First ride: 2011 Shimano XTR M980

Shimano's new XTR M980 flagship mountain bike group has thus far been little more than a bunch of studio glamour shots, a collection of whiz-bang new features, and a list of emotionless facts and figures. But we were finally able to take the more trail-oriented bits (there's a more race-targeted variant coming a little later) out for an initial thrashing around the spectacular Lakes Basin network of trails overlooking Graeagle, California plus a top-to-bottom, 1,480m (4,850') high-speed run down an especially blown-out Downieville Classic downhill course.