I mostly ignored the thread about Shimano Metrea when it first popped up, and then I poked my head in when it reached 10 pages to see what in the world people could still be talking about. Seeing that the discussion had devolved into something that was only tangentially related to the original topic. I went back to see when it had jumped the rails and was dismayed to find that it had happened within the first one or two responses.
So I have a request: if you want to discuss (ahem!) the pros and cons of various styles of bicycling, please keep it in that other thread, but if you are interested in actually talking about the Shimano Metrea components please add your thoughts here. If you said anything after page 1 in the other thread, you can safely assume I didn't read it, but I leave it to your discretion to either repeat yourself here or not.
Now with that out of the way....
I'm going to start by cherry-picking one of the few helpful posts I saw on the other thread, mostly for its links:
I'm not the least bit excited about the H-bar idea, but I don't often ride in city traffic so I guess I'm not the target demographic.
What I am
really excited about is the fact that someone (anyone at all) is showing an interest in the kind of bike riding I do most often. You may remember my recent rant about the unsuitability of 50-34 cranks for commuting. Styling aside, I think Shimano nailed it with the Metrea cranks -- a 42T one ring option for people with flat commutes (or strong legs) and a 46-32 option for people like me who have some climbs that need something lower. I wish they had used standard bolt patterns so that I could get maybe a 44T ring (or a ramped 42) and a 30T or smaller granny gear, but 46-32 is a nice start.
The hydraulic brakes look nice, and I have no doubt that they'll perform up to Shimano standards. The wide range rear derailleur also checks a box on my wish list.
I think it's worth noting that Shimano is not the first company to pick up the scent of this market. SRAM's
VIA groups offer most of what I'm excited about with Metrea except that (a) they aimed it at flat bar bikes, (b) they kind of phoned it in on the styling and, most importantly, (c) the manufacturers and distributers alike have mostly ignored VIA.
One thing I feel kind of ambivalent about with Metrea is the styling. It looks nice if you're into the modern look. I imagine it will be great on carbon fiber frames. I'd like to see a nice shiny silver group that would look good on a vintage steel frame. But obviously I'll take what I can get and I see this as a positive sign. I hope the manufacturers do some good things with it.