datlas 

Many of us are interested in what Shimano will be offering for the next-generation Dura Ace group (and presumably what will eventually trickle down to Ultegra and 105).

There was much anticipation it would be unveiled this spring with the 100 year anniversary - did not happen.

There has been much anticipation of details (12 speed? Wireless??) coming out with the Tour de France. However, it's been pretty quiet.

Does anyone have solid intel?

Iride01 

There's been some reports of seeing it on some bikes at the TdF. But they are not more than speculative reports.

However if there are some TdF bikes with the new tech on them, then it'll be announced soon. The TdF organizers highly frown on using bikes, components and other cycling stuff that isn't already available to the public or very soon to be released.

seypat

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/s...ura-ace-r9200/

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/new...-breaks-cover/

Seattle Forrest

New crank set has a 150w motor powered by the Di2 battery.

WhyFi

Then I'll wait two generations for a 250w motor to hit Ultegra.

datlas 

Thanks, but I should have mentioned that there has been reports from mid-June about possible new tech. These are from a month ago.

I am kinda surprised to see no new details since then.

Iride01 

Well on another side of the issue. Even if it's ready for prime time, they may not want to announce it if they don't feel they'll be able to ship it to the mass markets. Much less if they think they won't be able to get materials to manufacture it in mass quantities.

As discussed in other threads, shipping from and to Asia is an issue for many that ship in volume quantities.

seypat

This is a good answer. Looking at the current situation with raw material/supply chain issues, no reason for companies to introduce new products. One of the brands of industrial tools I sell obsoleted a tool early last year when they ran out of stock. No replacement announced yet. If a person hasn't looked at the tire/tube pricing thread, they need to read it.

msu2001la

SRAM introduced Rival AXS earlier this year amid the same supply chain issues. :shrug:

asgelle

ASO may frown on it, but UCI prohibits it.
§ 3 Commercialisation

Article 1.3.006

Equipment shall be of a type that is sold for use by anyone practicing cycling as a sport.

Any equipment in development phase and not yet available for sale (prototype) must be subject of an authorization request to the UCI Equipment Unit before its use. Authorization will be granted only for equipment which is in the final stage of development and for which commercialization will take place no later than 12 months after the first use in competition. The manufacturer may request a single prolongation of the prototype status if justified by relevant reasons.

veganbikes

I want to know when I can get 105 and below Shimano stuff...forget Dura Ace! I just want a steady stream of parts so I can keep my job. A new Dura Ace is cool but with factories shuttered in Malaysia which have shut down more production and bikes dwindling I could care less about the latest and greatest. I love tech and I love seeing new stuff but at the moment I am worried I could be out of a job as we don't have many bikes to sell and parts are tough to get. Luckily we did our best to shore up supplies but at the rate things are going we may not last well till parts start coming back in 2022 or 2023.

scottydonald

There is a huge thread on another golf thread about it. 339 pages.

with so much info in there -

Release September
12 speed and no 10 teeth
Built bikes by end of year
Groupsets April
DA has a new hub
Ultegra and 105 are HG
Supposedly lighter
Supposedly semi wireless for DI2
Questions on whether there is a DA rim version.

forgotten things but oh well.

I have tried to organise getting a full DA groupset for Spring next year. My Enve wheels are a problem as they need a new hub that doesn't exist yet! I bought my 2021 bike with mechanical Ultegra thinking I would get late summer DA 12 speed but nope.

Hiro11

In fairness, setting aside the usual supply chain issues every manufacturing company has experienced Shimano has had some unique additional challenges recently:
1. a huge fire in their main Japan production facility in 2018. This factory is where Dura Ace and XTR are made, so it's likely a contributing cause of the delay of new Dura Ace.
2. long term Covid-related shutdowns at their main Malaysia production facility, which is where every other group is made.
3. Like many big Japanese manufacturers, Shimano is a notoriously conservative company: slow to react, slow to make capital investments, works with a small groups of highly dedicated suppliers. This makes Shimano particularly vulnerable to disruptions like a pandemic.

It's worth noting that Shimano is now investing hundreds of millions in new production capacity, they're building a huge new factory in Singapore and they are doubling the size of the Japan production facility.

datlas 

Thanks for the info. Where is this thread you speak of??

msu2001la

It seems unlikely that a fire at Shimano's production factory 3 years ago would have any impact on the timing of the Dura Ace R9200 product announcement/release date.

I do wonder if they were targeting spring 2021 and had to push that back due to COVID, but considering we've seen photos of 12sp DA products on pro tour bikes in recent weeks, I have to think an announcement is just around the corner.

Hiro11

I think you'd be surprised. In any manufacturing organization production is planned several years in advance and I'm sure Shimano is no different. Any workflow disruption takes forever to correct, witness the current worldwide seminconductor capacity crunch. Shimano's fire would have been a huge disruption. First, the factory in Japan is the only production facility in the world that makes DA and XTR, they couldn't just shift capacity somewhere else. That one source was completely devastated by the fire. All of the line equipment in that factory needing replacement isn't readily available, it's almost certainly all custom made, hugely expensive and would have long lead times from suppliers. Secondly, once the factory was back to being operational (which likely took many months if not a year), setting up the line, building out tooling, training staff, transitioning over from the older models... it all takes forever. The new DA should have been made available a while ago, the fire is a major reason why it wasn't.