The Ultegra RD-R8000 11-speed Rear Derailleur is one component which features some significant changes from the previous Ultegra 6800 version. The new Shimano Ultegra R8000 rear derailleur now sports the Shadow low-profile design that not only increases shift stability but also reduces crash vulnerability. This particular version of the R8000 rear derailleur is the mid-cage GS edition designed for wider range cassettes and can handle cassette cogs up to 34T in size.
The Ultegra RD-R8000 11-speed Rear Derailleur is one component which features some significant changes from the previous Ultegra 6800 version. The new Shimano Ultegra R8000 rear derailleur now sports the Shadow low-profile design that not only increases shift stability but also reduces crash vulnerability. This particular version of the R8000 rear derailleur is the mid-cage GS edition designed for wider range cassettes and can handle cassette cogs up to 34T in size.
There are no live offers for Shimano Ultegra RD-R8000 Rear derailleur, Medium-Cage right now. The all-time low we recorded was $100.50 on 25 Apr 2023. Set a price alert to hear when it's back in stock.
Shimano Ultegra RD-R8000 Rear derailleur, Medium-Cage
The Ultegra RD-R8000 11-speed Rear Derailleur is one component which features some significant changes from the previous Ultegra 6800 version. The new Shimano Ultegra R8000 rear derailleur now sports the Shadow low-profile design that not only increases shift stability but also reduces crash vulnerability. This particular version of the R8000 rear derailleur is the mid-cage GS edition designed for wider range cassettes and can handle cassette cogs up to 34T in size.
The Ultegra RD-R8000 11-speed Rear Derailleur is one component which features some significant changes from the previous Ultegra 6800 version. The new Shimano Ultegra R8000 rear derailleur now sports the Shadow low-profile design that not only increases shift stability but also reduces crash vulnerability. This particular version of the R8000 rear derailleur is the mid-cage GS edition designed for wider range cassettes and can handle cassette cogs up to 34T in size.
originally posted on jensonusa.com
I actually purchased this as a spare part. I converted an old TREK Pilot 27 spd triple chain ring bike to a 22 spd double chain ring bike. Stripped the bike down to the frame. Installed all new Ultegra components, including bottom bracket and crank set. I wanted to run an 11/34 cassette on the rear with 34/50 on the front. This long cage derailleur allowed me to use that rear cassette. The build went great. I've ridden the bike 1000 miles so far this summer. Shifts smooth and reliably. I want to keep it working that way so I thought I'd pick up a spare at a good price. This fit the bill.
originally posted on jensonusa.com
Great derailleur with two minor issues. Functionally, the RD is excellent. It provides clean and crisp shifting through the cogs. It looks great on the bike tucked under the chainstays with the shadow technology. Now on to the gripes.1. The number one gripe is that the barrel adjuster is absolute garbage. I was turning and turning and it wouldn't move. The adjustment collar is a crappy soft piece of plastic that would slip and slide around the nut. Looked on youtube and I found the solution was to replace the barrel adjuster with the 6800 barrel adjuster (part #: Y5YC98030). The 6800 design has a beefier hard plastic collar that has multiple engagement points with the nut.2. The shift cable exit point goes RIGHT into the rear spokes! This made adjusting the ... MoreGreat derailleur with two minor issues. Functionally, the RD is excellent. It provides clean and crisp shifting through the cogs. It looks great on the bike tucked under the chainstays with the shadow technology. Now on to the gripes.1. The number one gripe is that the barrel adjuster is absolute garbage. I was turning and turning and it wouldn't move. The adjustment collar is a crappy soft piece of plastic that would slip and slide around the nut. Looked on youtube and I found the solution was to replace the barrel adjuster with the 6800 barrel adjuster (part #: Y5YC98030). The 6800 design has a beefier hard plastic collar that has multiple engagement points with the nut.2. The shift cable exit point goes RIGHT into the rear spokes! This made adjusting the derailleur prior to cutting the cable a pain in the butt. I had to awkwardly wrap and tape the cable around the chainstay so that the cable would not get caught in the rear wheel and potentially ripping something out.
