I don't understand why everyone is so shocked at the price. Did anyone think it would be cheap?

The group is a horrible value right now but I'm more interested in the individual components, especially GS derailleur support for 34 tooth sprockets and interoperability of cassettes between MTB and Road groups.

FSA has released a sub-compact adventure crank and SRAM has supported 36 tooth cassettes for a long time. It seems like Ultegra would be a great fit for products like this to satisfy older riders and the performance oriented adventure/gravel riders.

Shimano's support for slightly larger cassettes and interchangeablity is a step in the right direction but I wish they would jump in with both feet.


-Tim-