If you like a bit of bling on your bike, and find that the current selection of popular road bike groupsets are a bit too black or grey for your taste, then Shimano’s new limited edition run of the 10-speed, 1x version of its versatile CUES groupset should be right up your street, avenue, lane and bridleway! The polished silver parts celebrate Shimano’s long heritage in metalworking, bringing a bit of traditional style to your bike.
Fittingly, the unveiling will be this week at the Bespoked show in Dresden, Germany, which is one of the biggest handmade bicycle shows.
The new components will be shown off on two specially-commissioned bikes – and although you perhaps wouldn’t immediately associate a show called ‘Bespoked’ with the world’s largest manufacturer of bicycle components, the mix of traditional custom bikes and innovative engineering on display, across all cycling disciplines, suits the versatility of CUES, as well as the classic aesthetic that silver components can bring.
A selection of special edition polished silver CUES components will be available for riders to mix and match, and to achieve the look that they’re after. You can choose between drop bar hydraulic or mechanical disc brake setups, or pair the polished silver parts with existing CUES flat bar components, to suit your riding style.
The new polished silver edition adds a distinctive visual statement to this versatile and value-driven component group. So road, gravel, mountain, commuter and town riding are all covered. This versatility of purpose is one of CUES key features. Interchangeable components, including common derailleur pulleys, cassette sprockets, and chains simplify maintenance too.
The core components, all polished silver, that can be used in each setup include: a rear derailleur (RD-U6000), cassette (CS-LG400-10), a 1x crankset (FC-U6030-1), and a pair of hubs (HB / FH-QC400).
Then for a hydraulic disc brake setup for drop bars, you could add the hydraulic dual control levers (ST-U6030-R & -L) which are compatible with both 10- and 11-speed drivetrains. Paired with them would be the hydraulic flat mount disc brake callipers (BR-U6030).
A drop bar mechanical disc brake setup would use the dual control lever (ST-U3030-10R) and brake lever (BL-U3030-L). These can be paired with existing BR-RS305 brake callipers, however these callipers have a black finish.
Finally a flat bar bike mechanical disc brake setup would pair the existing CUES SL-U6000-10R shifter with the brake levers (BL-T4000) and V brake callipers (BR-T4000), both available in a silver painted finish. Alternatively for a hydraulic flat bar setup the BL-MT401 levers and BR-MT410 callipers (hydraulic post-type) could be used, however they are both black components.
At this point we’re unsure of the pricing, as Shimano hasn’t announced it yet. Whether there is a premium over the black components or not remains to be seen. As soon as we know the cost of this special edition, we’ll let you know of course.
We welcome the addition of a more traditional polished silver finish in a world dominated by black finishes. It gives more options for riders who want a classic looking bike with modern functionality. Bravo, Shimano!
5 thoughts on “Shimano launches special edition CUES 1×10-speed groupset with polished silver finish”
Gimme more! I absolutely love
Gimme more! I absolutely love my 10-speed SRAM Rival specifically for the looks.
Plain polished alloy is a
Plain polished alloy is a much better choice than anodised, especially dark anodisations, for any parts that see wear. E.g., cranks sets where shoes may rub the arms. I’ve a couple of bikes with black anodised arms that now have polished alloy streaks in the middle of them.
My new Ultegra Di2 cranks
My new Ultegra Di2 cranks have very visible scratches on them from a dropped chain (outer)
Bring back silver groupsets!
Bring back silver groupsets!
Record players and even
Record players and even cassette decks are back on the Hifi shelves, I don’t know why Campag aren’t selling a retro style groupset??
Lovely mirror polished hubs, chainsets with the embosted Campy shield, even SRAM have alloy brake calipers!
I was thinking of buying a Look 785, but the aesthetics of a satin black frame with black components put me off. If they did a gloss white finish, that would have been much better. But black with alloy finished components would be the best.