Originally Posted by
mechBgon
I'm glad to see Shimano expanding the range on the road and sport-touring stuff like this, props to SRAM for providing the necessary competition by doing it with Apex.
Shimano has always allowed you to do what SRAM Apex does. Granted before the "road compact" crank, to mount 50/34 rings would have required using a touring triple crank with no granny but the idea of an extra long cage derailler with wide range cassette that works with road shifters is nothing new. It's been possible for as long as Shimano has made integrated road shifters.