It appears that Shimano may finally be ready to abandon the wired connection to the shift battery in its popular Di2 systems. Evidenced by today\u2019s launch of the M9200 Di2 (XTR) rear mech, which is now powered by a removable battery mounted inside the mech.<\/p>\n
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And whilst this update could be bad news for electronic cable salespeople, what is great news for mountain bikers, could also be excellent news for road and gravel riders and the mechanics who build their bikes.<\/p>\n
At the last major road launch \u2013 Dura Ace 9200 and Ultegra 8200 Di2 \u2013 we saw the current line of road groupsets debut with wireless shifters, but with remote batteries connected by cables to a battery mounted in the frame. Semi-wireless as it was called.<\/p>\n
The Osaka Bay-based engineers had opted to retain the hard-wired connection to the front and rear mech via a battery stowed in the seat post. At the time, Shimano insisted that the larger wired battery was essential, saying; \u201cthis single internal battery ensures a stable and high voltage connection to the derailleurs, contributing to the brand\u2019s fastest-ever shifting\u201d.<\/p>\n
What we do know from the XTR launch today, is that shifting is claimed to be faster than the outgoing XTR version, and that the predecessor was no slouch; so, presumably, battery mounted mech solutions are no longer slow or \u201cunstable\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sram\u2019s patents \u2013 long rumoured to be why Shimano hadn\u2019t tackled the issue previously \u2013 could be a more likely reason. Shimano road and gravel groups just need to catch up now, surely?<\/p>\n
For gravel riders, the clear move toward a beefier linkage in the XTR rear mech, and the chain control measures announced as part of the launch \u2013 a new double spring, presumably an upgrade to the current clutch mechanism \u2013 could also make for interesting reading, as we could see some of those ideas coming over into GRX and even road groups eventually, especially as Shimano seeks to close the gap on Sram\u2019s UDH direct mount system<\/a>, when it comes to off-road robustness in the rear mech.<\/p>\n Speaking of robustness, one final point of interest is the announcement of an Automatic Impact Recovery Function in the rear derailleur, where the mechanism moves in the event of an impact but then returns to its previous recorded position, resetting itself. The current crop of road and gravel-focused Di2 systems tends to enter a \u2018crash mode\u2019 after an impact, reducing operation \u2013 a little like a limp mode in a car \u2013 which can mean an inconvenient trip to the bike shop for a factory reset and a thorough check. A system that resets itself would be very welcome in the incident-prone gravel theatre, as well as in road applications.<\/p>\n For those hoping to see the back of Hollowtech II for their cranksets, I think we can safely count that out too. They\u2019re clearly sticking with that system. Which, without the recent and widely reported \u2013 now historic \u2013 issues with the cranks failing<\/a>, is still a decent system, marked by easy and reliable setup. For any roadies desperate for an extra sprocket in their rear cassette, Shimano fans probably shouldn\u2019t get their hopes up \u2013 the XTR launch is 12 speed. For them to go 13 on just road groups now seems less likely.<\/p>\n
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