Shimano teased us with it last year at the Eurobike trade show but now it's official – Shimano Metrea, a dedicated groupset for urban cyclists, will be available from April 2016.
Shimano has been bold enough to state that this could be ‘the most exciting development in cycling since the dawn of mountain biking’, no really. What they were talking about was Metrea, a new 11-speed groupset designed specifically for the urban cyclist (pricing to follow once we have it).
Related: Shimano's Sora R3000 groupset brings mechanical discs
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The name? It's a hybrid of metropolitan and real; two words that Shimano claims are key concepts behind what it calls the urban sports category. What exactly is urban sport? Well, put in a more down-to-earth way it means daily commuting. Shimano does have a point – after all, any hybrid or commuter bikes right now tend to use drivetrains that have been developed for road, mountain biking or touring.
What should you care about?
Probably the biggest news is that Shimano is now behind 1x transmissions on the road for the first time. A wide-range rear cassette, namely the CS5800 block from Shimano’s existing 105 group can be paired with either a single (42t) or double (46-32t) Metrea chainset – ratios Shimano has optimised around urban riding. People are usually split when it comes to the aesthetics of a crankset, and this one will probably divide optionion more than most. An anti-corrosion finish and integrated chainguard (gotta keep those trousers clean) are also neat touches.
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
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