Roobz

Good evening all

looking at buying a groupset and was wondering if anybody knew the release schedule of Shimano groupsets?

do they refresh them on a predictable calendar the way other company’s do? like apple with iPhone every September. Do Shimano update/refresh every say 3 years? 5 years? do they refresh the whole hierarchy in one go or trickle out improvements one groupset at a time?

as I’m still interested in upgrading mine I was wondering if there was a refresh overdue so it was worth waiting another year. Or whatever.

cheers

Rich

Andrew R Stewart 

Given the current pandemic and bike shortages I suspect the production of new groups will be going to OEM builders. Andy

veganbikes

What are you looking for in a groupset? Typically you see the top three updated every 3 or so years and then it eventually trickles down but honestly what is out is pretty darn good. I wouldn't really hold my breath unless there was something I truly needed that didn't exist yet. 11 speed is still quite relevant no matter who is gone 12 speed.

cpach

It seems to me that they tend to iterate new major design changes one groupset level down approximately annually.

High end MTB stuff was significantly upgraded pretty recently so there's probably not going to be major updates from the XTR through Deore levels in the very near future, except for possibly a 12sp Di2 version of XTR.

If I were betting, I'd bet on a 12 speed Dura Ace in the relatively near future, possibly with relatively fast trickle down to Ultegra and maybe 105. Claris and Tiagra also haven't been updated in a while (they're not on the new Rxxxx naming scheme), but I'm not sure what they'd do to change them without updating the higher end groups first. Also a 105-level Di2 doesn't sound totally ludicrous.

Roobz

thanks for this insight, I agree with your predictions too, going electronic and 12 speed is inevitable

Andrew R Stewart 

If one waits for the next offering one never gets anything. The bike business is always going to be hyping the stuff that's about to be available. A friend told me years ago (about stereos, remember them?) "buy the best you can afford then put on your blinders because in 6 months some better stuff will come out. be happy with the stuff in hand." Andy

pdlamb

Yep. Buy whatever you need to get a working bike, and then go ride that bike.

alcjphil

If you want the latest and greatest from Shimano you will have to buy their most expensive component groups. New tech trickles down to the lower end groups year by year

Roobz

this is how I operate too Andy, il always buy the best I can afford but given the luxury of having the time to wait. it’s always best to wait for the latest release.
hence why my original question was about the sort of time frames shimano operate on and if they have a regular predictable release calendar . like most other companies.

I see the R7000 105 groupset was unveiled in 2018, available to buy In 2019. Is it safe to assume they won’t refresh for 2 more years? is there a pattern at all? or is it all just random?

ScottRiqui

I can't post links yet, but if you go to the Wikipedia page for Shimano, and then click on "Road Groupsets" in the table of contents, it'll take you to a timeline of releases. There appears to be a four-year cycle for each individual "family" (Dura-Ace, Ultegra, 105, etc.)

The most recent Dura-Ace upgrade was 2016 (R91XX), so we're probably due for the next generation (92XX?) in the very near future (although COVID may mess with this)

Then Ultegra was updated in 2017 (R80XX), so maybe 2021 for the next version? Likewise, 105 was updated in 2018 (R70XX), so we're probably two years away from a 105 update.

If you want Dura-Ace, you might kick yourself if you bought right now, because it's the next family that's due for an update and it might not be that far off. Other than that, I'd buy what you want now since there's still a while before any likely updates on the other lines.

Roobz

I couldn’t ask for a better response to my question. that info is exactly what I’m looking for.

thank you Scott

Rich

sch

Once a new groupset is released it will take 4-8 months for it to trickle down into the retail market, and
sometimes longer for subspecialty items. Eg the Ultegra Di2 disc brifters were particularly hard to get for
about 8-9 months after the announcement of same as part of the 8000 series rollout where the rest of the
groupo was out in summer the brifters trickled out 3 months later. Of course if you buy groupos by the
container bulk pak (ie no individually packed retail boxes), you are in another category.

fietsbob

Meaning; You'll get the latest stuff sooner , buying a new bike.

When they had bike industry trade shows, they were end of the summer, showing next year's stuff...

cpach

Except that one time that Ultegra Di2 was a significant redesign and left Dura Ace weirdly incompatible with all sucessive Di2 products.
Oh, and the weird (and inferior) cable actuation ratio on early indexing Dura Ace compared to everything else.