Reply to  pollymath

hot tip thanks

Frank
Frank
7 years ago

Needs lower gears. If you’re carrying a load, uphill, for miles, you need lower gears. The crankset should be 46/34/24 to couple with a 11×36 cassette. I don’t understand why manufacturers don’t get this, do the guys designing these parts not actually do fully-loaded tours?

But for my money my next touring gearset is going to be a 2×11 with a low q-factor crankset… Maybe 42/26 up front and 11-42 in the back. The wide range cassettes exist now, not sure why they didn’t go that route… its not as if I have EVER had to replace a cassette unexpectedly.

Shaun Murray (@aegisdesign)

I think people are missing the point here. This is a TREKKING groupset, not a touring groupset. It’s for flat bar hybrid bikes not drop bar tourers. It doesn’t even make a decent world tourer/expedition bike as you’re unlikely to want chainrings that large, fragile chains, 10 speed, hydraulics and STI.

Go look at what Shimano did with Deore LX a few years back. This is a posh version of that for people whose idea of touring is gentle pootles along the Danube, probably unloaded, with service centres in the next town.

Still, it’s good to see this as the direction that MTB groupsets are heading in makes them less suitable for expedition touring bikes which have generally been built up from the more reliable 26″ MTB parts bin. Bits of this group will probably work fine with mix and match parts from other Shimano groups and from other manufacturers.

typevertigo
typevertigo
7 years ago

You can consider Deore XT Trekking T8000 as the big brother to Alivio Trekking T4000. Aside from the obvious differences of 10- and 9-speed, Alivio Trekking is one of the few remaining ways of getting brand-new Shimano V-brakes, not just new old stock (NOS).

Adam
Adam
7 years ago

The new pedal is simply an updated version of the existing XT Trecking PD-T780 pedal, which I love – the best urban pedal available, IMHO. It fixes the one problem I have with the old pedal: a too-slippery platform side. Pegs FTW!

hjb1000
hjb1000
7 years ago

Come on Shimano- make a 15mm Thru axle dynamo hub for gods sake!

MarkT
MarkT
7 years ago
Reply to  hjb1000

HJB1000: Shutter Precision’s PD-8x may be the answer for you. Not sure if it’s shipping right now but if not, it should be available shortly.

Matthew
7 years ago

For everyone asking for hydro… Ask yourself whether you’d rather take a spare brake cable or a bleed kit and a bottle of hydraulic oil on tour.

Victor Barra
7 years ago

for fully loaded touring the best option is alivio 3×9 40/30/22 integrated crankset and 12-36 cassete. you can use STI or bar end shifters or sram attack gripshift. the only drawback is the not so common BCD of the chainrings

Seraph
Seraph
7 years ago

This seems like a step backwards for Shimano. No hydraulic drop bar, wide-range option? No worries, SRAM already has that.

DerWanderer
DerWanderer
7 years ago

Shimano is not in the business of losing money. The global market for drop-bar touring is simply too small. It’s pretty much a US/UK-only thing.

Bryan
Bryan
7 years ago

I’m hoping these dyna-sys chainrings play well with a 11spd XTR Di2 triple FD and SGS RD. The 48/36 104bcd is good for my use, and I want to swap the 64bcd 26t with a 24t granny. The 2 larger chainrings look nicely designed. Strange Shimano just released XT Di2 without a triple option to match this trekking group.

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