New Shimano 8 speed groupset with brifters.

[hamster]

That's the difference between an eBike and pedalling only. The big jumps between gears would be horrible: pedalling at an high cadence then a jump to a much lower one. I'm not riding an eBike.

 

[Tootyred]

And that's why the drivetrains are not lasting....imagine the stress being punched through the chain, cassette and freehub when both the motor and person stamp on it.

bosch now have admitted, that because people are not using the gears they are seeing 500 mile chains and a complete drivetrain in 1000 miles!

Hence these "new" link-glide teeth on shimano e bike / heavy duty stuff.

 

[Retrorockit]

Zero Friction Cycling found that Shimano parts are softer than SRAmM. Shimano chains last better with Shimano cassettes, and Sram with SRAM. The say SRAM chains will wear Shimano cassettes.
Some of the factory Ebikes have gone to drivers as small as 9 teeth. I run a 50t ring and spend most of my time in 15t, maybe 13t if I'm in a hurry. rarely the 11t top cog. I haven't had excessive wear or breakage. I do rivet my chain because I've broken a few of the tool less links. I've gone to Front Freewheel to keep the chain moving when shifting where pedaling isn't possible. That helped a lot. But the Sunrace 11-40t has worked well for me, and no problems os far with similar Shimano. But maybe it will wear faster over time?

 

[Thias]

So what shifter/trigger are you supposed to use?
And what is that clutch stuffsupposed to do? Maybe allow for a wider range?

 

[Retrorockit]

It should work with any Shimano 2:1 shifter. Revoshifters came in 8s. The drop bar brake/shifter is new for 8s.
The one way clutch device makes it hard for slack to form in the chain over bumps. This coupled with a Narrow/Wide chain ring (1x only) keeps the chain from coming off. Most of these offroad derailleurs have a lever to release the clutch for changing wheels. I don't think this one has that. Maybe someone in UK can tell more about this. I can't get one here yet. The whole clutch derailleur thing started with 10s and up. I just leave mine switched off (Zee M640) for smoother shifting. But could switch it on for any rougher situations.
But you can adapt any 10,11s derailleur you like to 8,9s by running a SRAM 1:1 shifter. The cable pull is compatible between Shimano and SRAM in 10,11s. You can also adapt 8,9s bikes to 10, 11s using newer parts. 10s cassette is narrow and needs a spacer, 11s MTN fits classic HG hubs, Road 11s fits GH11 which is also vintage Mavic. 12s they went to proprietary splines to get 10t top gear. Why bother?
The wide 8s 11-45t cassette is new, and the integrated 8s shifter/ brake for drop bars is new.
The derailleur has more capacity than legacy parts but is compatible with those shifters. The GS cage has more ground clearance than SGS on 26" bikes. But there are many other options for derailleurs. As a groupset it's for lower end "Active" bicycles. Entry level parts. Much better than the Acera derailleur they listed with the 11-40t casette. My Ebike folded that one up in 100 yards.
If you don't want the wide range The Zee M640 has an SS cage, and can go up to 11-42t.. 2 versions DH for 11-28t, and FR for 11-36t. But those ratings are for suspension bikes. On HT bikes it can go higher. 11-40t is within the listed SS cage capacity of 29t. It's pretty nice in 11s.

 

[Retrorockit]

Shimano prefers to sell groupsets to bicycle manufacturers. The spare parts market really doesn't interest them very much. There are bicycle builders in the UK, and almost none in the US except for higher end boutique brands. So in the UK this would be spares for existing bikes. In the US it will be a PITA special order situation for them. But some of the larger parts vendors might be able to get some in bulk. Or possibly Trek/Electra will offer a cruiser/city bike based on this group. Maybe your tariffs are keeping those builders alive and we'll get some going here again.