The previous iteration of Shimano GRX, the 11sp Di2 version, was my first foray into electronic gears. I ran it constantly on my long term gravel test bike, a Fairlight Secan, and it must be said it never skipped a beat. Roll on a handful of years since joining Cyclingnews and electronic shifting has continued to mature and trickle down.
We now have electronic Shimano 105 , though it isn’t exactly the performance groupset for the everyperson anymore thanks to a much higher price tag than the cabled version that runs in parallel. While SRAM has electrified more or less all of its groupset options, and has binned off the front derailleur entirely, Shimano is staunchly continuing to offer 2x for its gravel lines. I swapped it out like for like with the old 11sp groupset and have been bashing it about both on and off-road, plus a bit of commuting besides, over the last few months.
The short version, if you are particularly impatient, is that I love it. It’d be a stretch to say the changes from the 11sp to 12sp products are earth-shattering, but there are noticeable improvements that bring what was my favourite gravel groupset bang up to date with the competitors, which had begun to make the 11sp setup feel a little dated. Given it’s what will be fitted to many of the best gravel bikes on the market going forward, it is heartening to know that in this regard at least they haven’t been short-changed on the spec front.
As with any product that aims to be greater than the sum.