originally posted on mec.ca
This review covers three products – Ultegra 8000 GS rear derailleur, SRAM 1170 11-36t cassette, and SRAM 1170 chain, because they all work together, and only a magician could tell you which one deserves more of the credit.I learned while training with a power meter for the Whistler Granfondo that low-cadence grinds up long hills reduces my speed and power towards the end of long, steep rides. My bike doesn’t have low enough gears for my 70 year old legs, so I needed a bailout low gear for the long hills. I bought a SRAM 11-36t 1170 cassette. My Ultegra 6800 derailleur wouldn’t accommodate it, so I used a “Wolf Link” to extend it to take the 36 tooth low gear.The shifting with the Wolf Link was OK, but nowhere near as good as my Ultegra 6800 derailleur with the ... MoreThis review covers three products – Ultegra 8000 GS rear derailleur, SRAM 1170 11-36t cassette, and SRAM 1170 chain, because they all work together, and only a magician could tell you which one deserves more of the credit.I learned while training with a power meter for the Whistler Granfondo that low-cadence grinds up long hills reduces my speed and power towards the end of long, steep rides. My bike doesn’t have low enough gears for my 70 year old legs, so I needed a bailout low gear for the long hills. I bought a SRAM 11-36t 1170 cassette. My Ultegra 6800 derailleur wouldn’t accommodate it, so I used a “Wolf Link” to extend it to take the 36 tooth low gear.The shifting with the Wolf Link was OK, but nowhere near as good as my Ultegra 6800 derailleur with the Ultegra 11-32 cassette that came with my bike.Shimano says that the new Ultegra 8000GS rear derailleur (2018 version with medium length cage) will accommodate an 11-34t cassette, a 16t difference on the front derailleur, and a total of 39 t. I was aiming to use it with a 41t difference. So I bought the derailleur, installed it, and set it up for the big bailout gear. My chain was too short, of course, and MEC only had SRAM chains, so I bought the SRAM 1170 model.With these three items – the Ultegra 8000GS derailleur, the SRAM 1170 cassette, and the SRAM 1170 chain, the bike shifts BETTER than it did with the original equipment! And the drive train is nearly silent, in every gear. The Shimano stuff made noise when cross-chained (50t front, 32t rear). The SRAM makes no noise when cross chained, or anywhere in the shifting range. Cross chaining costs watts – it’s inefficient – but from time to time, you may need to do it in a pinch.The Ultegra 8000 derailleur is light, fast, easy to set up, and shifts consistently, up and down the 11-36 cassette. The SRAM 1170 chain was barely long enough – 114 links – to accommodate my 50t front chainring and my 36t big cassette sprocket. I don’t know if it would work for a 52-36. Together, they make a great combination that allows me to motor up very steep hills (18 to 20% grades) instead of getting off and walking. Don’t think it’s because my legs are old. Lots of people get off and walk on the 20% killer hill on the MEC Century ride out of Coquitlam. But not me!I’m delighted with the results.
I actually purchased this as a spare part. I converted an old TREK Pilot 27 spd triple chain ring bike to a 22 spd double chain ring bike. Stripped the bike down to the frame. Installed all new Ultegra components, including bottom bracket and crank set. I wanted to run an 11/34 cassette on the rear with 34/50 on the front. This long cage derailleur allowed me to use that rear cassette. The build went great. I've ridden the bike 1000 miles so far this summer. Shifts smooth and reliably. I want to keep it working that way so I thought I'd pick up a spare at a good price. This fit the bill.
Great derailleur with two minor issues. Functionally, the RD is excellent. It provides clean and crisp shifting through the cogs. It looks great on the bike tucked under the chainstays with the shadow technology. Now on to the gripes.1. The number one gripe is that the barrel adjuster is absolute garbage. I was turning and turning and it wouldn't move. The adjustment collar is a crappy soft piece of plastic that would slip and slide around the nut. Looked on youtube and I found the solution was to replace the barrel adjuster with the 6800 barrel adjuster (part #: Y5YC98030). The 6800 design has a beefier hard plastic collar that has multiple engagement points with the nut.2. The shift cable exit point goes RIGHT into the rear spokes! This made adjusting the ... MoreGreat derailleur with two minor issues. Functionally, the RD is excellent. It provides clean and crisp shifting through the cogs. It looks great on the bike tucked under the chainstays with the shadow technology. Now on to the gripes.1. The number one gripe is that the barrel adjuster is absolute garbage. I was turning and turning and it wouldn't move. The adjustment collar is a crappy soft piece of plastic that would slip and slide around the nut. Looked on youtube and I found the solution was to replace the barrel adjuster with the 6800 barrel adjuster (part #: Y5YC98030). The 6800 design has a beefier hard plastic collar that has multiple engagement points with the nut.2. The shift cable exit point goes RIGHT into the rear spokes! This made adjusting the derailleur prior to cutting the cable a pain in the butt. I had to awkwardly wrap and tape the cable around the chainstay so that the cable would not get caught in the rear wheel and potentially ripping something out.
