The bike world is still absorbing 12-speed electronic wireless drivetrains, Microshift Advent 9-speed seemingly looks backwards. What’s the deal?

>>> Mountain bike groupsets: buyer’s guide

Well, for a start the deal in a monetary sense is a drivetrain for $125. Sorry, no UK pricing availability as yet or indeed confirmation as to whether UK distributor Moore Large will be bringing Microshfit Advent into the country.

The deal, in the idea sense, is that less-is-more. More durability and more money in your bank balance. With an 11-42t range on the cassette, Microshift Advent is still there or thereabouts with contemporary gear range ratios. It just does it with fewer steps.

Microshift Advent appeal

As single-ring drivetrains have become the norm on pretty much all but low-end bikes, mountain bikers have become accustomed to fewer gears and larger steps between gear ratios. There are far more real world riding benefits from having fewer gears than drawbacks. The bigger jumps between gears are  price well worth paying for the reliability, simplicity and quietness of 1x setups.

Is going back to 9 speeds (spread over a huge 11-42t range of ratios) tkaing things a bit too far? We won’t know until we try Microshift Advent for ourselves. Fort some riders, no doubt the gaps will be too much. But for plenty of all-weathers just-get-on-with-it riders we reckon they’ll be fine with the ratio jumps.

Heck, there’s even an 8-speed Microshift Advent drivetrain if you really want to turn away from double-digit sprockets.

Having said all that, this isn’t quite a full drivetrain. Microshift Advent is a rear mech, shifter and a cassette. You’ll have to provide your own chain and chainset.

In an amusingly ironic way, Miucroshift Advent is similar to £1,900+ SRAM AXS in that it’s aimed partly at gravel bikes as well as mountian bikes. There’s a degree of cross-compatibility to Microshift Advent stuff from flat bar to drop bar machines.

Why 9 speed?

Microshift: “As mountain bike drivetrains add more speeds, the chains get narrower, and adjustment gets more and more finicky. Everything needs to be perfectly aligned just to work right. In the real world, that means more maintenance more often.

“ADVENT is less particular. The 9 speed chain is wider, the cassette cogs are thicker, and the derailleur is easier to adjust. The whole system is designed for maximum durability with minimal maintenance.”

Unique rear mech clutch design

Microshift: “Most mountain bike derailleurs use a roller bearing clutch, which utilizes a friction sleeve around a one way bearing. This system is prone to losing tension. If you’ve owned a clutch derailleur, you’ve probably noticed that it gets less effective over time. It is also super hard to adjust.

“ADVENT uses an innovative ratchet-and-pawl design, a technology that has been proven for years in hubs. It’s durable. It’s much resistant to losing tension, and you can readjust the clutch tension in under a minute with a screwdriver and a Torx wrench.”

Shifter cartridge bearings

Microshift: “Most shifters look the same on the outside, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts. The ADVENT shifter uses cartridge bearings in the lever mechanism for better feel and more precise shifts.”