Shimano's Shadow rear derailleur technology is all about a narrower profile mech, which means the parallelogram sticks out less far - rather than a big knuckly bit being the first thing to hit the ground or any passing rocks, the whole mechanism sits inboard of the QR nut so the end of your axle will end up taking the impact of a dropped bike.

It's available at XT and XTR levels for now, but we're showing you a picture of the XTR version because, with the X-shaped outer plate and full carbon fibre cage it's the lightest derailleur in the Shimano range at a claimed 180g, and looks rather nice.