Shimano has announced an updated Tiagra R4000 Series groupset, and the big news is that it has been updated from 10-speed to 11-speed, and it remains mechanical rather than Di2 (electronic). Shimano also boasts that new Tiagra offers wider-range gearing than previously, reduced system weight – of course – and lever ergonomics “designed to fit more riders”.
Hang on, though! Before we tell you about Tiagra R4000, wasn’t Shimano phasing out Tiagra entirely? That has been the story that has been going around for the past three years; Tiagra, Sora and Claris are off, as are the lower-end mountain bike groupsets Alivio, Acera and Altus, and CUES is coming in as the new standard.
Shimano says, “CUES offers all the confidence of a high-end groupset at an affordable price point. The groupset is available for e-city and trekking bikes, MTB, road, gravel, cargo and e-cargo bikes. It is the new standard, no matter your cycling style.”
We were told in a presentation as long ago as 2023 that Shimano’s mid-tier groupsets, including Tiagra, would be unified under the CUES banner. CUES is very much on the scene now, and we expected Tiagra to remain available for a bit – a ‘while stocks last’ kind of thing – and then quietly drift off into the sunset. But no. It’s back in an 11-speed incarnation.
Either Shimano’s communication with the media on this has been terrible (Google “is Shimano Tiagra being phased out?” and check out the results), or it has changed its mind. It looks like both bike brands and consumers want Tiagra to stay as a sports-focused option at a more affordable price point than Shimano 105, with CUES being more of a utility and recreational choice. We fully agree with this approach. Lumping together everything underneath 105-level into a huge CUES groupset would be a big mistake. CUES is already incredibly diverse, covering flat bar and drop bar systems, mechanical shifting and Di2, 9-11-speed drivetrains…
Bastian Ramler, manager of the Communications & Content Team at Shimano Europe says, “We developed Tiagra R4000 to meet a clear demand from riders and OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] for an accessible 2×11 mechanical groupset that delivers a true road cycling experience. While CUES is highly versatile – designed for all-road, gravel, and bikes with wider tyres – Tiagra R4000 remains a dedicated ‘pure road’ groupset. This distinction is reflected in its technical specifications, such as optimised chainstay lengths and front derailleur tyre clearance, which are specifically tailored for classic road bike geometry, aesthetics, and performance.”
Shimano says, “Tiagra R4000 sits between Shimano 105 R7000 and Shimano CUES U6030, offering a pure road 2×11 mechanical experience at a more accessible level.
“Shimano also confirms that the Tiagra 4700 (2×10-speed) series will be discontinued starting in early 2027, phased by market and inventory”.
Tiagra as a groupset tier is here to stay, though. Let us introduce Tiagra R4000 Series…
Shimano has given us the key features in a quick ’n’ easy bullet point format, so let’s share those with you right away (in Shimano’s own words):
- Ergonomic lever design with easy reach to support more hand sizes and riding positions.
- New 11–36T 11-speed cassette option for wider-range gearing on a 2×11 road system.
- Lightweight: the new 11–36T cassette option is significantly lighter than reference configurations.
- New Tiagra rear derailleur (RD-R4000) designed for 2×11 operation.
- Supporting traditional road bikes with a small q-factor, short chainstay length, and bigger chainrings available.
Shimano hasn’t told us what those “reference configurations” are.
“At the heart of the system is an updated shifter with an ergonomic lever design for easier reach across a wider range of hand sizes, paired with a new lightweight 11–36T Hyperglide 11-speed cassette option for the new 2×11-speed system,” says Shimano.
“The 11–36T cassette delivers a broad range for mixed terrain and climbing, while helping reduce system weight, more than 200g lighter than reference configurations, supporting riders who want a lighter road setup without sacrificing gear range.”
The Dual Control Levers/Shifters (ST-R4020-L and ST-R4020-R) take their ergonomics from Shimano’s 105 groupset – the level above Tiagra. That’s a good thing because our man Stu Kerton found the 105 levers to be extremely comfortable and easy to operate when he reviewed them last year.
> Read our Shimano 105 R7100 Mechanical 12-Speed Groupset review
“Its redesigned lever position and bracket, developed through research on various hand shapes, ensure superior comfort and control for road cyclists,” says Shimano. “Featuring a premium feel, reliable hydraulic disc brake power, and smooth shifting, the Tiagra 2×11-speed system offers precision and confidence on the road.”
