XTR - for DH Racing

In the recent press release about the Atherton family jumping from Giant to Commencal for the '07 race season the article mentions that they will be "gunning for the World Cup and World Championship Gold on Shimano XTR powered Commencal framesets."

It will be interesting to see how many gear whores around here will be sporting some of these new '07 XTR pieces on their bikes.

Brakes

shifter

derailleur

20mm front hub

Xtr parts have being used in the dh circuit for years.

Xtr parts have being used in the dh circuit for years.

Were used.

Lately they have all but disappeared. I guess some of these '07 parts may mean a bit of a comeback.

Ya. Like indy car tires. Good for a couple laps.

The new XTR looks great. I'd ride it for sure.

Does this XTR address any problems some have with Saint, re compatibility? Or is it centre-lock only as well?

Does the XTR front hub finally have cartridge bearings? Or is it loose bearings like the Saint?

I could see running the rapidfires only. Wouldn't trust the other bits to last more than a few runs.

i've been using it since the summer and i'm particularly loving the shifters and brakes…

i don't see any problem rocking the xtr if it's in your budget. in my opinion it's one more step toward making dh/fr bikes lighter. stay tuned for every company (component co.'s / frame manufacturers) shaving weight where they can.

SRAM x0 killers right there :lol:

im not big on the disk rotors style (those splines). Seems like they little splines could strip or something ? Decent looking parts though

if those brakes are anything like my 4 pot xt's then i'd rock 'em

Actually a splined interface is the strongest way to connect it, the more lil splines there are the more surface area and stronger the connection is, jus take a look a 4x4 axles, a 28 spline 1.5" shaft is much weaker then the same diameter shaft with 35 splines. Theres no way those are going to strip if installed correctly, the only downside is compatibility with hubs.

The way Shimano sponsorships usually work is you have to run all Shimano parts. I don't think they'll be forced to run 100% shimano XTR but it will have a full shimano drivetrain.

The splines on the xtr are deceiving in small pictures and it basically works just like a cassette or crankarm. XTR comes in 203mm / 180mm / etc so its possible it might be on some of their 4x bikes. I'd guess on their DH bikes they might be running saint/XT calipers.

The new xtr front 20mm hub, is a serviceable sealed bearing assembly. It's a angular contact bearing if I recall so it can handle both vertical and lateral forces exerted.

Worst case, they just run something like this if they had to run a different rotor: (although i doubt their's will say dt swiss on it…)

I like the 203mm XTR rotor
Unfortunately the XTR Hub and the Saint Hubs are not compatible :(