This review covers three products – Ultegra 8000 GS rear derailleur, SRAM 1170 11-36t cassette, and SRAM 1170 chain, because they all work together, and only a magician could tell you which one deserves more of the credit.I learned while training with a power meter for the Whistler Granfondo that low-cadence grinds up long hills reduces my speed and power towards the end of long, steep rides. My bike doesn’t have low enough gears for my 70 year old legs, so I needed a bailout low gear for the long hills. I bought a SRAM 11-36t 1170 cassette. My Ultegra 6800 derailleur wouldn’t accommodate it, so I used a “Wolf Link” to extend it to take the 36 tooth low gear.The shifting with the Wolf Link was OK, but nowhere near as good as my Ultegra 6800 derailleur with the ... MoreThis review covers three products – Ultegra 8000 GS rear derailleur, SRAM 1170 11-36t cassette, and SRAM 1170 chain, because they all work together, and only a magician could tell you which one deserves more of the credit.I learned while training with a power meter for the Whistler Granfondo that low-cadence grinds up long hills reduces my speed and power towards the end of long, steep rides. My bike doesn’t have low enough gears for my 70 year old legs, so I needed a bailout low gear for the long hills. I bought a SRAM 11-36t 1170 cassette. My Ultegra 6800 derailleur wouldn’t accommodate it, so I used a “Wolf Link” to extend it to take the 36 tooth low gear.The shifting with the Wolf Link was OK, but nowhere near as good as my Ultegra 6800 derailleur with the Ultegra 11-32 cassette that came with my bike.Shimano says that the new Ultegra 8000GS rear derailleur (2018 version with medium length cage) will accommodate an 11-34t cassette, a 16t difference on the front derailleur, and a total of 39 t. I was aiming to use it with a 41t difference. So I bought the derailleur, installed it, and set it up for the big bailout gear. My chain was too short, of course, and MEC only had SRAM chains, so I bought the SRAM 1170 model.With these three items – the Ultegra 8000GS derailleur, the SRAM 1170 cassette, and the SRAM 1170 chain, the bike shifts BETTER than it did with the original equipment! And the drive train is nearly silent, in every gear. The Shimano stuff made noise when cross-chained (50t front, 32t rear). The SRAM makes no noise when cross chained, or anywhere in the shifting range. Cross chaining costs watts – it’s inefficient – but from time to time, you may need to do it in a pinch.The Ultegra 8000 derailleur is light, fast, easy to set up, and shifts consistently, up and down the 11-36 cassette. The SRAM 1170 chain was barely long enough – 114 links – to accommodate my 50t front chainring and my 36t big cassette sprocket. I don’t know if it would work for a 52-36. Together, they make a great combination that allows me to motor up very steep hills (18 to 20% grades) instead of getting off and walking. Don’t think it’s because my legs are old. Lots of people get off and walk on the 20% killer hill on the MEC Century ride out of Coquitlam. But not me!I’m delighted with the results.
Typical Shimano: it just works great. This was an upgrade situation from Ultegra R6800, which I couldn't find direct replacement for. Jensen technical support person said it was just plug and play replacement, and it was! So easy to install and dial in. In fact the dial in was too easy. It has worked flawlessly for several rides now. Thank you to Jensen for the great tech support and to Shimano for making upgrade backwards compatible.
Great upgrade to the 6800 series RD! Purchased mine in May, 2021, so it's had plenty of road testing time. I'm a retired racer, but still appreciate high quality road racing gearThe Cervelo S3 had some minor shifting issues with a slightly bent 6800 RD cage and derailleur hanger (used bike purchase). Better feel, very reliable shifting, with the STI 8000 shifters - also upgraded from 6800 shifters. Having a 30T max capacity is good enough for most climbs in our area.May covert to a GS model for the 34T max capacity. We have multiple Category 3 and 4 climbs to ride during club training camps, barely 2 hrs from here.If there's a minor complaint: it scuffs easily on the cage area, but no surprise.