Shimano reckons that the FD-R4000 front derailleur provides lighter shifting than previously. We’ve yet to try it out, but in terms of looks, you’d do well to tell it apart from the existing Shimano 105 R7100 front derailleur. Graphics aside, they’re pretty much indistinguishable.
Shimano says that the RD-R4000 rear derailleur delivers “smooth, precise shifts” – of course it does – while the FC-R4000 chainset comes in 52-36T and 50-34T options, and in 165, 170, 172.5, and 175mm crank lengths, as previously. Shimano hasn’t followed the trend for ever shorter cranks here.
The Tiagra R4000 Series groupset is available with an 11-36T CS-RS400-11 cassette, whereas a 34T sprocket was the largest that a medium cage Tiagra 4700 Series rear derailleur could handle.
New Tiagra takes Shimano’s existing CN-HG601-11 chain, the same as Shimano 105. It comes with Shimano’s SIL-TEC treatment on the inner plate surface, designed to reduce friction, improve mud shedding, and increase durability.
Oh, and although 4700 Series Tiagra featured both disc brakes and rim brakes, Tiagra R4000 Series is disc brake only. That’s not entirely surprising, given the direction that the market has been going over the past few years.
Weights and prices
Here are the weights and prices we have so far:
| Component | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Shimano Tiagra rear derailleur RD-R4000 | 275g | £64.99 |
| Shimano Tiagra front derailleur FD-R4000-F | 95g | £39.99 |
| Shimano Tiagra chainset FC-R4000 50-34T | 907g | £139.99 |
| Shimano Tiagra dual control lever ST-R4020-L (left) | 622g | £174.99 |
| Shimano Tiagra dual control lever ST-R4020-R (right) | 622g | £174.99 |
| Shimano Tiagra chain CS-RS400-11 | 398g | £64.99 |
24 thoughts on “Shimano launches Tiagra R4000 Series groupset – 2×11-speed, wider-range gearing, updated ergonomics… and no rim brakes”
Probably a good thing it doesn’t come with a rim brake option, because it would stop all these oems using the rim brake brifters with mechanical disc brakes to save a few pennies on their builds.
it would stop all these oems using the rim brake brifters with mechanical disc brakes to save a few pennies on their builds
I feel obliged to put in a word for mechanical disc brakes and the associated drop bar shifters – they’re pretty good!
+1 I much prefer them and would choose them over hydraulics if manufacturers made it possible. I find the difference in modulation is minimal and far outweighed by the ability to adjust the pad gap on the fly (not having to do 80 miles of a century, as I once did, with brake rub because of a warped rotor) and the ease of a simple cable replacement when necessary rather than the massive hassle of draining and refilling a hydraulic system. I am happy with the bikes I’ve got at the moment but when the new (secondhand) bike itch resurfaces I might well go back a few years in order to get one with mechanical, rather than hydraulic, discs.
Is the cable pull compatible with other Shimano 11spd? 4700 wasn’t compatible with other 10spd.
This is exactly my question. The derailleur geometry looks similar to other road 11-speed options, so I’m hoping that’s the case.
4700 was 11sp pull ratio. The first generation 10sp cables under the bars (5700/6700) had a very convoluted cable routing that ate cables. They fixed this with 5800/6800 11sp and then used that for Tiagra 4700, just in 10sp. So no reason this wouldn’t be, it looks very much like 105 R7000 trickle down, some components just a little heavier, some (like the FD) look like they are the exact R7000 component.
To update, Escape Collective reports it is compatible with CUES U6030 11sp but NOT older road 11sp. I guess that does sort of make sense as well though, if all the other 11sp (105, Ultegra, DA) has been already supplanted with 12sp, and CUES is the other *current* 11sp, makes sense to make it compatible with the 11sp that is otherwise around now and will be going forward.
So no long term spare parts for my current 11 speed, then. Hmmmph.
Urgh. So annoying. So still a pitch to sell as many new bits as possible, rather than serve customers.
The big 2 discontinuing compatible parts every 5 or so years, forcing people to buy pretty much entire new groupsets, is getting fairly annoying.
Doing some tooth counting based on the image above, the 11-36 cassette is composed of: 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-28-32-36.
