– but it’s one that has implications for a much broader section of the bike-riding population. In the not-too-distant future, any new bike that was previously specced with Shimano Tiagra, Sora, Claris, Altus, Acera, Alivio or Deore components will instead be dressed with CUES.
In theory, then, if any significant world events occur in the future that disrupt the supply chain, it could be much easier to service and build up bikes with any mix-and-match Shimano CUES-compatible parts that retailers and distributors can get their hands on if sourcing new, full groupsets becomes difficult or impossible.
"It also opens the door to manufacturers like Microshift et al to create ranges of components that only need to support one shift ratio, to be addressing a much larger market. Which further de-risks things and opens options for consumers."