I bought a NOS LOOK 765 endurance road bike with Ultegra RD-6800-GS (medium cage rear derailleur) and upgraded it to this RD-8000-GS so that I could use a 11-34T low gear cassette for hill climbing. Fitting it was really easy, I deliberately didn't cut the control cable shorter, just in case I wish to return. The RD-8000 is low profile, whereas the RD-6800 sticks out a bit, supposedly making it more prone to damage (However I did drop it on the RD-8000 once, and bent the proprietary derailleur hanger instead!). Strangely, the RD-8000 is 3g heavier than the RD-6800 at 210g, not so you'd notice. Again shifting performance feels identical, both being excellent when correctly set up. For comparison sake, the Shimano 105 7000 series has lower priced components. The ... MoreI bought a NOS LOOK 765 endurance road bike with Ultegra RD-6800-GS (medium cage rear derailleur) and upgraded it to this RD-8000-GS so that I could use a 11-34T low gear cassette for hill climbing. Fitting it was really easy, I deliberately didn't cut the control cable shorter, just in case I wish to return. The RD-8000 is low profile, whereas the RD-6800 sticks out a bit, supposedly making it more prone to damage (However I did drop it on the RD-8000 once, and bent the proprietary derailleur hanger instead!). Strangely, the RD-8000 is 3g heavier than the RD-6800 at 210g, not so you'd notice. Again shifting performance feels identical, both being excellent when correctly set up. For comparison sake, the Shimano 105 7000 series has lower priced components. The RD-7000-GS takes an 11-34T cassette and weighs 235g.In summary if you want to mount an 11-34T cassette in Ultegra, then you need this. If you have a 105 7000 series, then there's little point in upgrading for the sake of 25g (well if you must!).Photo attached showing installed RD-8000-GS, including the unfortunate bash where it was dropped on an uneven surface to avoid hitting a jogger who appeared "out of nowhere". The air was blue!
Shifts fine but the stupid clutch design is a real real real pain. Rear tire changes taking 4 times as long at least and you are going to get your hands very messy in the process. Alongside with ensuring I am bringing a spare tube and inflator I am now packing gloves when I take my 11sp out.I am no novice rider btw, I was a courier for 5 years and have been riding over 35 years now. The extra gear from 10 to 11 simply was not worth the frustration of this design feature.
I bought this Ultegra 11spd rear derailleur to replace the failed unit on my Giant E road bike; my local Giant store Shimano supplier were out of stock, another covid victim they say. Well no such problems with Sigma Sports, they had exactly what I ordered in stock with a variety of delivery options. i selected Ist class post, the parcel when it arrived contained the derailier securely held in its Shimano presentation box that did indeed make the whole experience feel like Christmas morning. Perhaps it is a shiny boys toys thing, but it was a really cool moment.
Purchased this to replace my Niner BSB's Ultegra RD6800, which had sustained a bent cage after a season of 'cross racing. Crisp shifting, and seemingly reduced chain slap/movement from the way the chain is held further forward. Two things to note if you're moving to this derailleur from a RD6800:1.] A different length of cable housing is required for the last bit leading from the chainstay to the derailleur. A length is included in the box, which may work depending on your cable routing, external vs. internal etc., but I have full housing from the shifter so I needed to cut the appropriate length (maybe 2-3 cm shorter than before)2.] I ended up removing a few chain links, as this model sits further forward than the RD6800, causing additional slack in the chain. ... MorePurchased this to replace my Niner BSB's Ultegra RD6800, which had sustained a bent cage after a season of 'cross racing. Crisp shifting, and seemingly reduced chain slap/movement from the way the chain is held further forward. Two things to note if you're moving to this derailleur from a RD6800:1.] A different length of cable housing is required for the last bit leading from the chainstay to the derailleur. A length is included in the box, which may work depending on your cable routing, external vs. internal etc., but I have full housing from the shifter so I needed to cut the appropriate length (maybe 2-3 cm shorter than before)2.] I ended up removing a few chain links, as this model sits further forward than the RD6800, causing additional slack in the chain. Use one or more of the various chain length measuring techniques (available via a quick internet search) to get the right length.
I agree with Shovel74. I have the R8000 GS on both my bikes and on my partner's bike now (Her R7000 (105) on her Trek Checkpoint failed ... but let's not go there). I too have used the R8000 GS with a SRAM 11-36 cassette (although with a KMS 11-speed chain) on a 42mm-shod 650B wheel we switch in and out with her regular 28mm-tire 700C wheels (Shimano 11-34 cassette) for when we plan adventure rides with possible steep hills. No problem switching the wheels. Shifting is smooth. The R8000 is a slight upgrade from the R7000, but both offer great shifting. BTW I stopped using Shimano chains years ago after realizing KMS chains are indistinguishable (at least to me) performance wise, seem to last longer, and are less expensive.
