Shimano doesn't rule out 12-speed mechanical road groupsets

My guess is Shimano think - hope? - that GRX will mop up the majority of people who previously wanted a mechanical Ultegra road group and will now (Shimano think) want a mechanical gravel group. After all, that's where all the growth is at the moment, isn't it?

This week's Cycling Weekly devotes 8 pages to the new groupsets, and a large chunk of it is from an interview with Madison PR manager Mike Anderson.

I'm not a devotee of the latest hardware (I have Sora & 10 speed 105 and cheap alloy rim-brake wheels on my bikes) but even I found it interesting.

Boo-hoo.. Flagship bike products (framesets, groupsets, wheelsets) are carbon for good reason. Just switch to one of Campag's all-carbon mechanical 12x groupsets. Lighter/stronger actual carbon, not pretend black-painted alloy.

This is a no-brainer. Of course they will have mechanical versions of 12 speed. However...at the current time..... they are supply chain-constrained and running well under their previous manufacturing output capacity.

So of course at the current time, any new product releases from them will prioritise on pumping out the most expensive and profitable versions from that limited manufacturing capacity.

And the rest will have to wait for a long time. Or a recession. 

Quote:

where the advantages of electronic shifting really come to the fore

Wait - drifting back to your team car in a massive gear frustratedly kicking your rear mech is a performance advantage? 😂

Seriously though, I totally get that there are maintenance/setup advantages, but compared to a well set up mechanical groupset, what are the performance advantages, slightly reduced finger fatigue from easier shifting?

Either 105 will go Di2 and 12spd or Shimano will make a 12spd mechanical 105 and bump Tiagra to 11 SPD on next revamp. Given current shortages of bikes and components a £2-2.5k bike with12speed mechanical 105 is most likely leaving Ultegra and Dura-Ace as the top tier electronic 12spd groupsets on the £3k plus dream machines. As a recreational rider am not too fussed about shelling out the exorbitant amounts for a bike equipped with Di2, am quite happy with mechanical 105 on road bike and xt on MTB. Unless the electronic groupsets become more widely adopted and vastly cheaper I will pass for time being.

If they just made it compatible with MTB 12 speed for gravel would be lovely.

Sheer madness. This nutty obsession with 'stuff', simply designed to milk cash from middle class middle aged men, is killing the sport for young people who think they must have this or that gear to get anywhere cycling. Do a survey on the average ages of people joining cycling clubs, it will be telling. I see so many males obsessing about irrelevant gear and talking about it at coffee stops but ask them to race or do Time Trials and they're nowhere to be seen. The cycling community needs to tell the bling suppliers to stop treating customers like idiots. Or maybe they are idiots and fully deserve to have their wallets lightened.

Was talking with a customer about this....he said no way he was paying what they want for di2 12....he's got tons of cash he spends with me ..lives in a rural £2.5m home.....he's not scared to spend money on bikes at all, custom build Chris King Cielo di2 Ultegra for him just now...a new 5 yr old frame shipped from a small shop in mi west U.S.... if a 12 speed mechanical is out there he might go for it....if not I can see him going eTap in the future....

“However, we will continue to make 11-speed Ultegra mechanical groupsets available at least into 2022. As well as serving current 11-speed road riders, these groupsets also serve cyclocross riders, plus the cassettes and chains are used with GRX 2x11 drivetrains."

Actually sounds like the door is about to close rather than the other way round. Road CC seems to be alone among the bike media in trying to push the idea of Ultegra mechanical continuing for the road. If Shimano is going to catch up with SRAM, 12-speed Di2 105 will be a thing to rival Rival.

What I do agree with Road CC on is the big jump in price/performance in the range now. Don't know how that will be overcome - continue with 11-speed 105 mechanical maybe? Or perhaps give Tiagra a mechanical boost and effectively give it a 105 11-speed mechanical makeover?

Most likely, as Rival has gone AXS: Offer 105 Di2 (12 speed). And keep 105 mechanical in 11-speed on sale, or perhaps tweak it here and there and offer it as 12-speed mechanical next to the Di2 version.

I wonder if they can make a road double 12 speed shift and trim reliably enough on an HG freehub. Tolerances must be getting very tight.

Perhaps instead we'll see Microspline which allows them to compete with Ekar with a 10T small cog and expanded range for the gravel market. 

12 speed 105 mechanical that is lighter than the current 105 groupset - inbetween 105 and ultegra in other words...but badged 105. Or 205. 106?

The current 105 and the - running out - mechanical Ultegra have been confusingly close -- probably closer than Ultegra mechanical and Ultegra Di2. With Shimano's new groupsets often being revised versions of the previous higher level groupset, Shimano might just introduce a 12 speed 105 mechanical, with technologies, ergonomics and weight of the current Ultegra mechanical groupset - leaving some room for improved Tiagra, Sora, Claris beneath...

Or, they might do something entirely more confusing...