BIKE summary of the Cues 8020
The cues no longer have the sonorous name of the XT. Emotionally, this is no gain. Functionally, however, the new top mechanical groupset for touring riders is convincing across the board. Good feel, enormous range and rear derailleur damping, components trimmed for durability and a fair price leave nothing to be desired.
Shimano Cues 8020: The facts
| Model | Shimano Cues 8020 2x11 |
| Price | 370 Euro |
| Weight | 1241 grammes |
| Bandwidth | 650 per cent |
| Smallest gear | 6 km/h |
Price and weight are manufacturer's specifications and refer to the complete shifting system with trigger and rear derailleur >> available here*. For the smallest mountain gear, we use standardised parameters for tyre size and cadence (28 inch, 47 millimetres, 60 rpm).
Not all cues are the same. It's a long way from the affordable 4000 Cues, which costs barely 100 euros, to the top Cues from the 8000 range. The Cues 8020 with two chainrings at the front and eleven sprockets at the rear is Shimano's top gear for touring bikes without a motor effectively replaces the classic trekking XT with three chainrings (tested here).
Ratio and bandwidth as for triple
You can either mourn the loss of this or not. The fact is: thanks to the extremely wide graded cassettes with 11 to 45 or even 50 teeth and a crank with a standard 46 and 32 tooth cassette, the new top Cues even beats the older triple groupset in terms of overall gear ratio and offers equally homogeneous gear steps. Unlike the Trekking XT, the Cues 8020 comes with additional Shadow Plus rear derailleur damping to prevent chain rattling, just like on a mountain bike. And If you want even smaller gears, you can even get a crank with 36/22 teeth, as on this test bike. You can definitely crawl up even the steepest ramps with a lot of luggage at walking pace.
Another advantage for touring cyclists: Like all Cues groupsets, the Cues 8020 comes with durable Linkglide parts for the chain and cassette. Originally developed for e-bikes, these components are designed to last three times as long as the comparable Hyperglide technology of previous drive systems thanks to the use of more material.
Chic and crisp in titanium grey
In contrast to the cheaper Cues shifters, the 8020 offers a high-quality feel with stylish titanium grey coated components and a relatively crisp and direct shifting feel despite Linkglide technology. From our point of view, this is a clear difference to the cheaper mid-range version Cues 6020, which also has to make do without derailleur damping. Only current Hyperglide groupsets like the new XT (tested here) and other electronic Di2 variants go one better in terms of shifting feel and quality, but are also considerably more expensive. The Hyperglide groupsets also shift noticeably faster. On a touring bike, however, you can cope with the slower Linkglide shifting. The higher durability counts much more.
The weight of the cues is perfectly acceptable considering the enormous range and durable parts. If you prefer, the top cues are also available as fully automatic shifting in a dynamo-powered version. Q'Auto system from Shimano (tested here). But then exclusively as 1 x 11 gears with only one chainring at the front.
The Cues 8020 at a glance
Strengths
- Enormous bandwidth
- Good haptics
- Rear derailleur damping
- (Still) fair price for a top group
Weaknesses
- Switching speed could be higher
Adrian Kaether
Editor
