Refresh of Shimano’s XT Component Group

May 1, 2007 3 Min Read

Velonews has pictures and a great write up of the refreshed Shimano Deore XT component group. There is some great background information including how Yoshi Shimano started the Deore XT group.

Velonews:

A quarter of a century is a milestone. It’s real history. When someone or something has been around that long it has had a chance to grow into its true being.

In 1981, Yoshi Shimano, president of Shimano’s U.S. sales office, noticed a weird new segment of bikes popping up in the U.S. bicycle market and immediately informed corporate headquarters in Japan that Shimano needed to be a part of this new “mountain” bike movement.

The following year, Shimano introduced the Deore XT component group to the world. Since other full component group options were virtually non-existent, both bicycle manufacturers and consumers enthusiastically embraced the new mountain-bike group.

XT turns 25 this year, and to commemorate the occasion it gets a facelift for 2008. While many of the improvements trickle down from last year’s revamp of XTR, there are a couple of brand-new technologies in the mix.

“This is an adventure group in the sense that it’s designed to be as contemporary as possible in its focus,” said Devin Walton, Shimano’s PR manager

“XT, because it has a few more budgetary constraints, comes into a price point where it’s going to hit a wider range and a higher volume of mountain bikes, from full, big-suspension trail bikes all the way to a cross-country-race-type bike.

“That’s why you’re seeing an even wider range and additional options over even what XTR offers. Options are sort of the result of XT’s initiative of just being contemporary.”

For your visual enjoyment:

Is it me or does the “X” remind you of X-men? Either way, it’s pretty cool.