So, do you think that a little competition is good? I do. However, there might be a couple of companies out there that don’t feel the same way. With a revamped top end MTB group set, MicroSHIFT just might be that good competition.

MicroSHIFT has completely renewed their top line MTB shifters and derailleurs. Everything is different: lighter, faster, and stronger! Best of all, it is 10 speed!

MicroSHIFT 10 Speed MTB Group

Let’s start with the cons of the old MTB shifters:

1. Very stiff shifts. MicroSHIFT has read and received many negative feedbacks about this problem. You just simply cannot ride your bike when you spend extra effort in shiftings. On top of that, you have to concentrate on your mountain biking!

2. Both shift pedals were in the front. Yes, your other fingers have to grab tightly to the handle, but letting your thumbs do all the billions of shifts in one ride is simply abusing them. Not only they hurt your thumb but also inconvenient to shift during rides. After your rides, you don’t want your thumbs to be in pain in addition to your legs.

3. No room for brake lever installation. The old models have the indicators and shift pedals in the way, so people cannot install the brake levers. How can you ride without the brake close to your finger tips!?

So what is different with the new MTB shifters?
1. They added TWO sealed bearings inside each of the shifter. Shifts are now lighter than ever.

2. One shift pedal is in the front, and the other one is in the back. You can now shift with index fingers and thumbs conveniently. By changing pushing into pulling the shift pedal, this makes it easier to shift.

3. Indicators are removed. Brake levers have plenty of room to be installed.

4. Strengthened forged clamp with hollowed design makes this shifter lighter and stronger!

5. It’s 10 Speed!

And now, for the derailleurs:

The front derailleur comes with Double and Triple models. You might be wondering. What’s up with the V? The V outer link design is the core improvement of this front derailleur. It not only looks aggressive but is also stiffer. With all sorts of vibration and external forces from mountain biking, the V outer link’s wider design prevents the derailleur from flexing.

Actually, many benefits come with this simple improvement:
1. Quicker and stiffer upshifts
2. Eliminating any slight chances of chain drops (we will skip the horror stories that come after that)
3. Securing your setup to avoid repeated frustrating bike tuning.
In short, it simply crosses your front derailleur off your “list of worried components”.

Here is another big thing. Like the front derailleur, the rear derailleur now has a cleaner and more aggressive design. Of course, they don’t come empty handed. Great improvements come along with this awesome looking design.

Strong vibrations can make the chain flapping around and destroying everything: chain stay, rear derailleur cage, and also the chain itself. Our new rear derailleur mechanism AMS, “Active Motion System,” allows you to to push your motion range to the extreme. Feel free to hop around, climb, go fast on rough surfaces, go as hard as you want, or make a Harlem Shake video with your bike. No more worries about chain impacts.

With the new AMS design, our rear derailleur is now single tensioned by removing one tension spring inside the bolt that is attached to the hanger. This dramatically reduced the motion of the rear derailleur, and as a result, the chain stays as tight as it should be giving no sufficient length to flap around. In addition, the bolt looks slimmer and cleaner. Of course, there is no free lunch. With this change, the derailleur has to be stiffer to withstand all the motion energy or else it might flex or fracture. Our strong “V” outer link once again prevents the derailleur from flexing and makes sure the shift responds quickly.

With the continued development of shifters and derailleurs and the development of their first cogs, you will likely see more and more bikes spec’d with MicroSHIFT components.