I would have preferred 11-12-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32-36 (because the 21-23 is unnecessarily tight and the 11-13 too big), but I guess we can’t have everything perfect.
Shimano tends to choose cog sizes based on how well they can align all of the shift ramps and gates to make mechanically smooth shifting rather than to minimize cadence jumps.
The existing 11sp 11-34 is 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-27-30-34, so it’s the same as that just with the last three swapped out. I use the 11-34 across a lot of bikes and I don’t find it problematic.
You’re not cruising around in the 11-13 range anyway, it’s sprinting or chasing downhill only. 50-11 @90RPM on 700×28 is 53km/h, 50-13 is 45km/h. +1km/h if you are on 52/36.
For racing, the 11-32 or below is going to be optimal, it has a 12. If you’re not racing, you don’t really need it IMO. For that matter, people won the Tour on larger sprockets. Merckx never had smaller than a 13T, the first win with a 12T was Bernard Hinault in 1979. 11T wasn’t a thing until 9sp Dura-Ace 7700 in the late 90s.
I’m on a 10speed 50/34 12-28, I don’t miss the 11t cog at all, if I get to the 12t its becuase I’m going a down a hill or really pushing it. I don’t know why they feel a need to fit it on cassettes. You’re average rider is hardly going to ever need it.
Whatever the reasoning, this is good news. The problem with CUES, for me, was the gearing ratios.
11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-34-39-45T is fine on a 1x Gravel type set-up, but for a road bike it leaves some pretty big gaps. How often would you need a gear as low as 34×45 on a road bike? I’d much rather have 11-32/11-34/11-36 options with less jumps.
Maybe I’m just more traditional, as my current old 10spd Tiagra/Ultegra set-up has a 12-28 cassette and I’m used to the smaller gaps.
Hurrah! This makes a lot of sense to me, because the jump from CUES to R7000 cost and performance-wise is pretty huge, and you still can’t find drop-bar CUES for love nor money. From a practical perspective I also think it’s great news. I don’t feel like my winter bike (currently built with R7000) warrants 12-speed 105 and I can’t afford to destroy 12-speed components, so being able to slowly replace bits with “Tiagra” 11-speed is a nice surprise. 🙂
So, it’s existing Tiagra (chainset) with 11-speed bits from the old 105 and GRX. Fair enough, all good stuff.
But which version of 11-speed pull ratio?
CUES for drop-bar has been an absolute mess; I suspect for other applications it’s been OK.
I strongly suspect it’s going to be the same pull ratio as the rest of 11sp road, most of it looks like it came direct from 105 R7000. Tiagra 4700 for that matter is 11sp road pull ratio, so don’t see why they’d change it.
Escape Collective reported it is compatible with CUES 11sp and NOT compatible with the old road 11sp. I guess it makes sense, given road 11sp has been discontinued while CUES 11sp is a current product.
From Escape Collective:
“Most unexpected is that the new derailleurs and shifters are interchangeable with CUES U6030, but not any of the previous generations of Shimano 11-speed road or Tiagra 4700. The reason? Shimano increased the cable pull ratio for the new Tiagra.”
I discovered this problem when my old Tiagra deraileur needed reaplacing and the newer version was incompatiable due to the cable pull ratios. I ended up with an even older Ultegra deraileur in its place, as this had the same pull ratio.
Tiagra 4700 is compatible with all the 11sp road stuff. Just not the 10sp. You could use 11sp road shifters with a 4700 RD, and have 11sp, or could use a 105 R7000 RD with 4700 shifters, and have 10sp.
So if I understand you correctly, I can swap a 11-45 Cues 11 speed cassette with a new R4000 11-36 cassette because the have the same spacing in-between spacing?
Theoretically, but the angle of the derailleur sweep would be wrong for 11-36. The current derailleurs are designed around a sweep the expects a 45T (or for the 1x RD, 50T) in the large cog position, not 36T. So it will presumably be further away than optimal. The spec sheet for the CUES 11-45T RDs say that’s the only thing they will work with, but nothing else existed at the time either.
I’m sure it would work, maybe just not optimally.
I bought Cues 9-speed last November, even though it’s probably not going on until next year, but without the front mech and shifter on the grounds that the Sora front gear probably isn’t worn out