Market: In the summer, the new generation of the popular SLX group comes onto the market with the Shimano SLX M7000. In addition to a new design, this now offers eleven gears and cassettes with up to 42 sprockets, especially like the XT and XTR. This means that the 11-fold trend is finally finding its way into the low-cost sector as well.
Every (two) years again! As is already the case with Shimano, the drive groups are regularly given a makeover and in the course of this receive a number of features from the higher quality groups. This year it's the turn of the price/performance hit from the Japanese, namely the extremely popular SLX group - the new SLX M7000 now comes like the top groups XT and XTR with eleven gears and also in a new, more discreet design, new brake sensors and higher quality hubs.
Many drive options for different demands and driver types
The new Shimano SLX M7000 offers buyers three different drive options that should satisfy the needs of 99% of mountain bikers.
1 × 11 drive
Chainring: 30, 32, 34
Cassette: 11-40 / 11-42
Rider type: Appreciates the simplicity of the 1x drivetrain, can handle the range of the 11-42 cassette and doesn't necessarily have to always pedal downhill.
2 × 11 drive
Chainrings: 34/24, 36/26, 38/28
Cassette: 11-40
Driver type: Wants the happy medium between few shifts, small shift jumps and a wide range. With three crank variants, the right gear ratios for different wheel sizes are no problem.
3 × 10 drive
Chainrings: 40/30/22
Cassette: 11-32 / 11-34 / 11-36
Rider type: Wants the widest possible range and doesn't shy away from the additional chainring change at the front. Also caters to riders who don't want to switch to dual or single drivetrains.
Of course, the 1-speed drives also come with new SLX chainrings (FC-M7000-11), which, thanks to Dynamic Chain Engagement, keep the chain reliably on the ring and prevent chain suck or the chain from falling off even without a chain guide and have already done their job successfully with XTR and perform XT. Details of the new SLX cassettes are not yet known, but Shimano has already given a weight for the 11-40 version: the good piece should weigh 467g, which is around 50g more than the correspondingly large cassette from the XT series. The 11-42 SLX cassette will therefore probably be in the 500g range - certainly not lightweight, but probably still slightly lighter than the recently introduced SRAM NX cassette, which in turn should be priced between XT and SLX.
Updates for hubs and brakes too
Not only the gear components of the SLX series get an update, but also the hubs and brakes benefit from the new model version. The hubs have been completely redesigned and, thanks to new seals and bearings, are said to have significantly improved durability even in poor conditions. In addition, the pawl freewheel now has 36 locking points and all hubs will also be available in the new Boost standard in the future.
The brakes now also get the new encoder design that was introduced last year on the XT counterparts. The reservoir has shrunk and the transmitter unit as a whole appears less bulky and, thanks to the new anthracite-colored paint finish, visually significantly less dominant than the previous model.
The Shimano SLX M7000 will go on sale between June and July this year. Shimano has not yet provided any information on the sales prices.