Sounding the alarm on the comedic frustrations of the Shimano LinkGlide drivetrain world – current, future, endless.
{Updated – A Note On Shimano’s Packaging Changes At The Bottom}
[Serious Talk] Shimano needs new packaging on all its 11-speed chains, stat. Yesterday. Late year, even. And on this packaging, in bigger, bolder letters, looming larger than ‘Dyna-Sys11’, ‘SILTECH’, ‘HG-EV’, ‘HG-X11’, ‘Shimano’, and even ’11s’, that packaging needs to say ‘ALL CUES‘ and ‘All LINKGLIDE‘.
Even then, they should establish a slush fund for the shops, both online and real, that will be called on to assuage frustrated customers’ demands for warranty chains. No amount of RTFM*-talk is going to have the average cyclist owning responsibility for their was-new 9-speed chain not interfacing with their LG cassette. Sadly, I’m certain more than one shop will sell, or even sell and install, the wrong width of links as well. [/Serious Talk]
*{Read The F*cking Manual}
For all I’ve written about LinkGlide and CUES, from high-end XT 11-speed to Shimano’s budget-friendliest U4000 9-speed, I’d simply never considered it. I mean, from my perspective, one of the true beauties of LinkGlide (LG), even more than the excellent shifting at every price point, is the intercompatibility. And, obviously, for all LG drivetrains to be intercompatible, they need to use the same chain.
And not only did Shimano’s research find 11-spd had the best interface (chain, ring, cog) of any current standard, it’s also already available in a massive range of price points from any number of brands. ShiRAMano and beyond. All beautifully ready to roll over those big, fat, LinkGlide cogs.
The problem, then?
“I have a Shimano nine-speed drivetrain on my commuter. I just want to know your recommendation for a chain.”
I’m glad you brought your bike in; that’s actually a Shimano CUES drivetrain using their LinkGlide technology. So, whether it has 9, 10, or 11 cogs, it uses an 11-speed chain.
”My old bike was also a nine-speed drivetrain, and I always used 9-speed chains. It makes sense. 9-speeds. 9-speed chain.”
Absolutely, previous to LinkGlide being launched, 9-speed drivetrains worked best with 9-speed chains and so on. But LinkGlide is a wonderful return to decades ago, when there was significant interoperability between different levels of drivetrains. From a high-end XT drivetrain, through Deore, through U6000, and then to your U4000 drivetrain, even though they range through 9, 10, and 11 cogs.
“So I can put an XT derailleur on my bike?“
Yes, a LinkGlide XT derailleur. There are also HG+ 12-speed derailleurs; those wouldn’t work with your CUES components.
“But I need to buy an 11-speed chain? Any 11-speed chain?“
Exactly, any 11-speed chain from any brand, even. Though Shimano would, of course, recommend you choose one of theirs.
“But none of these 11-speed chains says anything about CUES. Or, LinkGlide, was it? Anywhere on their packaging. But you say they all work with CUES and LinkGlide?“
Yes, that is correct.
“Okay, I think I’m just going to try one of these 9-speed chains and see what happens. I’ve always used 9-speed chains with 9-speed drivetrains. Worst-case scenario, I can always return it.“
…
UPDATE
A coworker once accused me of being a one-dimensional character, said dimension being bicycles, and while I’d defend myself here*, I will admit to being a total shop rat. And in that, I’ll say, ‘calling’, I can straight up say, online or in person, never have I ever seen Shimano’s existing, updated, 11-speed chain packaging for 2023 onward.
My best guess is that in a world of post-pandemic inventory overages, this new packaging simply has not yet trickled out into the real and digital riding & wrenching worlds I frequent. But, it already exists. And, that’s awesome. And, by the time that most folks need a new chain for their LinkGuide drivetrains, it should be prevalent.
Okay, I will note that, while the packaging mentions LinkGlide, and this will be a boon to bike shops and well-educated consumers, it’s still, I think, a bit of a miss for the average home-chain-changer to not have CUES emblazoned on it in multiple places. In other words, mine is still better. Sorry.
Anywho, credit where it’s due, we should be seeing this updated Shimano packaging on shelves sooner rather than later.
*{I’m at least a two-dimensional character.}
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