Shimano CUES adds a special shiny silver edition, perfect for cyclists hoping for a more classy look to their next affordable bike build. No longer confined to expensive limited edition components, polished silver Cues promises solid performance without breaking the bank. And while it’s technically billed as 1×10-speed, the bulk of the special silver parts could be run as 11-speed, too!
The Japanese component manufacturer calls it a “homage to Shimano’s century-long heritage of metalworking excellence“. But I call it another return to classic cycling good looks.
Shimano CUES polished silver 1×10 drop bar groupset
Just like we saw with shiny silver GRX for gravel a few years back, and more recently with SRAM’s top-tier silver 1987 mountain bike groupset, drivetrain makers are realizing that sometime cyclists want something other than matte-on-shiny black-on-black aesthetics. But what’s especially notable here is that Shimano Cues is actually affordable.
A full Cues 1x dropbar road or gravel setup typically costs under $900, including levers, hydraulic brakes, rotors, crankset, rear derailleur, cassette, and chain. (For comparison, that’s less than the single new Campy Ultra carbon chainring and ti cassette that just launched today.)
And while Shimano is hyping this special edition as a 10-speed setup, if you select a standard series LinkGlide cassette, you could also go 11-speed, too!
All that’s changed is that Shimano has polished the aluminum crankarms, spider, brake levers, brake calipers, derailleur body, and hubs. Then, they get a clear anodized finish to stay shiny and silver.
Shimano only gives the U6000 1×10-speed components that polished finish – plus a special silver-plated CS-LG400-10 LinkGlide 10-speed cassette. But the heart of Shimano Cues has always been about a mix-and-match approach to drivetrain.
So there still are plenty of possibilities for mostly silver component builds, including both hydraulic and mechanical brake setups. And if you’re willing to stick with a regular black CS-LG400-11 cassette, you can also go 11-speed.
Which Cues components get a polished silver special edition?
The core of the polished silver Cues groupset is a 1x10sp mechanical shift, hydraulic disc brake drop bar build. But it goes a bit further than that if you look closely.
10-speed or 11-speed thanks to Cues + LinkGlide modularity
That starts with a set of dual control levers (ST-U6030) matched to flat mount calipers (BR-U6030). Technically, those levers will work with both 10-speed and 11-speed Cue drivetrains matched to the appropriate cassette. And they designed the brake calipers for 160mm rotors without adapters. No special rotors needed, as all but Dura-Ace level are mostly silver anyway.
Next up, Shimano offers the special polished silver Cues rear derailleur. This one (RD-U6000) is also ready for 10sp or 11sp, up to a 50T cog. Only the upper b-knuckle and outer parallelogram link get polished, with the p-knuckle clutch and cage still black. Same for the silver Cues cranks (FC-U6030-1) – they get polished arms (170, 172.5, or 175mm) and spider. But the 40T or 42T chainring stays black, as does the matching removable chain guard that is unique to the 40T version of this silver special edition.
10-speed only, but only for the silver cassette
The silver chrome-plated LinkGlide cassette (CS-LG400-10) is the only truly 10-speed specific component in the polished silver special edition. Only the 11-48T option comes in silver, but you could always swap in an 11-45T or 11-50T in black if you wanted to go 11-speed.
There are also a set of silver centerlock disc brake hubs (HB / FH-QC400), but they are only available with quick releases and 100/135mm spacing. Thankfully, plenty of other great silver hubs are available to custom-build wheels. And if you look hard, you can find some nice all silver wheels for a lot of different modern bike builds, too, just none from Shimano.
Mechanical disc brakes if you’re into that
If you want a mechanical disc brake setup, Shimano does have a set of drop bar shift levers for that. But the ST-U3030 dual controls are actually 10-speed only. And the left lever is without a shifter, so no front derailleur option either. Shimano does make their post mount BR-R317 mechanical disc brake calipers in silver, but they are not nearly as nice as the Cues hydro option. There’s also a nicer BR-R305 flat mount road caliper, but only in black. Maybe cantis or converted V-brakes would be better?
Officially, all of these polished silver parts are special editions. Shimano didn’t call them limited editions, and they have simply added a silver option to each respective component in their line-up. But we expect that they may be somewhat in limited supply, depending how you source Cues components either online or through your local bikeshop.
